ANAHEIM, CA--(Marketwired - August 04, 2015) - MorphoTrak, a U.S. subsidiary of Morpho (Safran), announced today that MorphoTrak’s tattoo recognition algorithm placed first in the Tattoo Recognition Technology - Challenge (Tatt-C) evaluation conducted by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).
Each trial examined a critical aspect of performance for an automated tattoo recognition solution. In the identification trials, the MorphoTrak algorithm successfully found different instances of the same tattoo on the same subject, collected over time. MorphoTrak also excelled at finding a small region of interest within a larger tattoo, as well as determining whether an image contained a tattoo.
Tattoo images have traditionally been regarded as a soft biometric -- that is, visual information that can be used to narrow down the range of candidates for identification and investigation, but cannot be used to explicitly identify an individual. Law enforcement organizations have been collecting tattoo images as long as they have been collecting mugshots, and while mugshots can now be submitted for automated searches using face recognition algorithms, tattoos are still categorized by text, in broad categories such as "Dragon," and "Skull." The team that developed MorphoTrak’s tattoo recognition algorithm wants to help law enforcement make the transition from keyword search to automated search of tattoo images, much in the same way we now search for fingerprints and faces.
Celeste Thomasson, President and CEO of MorphoTrak, stated, "MorphoTrak is proud to continue its tradition of leadership and commitment to excellence in the field of biometric technology. Prior to MorphoTrak’s work in this area, investigators had to rely on text keywords to find tattoos that were similar in appearance. Our continuously improving tattoo recognition algorithm takes the criminal justice, forensic investigation and public security communities one step closer to a high-performance automated tattoo recognition solution."
Dr. Peter Lo, MorphoTrak Senior Research Manager, will present a session on Tattoo Recognition, including commentary on the NIST Tatt-C benchmark test, at the 2015 International Association of Identification (IAI) on Wednesday, August 5, 7:30 a.m. - 8:30 a.m. For additional information, visit http://www.theiai.org.
For more information about the recent NIST Tatt-C test, visit http://www.nist.gov/itl/iad/ig/tatt-c.cfm.
About Morpho
Morpho (Safran) is a global leader in identity and security solutions for an increasingly digital and connected world. We employ more than 8,600 people in 55 countries and generated revenues of more than EUR1.5 billion in 2014. Backed by more than 40 years of experience in biometrics, our unique expertise lies in developing innovative technologies for a wide range of markets and applications for people, governments and business. Morpho contributes to managing identities, protecting borders, detecting threats, supporting law enforcement and providing trusted on-line transactions and services. Our solutions protect identities, ensure safety and safeguard privacy, for easier, everyday lives.
About MorphoTrak
MorphoTrak, a U.S. subsidiary company of Morpho (Safran), provides multimodal biometric identity and security solutions to a broad array of markets including law enforcement, government services, border control, time and attendance solutions, and commercial security. Built upon our past 40 years of industry leadership and committed to serve over 1,000 federal, state and local government agencies and commercial enterprises, MorphoTrak strives to achieve excellence in delivering mission-critical biometric identification solutions to help make the world a safer place.
For more information: www.morpho.com/usa
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Contact Information:
Media Contacts:
MorphoTrak (Safran)
Sharon Rollins
+1 714.238.2010
sharon.rollins@morpho.com