Device for biometrically controlling a face surface

Abstract

The invention relates to devices for measuring surface contours and can be used in a security system for identifying a person. The inventive device for biometrically controlling a face surface comprises a TV camera, a unit for displaying a face position, a computer and an illumination unit provided with a transparency and an objective lens for projecting the transparency image on the face, which is located in such a way that the optical axes of the objective of the illumination unit and of the TV camera are disposed on the same plane at an angle with respect to each other, wherein the unit for displaying the face position is embodied and disposed in such a way that it makes it possible to display the symmetrical face position with respect to the plane formed by the optical axes of the objective lenses of the illumination unit and the TV camera.

1 - 5 . (canceled) 
     
     
         6 . A method for capturing face-surface profiles with a contactless biometric control system, the method comprising:
 directing a pulse illumination unit of the contactless biometric control system to project a transparent image on a face of a user such that the face of the user distorts the transparent image, the pulse illumination unit having an illumination objective lens with an illumination optical axis;   receiving from a camera of the contactless biometric control system an image data indicative of a distorted image of the transparent image projected on and distorted by the face of the user, the camera having a camera objective lens with a camera optical axis, the illumination and camera optical axes of the illumination and camera objective lenses being disposed in a common plane at an oblique angle with respect to each other;   processing with a computer processor of the contactless biometric control system the distorted image; and   generating with the computer processor of the contactless biometric control system characteristic points and fields of the face of the user based on three-dimensional coordinates for a surface profile of the face derived from the distorted image.   
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 6 , wherein the pulse illumination unit includes a screen with plural parallel band segments and a transverse band segment extending transversely to the parallel band segments along an axis of symmetry of the screen. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein the transverse band segment is located in a vertical plane formed by the illumination and camera optical axes of the objective lenses of the pulse illumination unit and the camera. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 6 , further comprising directing a face-orientation display unit of the contactless biometric control system to display to the user a face position of the face relative to the pulse illumination unit. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein the face-orientation display unit includes a video display screen with a marking identifying a position of the common plane formed by the illumination and camera optical axes of the objective lenses of the pulse illumination unit and the camera. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein the face-orientation display unit includes a video display screen adapted to display a symmetrical face position with respect to the common plane formed by the optical axes of the objective lenses of the illumination unit and the camera. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 6 , wherein the contactless biometric control system further comprises a face-orientation unit with a two-face mirror having lateral edges parallel to the common plane formed by the illumination and camera optical axes of the objective lenses of the pulse illumination unit and the camera. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein the two-face mirror is located between the pulse illumination unit and the camera in the plane formed by the illumination and camera optical axes of the objective lenses of the pulse illumination unit and the camera. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 6 , wherein at least one of the three-dimensional coordinates is determined based on Z=ΔY/tan(α), where Z is the height of the surface profile, ΔY is a measure of transparency image band distortion, and a is the angle. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 6 , wherein the processing the distorted image includes measuring a transparency image band distortion. 
     
     
         16 . A computer-implemented method for biometrically controlling a face surface, the method comprising:
 directing an illumination unit to project a transparency image on a face of a user such that the face of the user distorts the transparency image, the illumination unit having an illumination objective lens with an illumination optical axis;   directing a face-orientation unit to display to the user a face position of the face;   receiving from a camera image data indicative of a distorted image of the transparency image projected on and distorted by the face of the user, the camera having a camera objective lens with a camera optical axis, the illumination and camera optical axes of the objective lenses being disposed in a common plane at an angle with respect to each other;   processing the distorted image; and   generating characteristic points and fields of the face of the user based on three-dimensional coordinates for a surface profile of the face derived from the distorted image.   
     
     
         17 . A method for controlling a face-surface profile with a contactless control system, the method comprising:
 projecting, via an illumination unit of the contactless control system, a transparency image on a face of a user such that the face of the user distorts the transparency image, the illumination unit having an illumination objective lens with an illumination optical axis;   displaying, via a face-orientation unit of the contactless control system, a face position of the face of the user relative to the illumination unit;   capturing, via a camera unit of the contactless control system, image data indicative of a distorted image of the transparency image projected on and distorted by the face of the user, the camera unit having a camera objective lens with a camera optical axis, the illumination and camera optical axes of the objective lenses being disposed in a common plane at an angle with respect to each other; and   processing, via a computing unit, the distorted image to generate characteristic points and fields of the face of the user based on three-dimensional coordinates for a surface profile of the face derived from the distorted image.   
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 17 , wherein the illumination unit includes a screen with a plurality of band segments and at least one band segment extending transverse to the plurality of band segments, the at least one transverse band segment being located in a plane formed by the optical axes of the objective lenses of the illumination unit and the camera unit. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 17 , wherein the face-orientation unit includes one or more two-face mirrors having edges located in the common plane formed by the optical axes of the objective lenses of the illumination unit and the camera unit. 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 17 , wherein the face-orientation unit includes plural two-face mirrors each having lateral edges parallel to the common plane formed by the optical axes of the objective lenses of the illumination unit and the camera unit. 
     
     
         21 . The method of  claim 17 , wherein the face-orientation unit is located between the illumination unit and the camera unit in the plane formed by the optical axes of the objective lenses of the pulse illumination unit and the camera unit. 
     
     
         22 . The method of  claim 17 , wherein the face-orientation unit includes a screen with a vertical marking defining the position of the common plane formed by the optical axes of the objective lenses of the illumination unit and the camera unit. 
     
     
         23 . The method of  claim 17 , wherein at least one of the three-dimensional coordinates is determined based on Z=ΔY/tan(α), where Z is the height of the surface profile, ΔY is a measure of transparency image band distortion, and a is the angle. 
     
     
         24 . The method of  claim 17 , wherein the processing the distorted image includes measuring a transparency image band distortion. 
     
     
         25 . The method of  claim 17 , further comprising transmitting the distorted image to the computing unit.