Classifications

• • G—PHYSICS
  • G06—COMPUTING OR CALCULATING; COUNTING
  • G06V—IMAGE OR VIDEO RECOGNITION OR UNDERSTANDING
  • G06V40/00—Recognition of biometric, human-related or animal-related patterns in image or video data
  • G06V40/10—Human or animal bodies, e.g. vehicle occupants or pedestrians; Body parts, e.g. hands
  • G06V40/12—Fingerprints or palmprints
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G06—COMPUTING OR CALCULATING; COUNTING
  • G06V—IMAGE OR VIDEO RECOGNITION OR UNDERSTANDING
  • G06V10/00—Arrangements for image or video recognition or understanding
  • G06V10/98—Detection or correction of errors, e.g. by rescanning the pattern or by human intervention; Evaluation of the quality of the acquired patterns
  • G06V10/993—Evaluation of the quality of the acquired pattern

Definitions

• the present subject matter relates to biometric systems and, particularly, but not exclusively, to validating the biometric image data for biometric systems.
• biometric data such as fingerprints and iris scans
• the biometric data based authentication techniques typically require a user to initially provide an authentication sample of the user's biometric data during a registration process. Once registered, the biometric data is saved in a database associated with an authentication system configured to authorize the user based on the biometric data.
• the user may generally need to provide a sample of the biometric data, for example, the fingerprints, for authorization.
• the authentication system may allow the user to access the secure premise.
• an unsuccessful match may require the user to provide another sample for authentication.
• Such repeated attempts may not only affect a user's experience, but may also temporarily block the user's access on exceeding a threshold maximum number of attempts.
• a method includes obtaining biometric image data of a biometric source corresponding to a user. Further, the biometric image data may be analyzed to ascertain an acceptability index indicative of usability of the biometric image data for further processing. In one implementation, a feedback of the acceptability of the biometric data may be provided to the user based on the acceptability index.
• a biometric data validation system in another embodiment, includes a processor and a memory coupled to the processor.
• the memory includes a biometric data capturing module configured to obtain biometric image data of a biometric source corresponding to a user.
• the memory further includes a viewer module configured to provide to the user a feedback indicative of acceptability of the biometric image data for the further processing.
• a computer readable medium having embodied thereon a computer program for executing a method.
• the computer readable medium performs acts that include obtaining, biometric image data of a biometric source corresponding to a user. Further, the computer readable medium may also include ascertaining, for the biometric image data, an acceptability index indicative of usability of the biometric image data for further processing. Furthermore, the computer readable medium may also perform the act of providing to the user a feedback of the acceptability of the biometric data based on the acceptability index.
• Figure 1(a) illustrates a network environment implementing biometric data validation systems for validating biometric image data, according to an embodiment of the present subject matter.
• Figure 1(b) illustrates an image quality map generated by the biometric data validation system, according to an embodiment of the present subject matter.
• Figure 1(c) illustrates feedback image generated by the biometric data validation system, according to an embodiment of the present subject matter.
• Figure 1(d) illustrates feedback image generated by the biometric data validation system, according to another embodiment of the present subject matter.
• Figure 2 illustrates components of a biometric data validation system, according to an embodiment of the present subject matter.
• Figure 3 illustrates a method for validating biometric image data, in accordance to an embodiment of the present subject matter.
• Biometric data based authentication techniques are considered to be more reliable than the identification keys based techniques as biometric data is unique to an individual person, and such data can be neither shared with nor accessed by unauthorized personnel.
• the biometric data based authentication techniques typically require a user to initially provide an authentication sample of the user's biometric data during a registration process. Once registered, the biometric data is saved in a database associated with an authentication system configured to authorize the user based on the biometric data.
• the user may generally need to provide a sample of the biometric data, for example, the fingerprints, for authorization and may access the secure premise on successful authentication.
• the users may have to be either in the vicinity of the authentication server connected to such secure database or access dedicated computing systems connected to the central server.
