Methods and systems for capturing biometric data

1. A method for capturing biometric data comprising:

capturing as a video, by a mobile device aimed at the face of a user, images of the face rotating in response to at least one instruction, each frame of the video including an image of the face;

obtaining frames from the video during said capturing operation;

calculating an alignment measure for each obtained frame;

determining groups of frames from the obtained frames;

calculating a composite alignment measure for each frame group;

determining a peak composite alignment measure and a corresponding peak frame group, each frame in the peak frame group including an image that can be used for generating accurate authentication transaction results to authenticate the user; and

storing, in the mobile device, the image from one frame in the peak frame group.

2. The method for capturing biometric data in accordance with claim 1 , said calculating an alignment measure operation comprising:

determining an area of the image in the frame, the area having a top part and a bottom part;

determining top point coordinates and bottom point coordinates, the top point being in the top part and the bottom point being in the bottom part; and

calculating the distance between the top and bottom points.

3. The method for capturing biometric data in accordance with claim 1 , said calculating a composite alignment measure operation comprising averaging frame group alignment measures.

4. The method for capturing biometric data in accordance with claim 1 , further comprising displaying the at least one instruction on a mobile device screen, the at least one instruction prompting rotation of the face towards and away from the mobile device.

5. An apparatus for capturing biometric data comprising:

a processor; and

a memory configured to store data, said apparatus being associated with a network and said memory being in communication with said processor and having instructions stored thereon which, when executed by said processor, cause said apparatus to:

capture in a video, while said apparatus is aimed at the face of a user, images of the face rotating in response to at least one instruction, each frame of the video including an image of the face,

obtain frames from the video while capturing the video,

calculate an alignment measure for each obtained frame,

determine frame groups from the obtained frames,

calculate a composite alignment measure for each group, determine a peak composite alignment measure and a corresponding peak frame group, each frame in the peak frame group including an image that can be used for generating accurate authentication results to authenticate the user, and

store the image from one frame in a peak frame group in said memory.

6. The apparatus for capturing biometric data in accordance with claim 5 , said apparatus being one of the following:

a smart phone;

a tablet computer;

a laptop computer; and

a personal digital assistant.

7. The apparatus for capturing biometric data in accordance with claim 5 , wherein the instructions further cause said apparatus to display the at least one instruction, the at least one instruction prompting the user to rotate the face towards and away from said apparatus.

8. A non-transitory computer-readable recording medium included in a mobile device having a computer program recorded thereon for capturing user biometric data, the computer program being comprised of instructions, which when read and executed by the mobile device, cause the mobile device to perform at least the following operations:

capture as a video, while the mobile device is aimed at the face of a user, images of the face rotating in response to at least one instruction, each frame of the video including an image of the biometric characteristic;

obtain frames from the video while capturing the video;

calculate an alignment measure for each frame;

determine frame groups from the obtained frames;

calculate a composite alignment measure for each group;

determine a peak composite alignment measure and a corresponding peak frame group, each frame in the peak frame group including an image that can be used for generating accurate authentication transaction results to authenticate the user; and

store the image from one frame in the peak frame group.

9. The computer program in accordance with claim 8 further comprising instructions, which when read and executed by the mobile device, cause the mobile device to display the at least one instruction, the at least one instruction prompting the user to rotate the face towards and away from the mobile device.