AF Looks to Facial Recognition to Secure Facilities

AF Looks to Facial Recognition to Secure Facilities

The Air Force’s AFWERX innovation arm is investing in real-time facial recognition to secure base perimeters and enhance situational awareness for Air Force security staff.

Announced earlier this month, AFWERX awarded two Phase II Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) contracts to SAFR from RealNetworks to adapt its SAFR facial-recognition platform for use by a Security Forces Squadron and an intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) wing

The central challenge for both projects is using a single platform that can analyze video from multiple devices -- drones, body-worn cameras and fixed surveillance cameras -- and determine that a facial image belongs to a live person, as opposed to a photograph or video of someone.

One way that’s done now is through challenge-response authentication in which a computer randomly selects a challenge that someone must do such as blink or look left. That’s not necessarily secure, though, said Eric Hess, senior director of product management for SAFR. Other approaches include using specialized hardware such as a 3D camera that is task-specific or infrared sensors to determine if someone emits heat, but those require more hardware and complexity.

“Really what everyone would like is to be able to take an RGB video stream from any camera -- whether it be a webcam, whether it be your surveillance camera, whether it be a camera on your iPhone or Android tablet -- and determine whether or not the image that you’re seeing is truly one that belongs to a human being,” Hess said. “That’s the holy grail.”

To do that, a server pulls all the video streams back, processes them, finds faces and extracts thumbnails to kick off the facial-recognition task.

As part of the SBIR award, SAFR is also working to use the processing power in the camera to search for faces. The camera, which is connected to the cloud, processes the video, detects faces, extracts those thumbnails and submits them to a cloud-based solution for matching. It returns names, dates, times, locations and source of the video.

For example, Mountain Home Air Force Base in Idaho is one of the few domestic military bases that have been approved to fly drones, which it can use to  control the base’s perimeter. If security forces see someone close to the fence who shouldn’t be, they can capture that person’s face from a drone camera and enroll it in the database. If that face shows up again – if that person comes to the main gate, for example -- the body-worn camera worn by the entry officer there could identify the face as belonging to someone who was seen near the perimeter.

The coronavirus inspired the second access-management project. The ISR wing wanted reduce the need for officials to touch surfaces before entering secure areas. “Today they use a PIN and a key card” for two-factor authentication, Hess said, but facial recognition would replace the PIN, removing the need to touch a keypad and making the key card and face the dual authenticators.

What’s more, the technology can still identify someone who is wearing a face mask, increasing both security and compliance with current health regulations. It can “recognize the person’s identity, confirm they have access rights to that specific doorway and then also confirm that they’re wearing a mask before you would unlock the door,” Hess said. “That way, you’ve authenticated them, it’s who they are, they have the right rights, and they’re wearing the face mask for health safety policy reasons.”

Under the contracts’ terms, both projects must be completed in 10 to 11 months. Once the platform is adapted for the Air Force, the SBIR program allows for any other federal agency to award a sole-source contract for technology developed under the program.

Featured

  • Accelerating a Pathway

    There is a new trend touting the transformational qualities of AI’s ability to deliver actionable data and predictive analysis that in many instances, seems to be a bit of an overpromise. The reality is that very few solutions in the cyber-physical security (CPS) space live up to this high expectation with the one exception being the new generation of Physical Identity and Access Management (PIAM) software – herein recategorized as PIAM+. Read Now

  • Protecting Your Zones

    It is game day. You can feel the crowd’s energy. In the parking lot. At the gate. In the stadium. On the concourse. Fans are eager to party. Food and merchandise vendors ready themselves for the rush. Read Now

  • Street Smarts

    The ongoing acceptance of AI and advanced data analytics has allowed surveillance camera technology to shift from being a tactical tool to a strategic business solution. Combining traditional surveillance technology with AI-based data-driven insights can streamline transportation systems, enhance traffic management, improve situational awareness, optimize resource allocation and streamline emergency response procedures. Read Now

  • The Progress of Biometrics

  • Next-Gen AI for Smart Cities

    The future of smart city technology is not being shaped in Silicon Valley — it is taking root in Dubuque, Iowa. With a population of about 60,000, this mid-sized city has become a live testbed for AI-driven traffic management thanks to a unique public-private collaboration led by Milestone Systems. Project Hafnia demonstrates how cities can transform urban mobility and safety through Responsible Technology—without costly infrastructure overhauls. Read Now

New Products

  • FEP GameChanger

    FEP GameChanger

    Paige Datacom Solutions Introduces Important and Innovative Cabling Products GameChanger Cable, a proven and patented solution that significantly exceeds the reach of traditional category cable will now have a FEP/FEP construction.

  • A8V MIND

    A8V MIND

    Hexagon’s Geosystems presents a portable version of its Accur8vision detection system. A rugged all-in-one solution, the A8V MIND (Mobile Intrusion Detection) is designed to provide flexible protection of critical outdoor infrastructure and objects. Hexagon’s Accur8vision is a volumetric detection system that employs LiDAR technology to safeguard entire areas. Whenever it detects movement in a specified zone, it automatically differentiates a threat from a nonthreat, and immediately notifies security staff if necessary. Person detection is carried out within a radius of 80 meters from this device. Connected remotely via a portable computer device, it enables remote surveillance and does not depend on security staff patrolling the area.

  • Automatic Systems V07

    Automatic Systems V07

    Automatic Systems, an industry-leading manufacturer of pedestrian and vehicle secure entrance control access systems, is pleased to announce the release of its groundbreaking V07 software. The V07 software update is designed specifically to address cybersecurity concerns and will ensure the integrity and confidentiality of Automatic Systems applications. With the new V07 software, updates will be delivered by means of an encrypted file.