• a person using fingerprint as the authentication data typically has to place his or her finger on a fingerprint sensing device which transmits an analog image of the user's fingerprint to a database of fingerprint templates in the central server for authentication.
• One conventional technique involves providing a user with the facility of taking images of the finger using a camera, such as a mobile phone camera, digital camera, or a digital single-lens reflex camera (DSLR) and transmitting the image to the central server for authentication.
• a camera such as a mobile phone camera, digital camera, or a digital single-lens reflex camera (DSLR)
• DSLR digital single-lens reflex camera
• the central server authenticates the user based on the analog image of the user's fingerprint, it becomes essential to capture an accurate and clear image of the fingerprint. For instance, a dark image, very light image, image of a dirty hand, or a hazy image may not be accepted or authorized by the central server, thus restricting the user's accessibility to the service.
• the user may thus be required to recapture and resend the biometric data for authorization every time the biometric data is rejected.
• the repeated attempts not only consume time but may also frustrate a user. Further, the repeated attempts may lead to temporary blockade of the user'
• the present subject matter relates to methods and systems for validating biometric image data using communication devices.
• the system and method may be implemented in various communication devices that incorporate or are connected to a camera device.
• the communication devices that can implement the described method(s) include, but are not limited to, hand-held devices, laptops or other portable computers, tablet computers, mobile phones, PDAs, smartphones, desktop computers connected to web cameras, and the like.
• the description herein is explained with reference to a communication device, such as a smartphone, the described method(s) may also be implemented in any other devices, as will be understood by those skilled in the art.
• the communication devices may be configured to transmit biometric image data, such as a fingerprint image corresponding to a user to an authorization server through a communication network.
• the authorization server may be configured to analyze the biometric image data and authorize the user, based on the analysis, for various purposes, such as to access a secure database of an application server hosting online services, such as banking, shopping, and other electronic commerce based services.
• the authorization server compares the received biometric image data with one or more of authentication samples that may have been stored at the time of registration in a database associated with the authorization server.
• the user may access a biometric data capturing application configured to obtain the biometric image data corresponding to a biometric source, such as the finger of the user.
• the biometric data capturing application initiates the camera device of the communication device and provides a view of the biometric image data on a display of the communication device.
• the user may place the communication device over his finger to allow the camera device to view a finger. Further, the user may capture an image of the biometric source, i.e., the finger through the biometric data capturing application and save the same on the communication device as an image of the biometric source.
• the image of the biometric source as viewed or captured using the biometric data capturing application may be collectively referred to as the biometric image data.
• the biometric data capturing application thus obtains the biometric image data viewed by the camera device and may analyze the biometric image data to ascertain an acceptability index of the biometric image data for determining whether the biometric image data is good enough to be used for authentication or not. Based on the acceptability index, a feedback related to the biometric image data may be provided to the user. For instance, in case of receiving a high acceptability index, the biometric image data may be considered for authentication. Further, in case of receiving a low acceptability index, the biometric image data may be further analyzed.
• the biometric image data may be analyzed to generate an image quality map corresponding to the biometric image data.
• the image quality map may be understood as a grid of blocks such that each block corresponds to a portion of the biometric image data and indicates a quality score of the corresponding portion.
• a quality score below a predefined level may indicate a portion of bad quality, while a quality score above a predefined level may indicate a portion of good quality. All such portions of unacceptable quality may be subsequently determined and used for creating a feedback image. Further, in one implementation, a text feedback indicating the action to be taken by the user to improve the image quality may be inscribed on the feedback image. For example, in case the portions of bad quality are too dark, the communication device may indicate the user to capture the biometric image data in a properly light area.
• the feedback image thus obtained may be provided to the user as the feedback related to the biometric image data.
• the user may be provided with only the textual feedback, for example, a text message suggesting the user to capture the biometric image data from a different angle.
• the user may obtain a new biometric image data corresponding to the biometric source. For instance, where the biometric image data is viewed on the display of the communication device, the user may realign or re -position the communication device based on which the camera may obtain a new real-time biometric feed for analysis using the above described procedure. The above referred procedure may be repeated till biometric image data of high acceptability index is received and provided to the authorization server for authentication.
