HOW CAN ALMOST ANY PHOTO REVEAL YOUR IDENTITY?
Until recently, photos taken in profile (1) were virtually useless for facial-recognition purposes. Today, Forensicagps software can translate these photos into front-facing images. The program codes up to 40 orientation points (2) that can be manually corrected where necessary. Using these points the system constructs a wire-frame model (3), which renders the outer contours. The program then lays the photographed face onto this frame (4). Thanks to facial symmetry, the other half of the face can be mirrored (5)— and the resulting 3-D model can be rotated so the face may be viewed from various angles. The frontal view is especially useful for comparison with wanted photos or Facebook photos. The software can place potential hits on the model (6) to compare facial features.