System for producing compliant facial images for selected identification documents
A method of recoding a photograph for use in a personal photo identification document such as a passport includes using a digital image capture system, including a digital camera, a computer processor, and memory to store specifications and requirements for a photo print in order to be compliant for use in a user selected photo ID such as a passport for a selected country or jurisdiction, using the digital image capture system to capture a facial image, using facial image processing techniques to provide automatic detection of a face and facial feature points on the facial image, processing the facial image and generating a visual indication of compliance, and when compliant, generating the photograph based on the compliant facial image.
1. A method of recording a photograph for use in a personal identification document comprising:
storing a photograph specification on a digital image capture system, wherein the photograph specification defines compliance requirements for the personal identification document, the compliance requirements being specific to a jurisdiction, and wherein the digital image capture system comprises a computer processor and memory;
capturing images by the digital image capture system, the images comprising a sequence of facial images of a person;
detecting a face and facial feature points in each image that comprises the sequence of facial images;
displaying an instruction to have the person change head pitch and head yaw;
recording a head pitch change and a head yaw change while recording the distance between the person's eyes and mouth;
using the recorded head pitch change and head yaw change to determine an optimal head pitch and an optimal head yaw;
displaying an instruction to have the person reposition to achieve the optimal head pitch and the optimal head yaw;
capturing, by the digital image capture system, an optimized photograph of the person, wherein the optimized photograph includes the person in a position having the optimal head pitch and the optimal head yaw;
determining the person's demographic information by applying classifiers to the detected facial feature points;
determining the demographic information compliance with the photograph specification; and
the digital image capture system transmitting the optimized photograph to an output device.
2. The method of claim 1 wherein, the personal identification document is a passport for a selected country or jurisdiction.
3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the digital image capture system is selected from the group consisting of: an autonomous photo booth, a smart phone equipped with a camera, a tablet equipped with a camera, and a personal computer equipped with a camera.
4. The method of claim 3 , wherein the autonomous photo booth displays the captured images reflected along the vertical axis to simulate a mirror.
5. The method of claim 3 , wherein capturing the optimized photograph occurs once the person's pose is compliant with the photograph specification.
6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising the steps of:
calculating, by the computer processor, an affine transformation to scale, rotate, and crop the optimized photograph;
modifying the optimized photograph in accordance with the affine transformation to achieve compliance with the compliance requirements of the photograph specification.
7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising the steps of:
assigning, by the image capture system, a score to the captured images, wherein the score is proportional to the captured images' compliance with the compliance requirements;
storing, in the memory, the assigned scores in association with the respective captured images; and
automatically selecting one of captured images based on its assigned score.
8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the compliance requirements include at least one selected from the group consisting of: a threshold image color, a threshold image brightness, and a threshold image background texture quality.
9. The method of claim 8 , wherein compliance with the threshold image background texture quality is evaluated by comparing mean luminance and luminance variance for a plurality of image background regions to a threshold value for background luminance defined by the photograph specification.