• the present subject matter thus enables the device to provide a real-time feedback of the quality of the biometric image data to a user.
• Real-time feedback for the quality of the biometric image data enables the user to provide the biometric image data for authentication without worrying about the authentication device rejecting the biometric image data for the reasons of poor quality.
• providing the real-time feedback before capturing the biometric image data prevents the user from the hassle of re-capturing the biometric image data in case of rejection of the biometric image data due to reasons of poor quality.
• FIG. 1(a) illustrates a network environment 100 implementing one or more biometric data validation systems 102-1, 102-2, 102-3, 102-4,..., 102-n, according to an embodiment of the present subject matter.
• the biometric data validation systems 102-1, 102-2, 102-3, 102-4,..., 102-n, hereinafter collectively referred to as the systems(s) 102 and individually referred to as the system 102 is configured to validate biometric image data corresponding to a user.
• the system 102 is communicatively coupled an authorization server 104 over a network 106.
• Examples of the system 102 include a variety of communication devices that include or are connected to a camera device, such as hand-held devices, laptops or other portable computers, tablet computers, mobile phones, PDAs, smartphones, and desktop computers incorporating or connected to web cameras. Further, the system 102 may also be implemented as a workstation, a mainframe computer, a server, and a network server.
• the authorization server 104 can include, without limitation, computing systems, a workstation, a mainframe computer, a server, and a network server.
• the network 106 may be a wireless or a wired network, or a combination thereof.
• the network 106 can be implemented as a computer network, as one of the different types of networks, such as intranet, local area network (LAN), wide area network (WAN), the internet, and such.
• the network 106 may either be a dedicated network or a shared network, which represents an association of the different types of networks that use a variety of protocols, for example, Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP), Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP), Wireless Application Protocol (WAP), to communicate with each other.
• the network 106 may include a variety of network devices, including routers, bridges, servers, computing devices, storage devices. The network devices within the network 106 may interact with the system 102 and the authorization server 104 through communication links.
• the network 106 can be implemented as a telecommunication network.
• the network 106 can be a collection of individual networks, interconnected with each other and functioning as a single large network (e.g., the internet or an intranet).
• Examples of such individual networks include, but are not limited to, Global System for Mobile Communication (GSM) network, Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) network, Personal Communications Service (PCS) network, Time Division Multiple Access TDMA) network, Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) network, Next Generation Network (NGN), IP -based network, Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN), and Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN).
• GSM Global System for Mobile Communication
• UMTS Universal Mobile Telecommunications System
• PCS Personal Communications Service
• Time Division Multiple Access TDMA Time Division Multiple Access
• CDMA Code Division Multiple Access
• NTN Next Generation Network
• IP -based network Public Switched Telephone Network
• PSTN Public Switched Telephone Network
• ISDN Integrated Services Digital Network
• the network 106 includes various network entities, such as gateways, routers; however, such details have been omitted for the sake of brevity.
• the system 102 can use General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) or Bluetooth for communicating with the authorization server 104.
• GPRS General Packet Radio Service
• the network 106 can be implemented as a combination of a computer network as well as a telecommunication network.
• the system 102 may be configured to obtain and validate biometric image data, such as a fingerprint image corresponding to a biometric source, such as a finger of a user.
• the biometric image data may be used by the user as an authorization key for accessing various secure services, such as banking, shopping, and other electronic commerce based services.
• the system 102 may transmit the biometric image data to the authorization server 104 through the network 106.
• the authorization server 104 may be configured to analyze the biometric image data and authorize the user, based on the analysis, for various purposes, such as to access the secure service.
• the authorization server 104 compares the biometric image data with a plurality of authorization samples stored in a database (not shown in the figure) associated with the authorization server 104.
• the system 102 is configured to analyze the biometric image data, before being sent to the authorization server 104, to determine and validate whether the biometric image data is good enough to be used for authentication.
• the system 102 includes a biometric data capturing module 108 configured to obtain the biometric image data corresponding to the biometric source.
