Detection of skin reflectance in biometric image capture

US11514662B2 · kind B2 · utility

Assignee

• The Government of the United States of America, as represented by the Secretary of Homeland Security · US

Inventors

• Yevgeniy Sirotin · Severna Park, US
• Arun Vemury · North Bethesda, US
• Cynthia M. Cook · West Pittsburg, US
• John Howard · Bethesda, US
• Jerry Tipton · Severn, US

Key dates

• Filing date: Feb 25, 2021
• Grant date: Nov 29, 2022
• Expiry date: Feb 25, 2041

Classification

• Technology area (CPC G): Physics
• CPC primary: G07B15/00
• WIPO field: Audio-visual technology
• WIPO sector: Electrical engineering

Abstract

In examples, a relative skin reflectance of a captured image of a subject is determined. The determination selects from the captured image pixels of the subject's face and pixels in the background and normalizes luminance values of the skin pixels using the background pixels. The relative skin reflectance value is determined for the captured image, based on the normalized luminance values of the skin pixels. Optionally the relative skin reflectance value is qualified, based on thresholds of skin reflectance values, as suitable for biometric use. Optionally, a non-qualifying captured image is flagged and, optionally, another image is acquired, or the non-conforming image is processed further to transform the image into a suitable image for biometric analysis.