Airport to scan faces

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Published Friday, December 28, 2001

Airport to scan faces

Technology to be tested in W. Palm

BY DALE K. DuPONT, ddupont@herald.com

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Face recognition technology that scans crowds for known terrorists and criminals is being installed for use on a trial basis at Palm Beach International Airport.

The equipment, called FaceIt, is expected to be in use by late January, said Joseph Atick, one of the system's inventors.

The airport will be the first in Florida to use the technology, which also is being installed at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport and Boston's Logan Airport on a test basis, said Atick, chairman of Visionics, which is based in Jersey City, N.J., and Minnetonka, Minn.

The system, which can scan a million faces per second, could be used at airport security checkpoints, boarding areas and passport control.

The Palm Beach airport was approached by the company in early summer, and after Sept. 11, ``we looked at it more closely,'' said spokesman Lisa De La Rionda.

De La Rionda said the system would enhance its other security measures, which include sheriff's canine units. She said she was not sure how long the free trial period would last, but when the test is over, ``we'll evaluate its performance.''

The system normally costs $50,000 a ``portal,'' which is basically a camera at a checkpoint, Atick said.

He said his company has talked with Miami and Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood international airports and hopes they'll look at how the test works in Palm Beach County.

Broward airport spokesman Jim Reynolds said he could not comment. A Miami airport spokesman could not be reached.

The technology simulates how the brain recognizes familiar faces in a crowd. The software lets a computer, connected to a video camera, capture faces up to two miles away.

The face is then converted into a digital code, and the computer zeroes in on any 14 of 80 facial landmarks, including the eyes and the bridge of the nose. Common plastic surgery, aging -- up to 14 years -- and facial hair won't throw off the system.

The face is compared to a database of known criminals or terrorists, and FaceIt sounds an alarm when a match is made.

The system recently was deployed at the airport in Keflavik, Iceland, to look for smugglers. Other clients are the Drug Enforcement Administration in Miami, the FBI, CIA, U.S. Customs Service and Scotland Yard, Atick said. Law enforcement agencies in Ybor City area of Tampa, as well as Israel, Egypt and London also use it.

Since Sept. 11, Visionics shares have soared from a close of $4.27 on Sept. 10 to $15.06 Thursday.

-- Anonymous, December 30, 2001


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