• a user of the system 102 may initiate the biometric data capturing module 108, for example, by pressing a key of the system 102 configured to send an initiation request to the biometric data capturing module 108.
• to capture the biometric image data say, to obtain the fingerprint image the user may expose his finger to the system 102, for example, the communication device 102-1 or a web camera of the computing system 102-n.
• the biometric data capturing module 108 may be configured to initiate a camera device (not shown in the figure) of the system 102 on receiving the initiation request.
• the biometric data capturing module 108 thus initiates the camera device and provides a view of the biometric image data on a display of the system 102.
• the biometric image data may be a real-time biometric feed of the biometric source that may be viewed on the system 102.
• the real-time biometric feed may be understood as an image of the biometric source as viewed on the system 102 through the biometric data capturing module 108, when the camera device of the system 102 is positioned over the biometric source.
• the biometric data capturing module 108 when the biometric data capturing module 108 switches on the camera device of the system 102, it receives a real-time feed of the image of user's finger and provides the real-time feed on a screen of the system 102.
• the biometric data capturing module 108 may intercept the real-time feed and obtain the real-time biometric feed as the biometric image data of the biometric source.
• the user may click an image of the biometric source, i.e., the finger, and save the same in a memory component of the system 102 as an image of the biometric source.
• an image of a finger of the user, captured and saved as an image file, for example, in the system 102-4 which may be a laptop, may be considered as the biometric image data for further analysis.
• the user may click an image of the biometric source through the biometric data capturing module 108.
• the user may click an image of the biometric source through any camera device and save the image in the system 102.
• the image of the biometric source thus captured and saved may also be referred to as the biometric image data.
• the system 102 may subsequently analyze the biometric image data obtained by the biometric data capturing module 108 to ascertain an acceptability index of the biometric image data.
• the acceptability index may be defined as a rating indicative of usability of the biometric image data for further processing, such as for authentication.
• the system 102 may analyze the biometric image data using a first image analysis technique, such as National Institute of Standards and Technology Fingerprint Image Quality (NFIQ), developed and released by US National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).
• NFIQ National Institute of Standards and Technology Fingerprint Image Quality
• the system 102 using the first image analysis technique, scans the biometric image data and provides the acceptability index of the biometric image data.
• the system 102 may score the biometric image data based on one or more predetermined parameters to obtain the acceptability index.
• a high acceptability index i.e., an acceptability index above a predetermined threshold level may indicate that the image quality of the biometric image data is acceptable.
• the system 102 may thus identify a biometric image data having a high acceptability index as an image usable for the further processing.
• a low acceptability index i.e., an acceptability index below the predetermined threshold level may, on the other hand, be determined as unacceptable.
• the system 102 may thus ascertain a biometric image data having a low acceptability index as an image unusable for the further processing.
• the system 102 may provide to the user a feedback related to the biometric image data. For instance, in case of receiving a high acceptability index, the system 102 may determine the biometric image data as acceptable for authentication.
• the system 102 includes a viewer module 1 10 configured to provide the feedback to the user of the system 102.
• the viewer module 110 may provide a feedback to the user indicating the user to capture the image if the image is of acceptable quality. For instance, the viewer module 110 may flash a message "image of acceptable quality, kindly capture the biometric image data for authentication" on the display of the system 102. The image may be subsequently captured by the biometric data capturing module using the camera device and transmitted by the system 102 to the authorization server 104 for authentication.
• the system 102 may further analyze the biometric image data using a second image analysis technique, such as image analysis technique used by tools like MINDTCT, developed and released by the US NIST.
• a second image analysis technique such as image analysis technique used by tools like MINDTCT, developed and released by the US NIST.
• the system 102 analyzes the biometric image data using the second image analysis technique and generates an image quality map, as illustrated in Figure 1(b).
• the image quality map may be defined as a grid of blocks such that each block corresponds to a portion of the biometric image data and indicates a quality score of the corresponding portion.
• the system 102 may analyze the image quality map to identify, based on one or more predefined rules, usable portions, i.e., portions of good quality and unusable portions, i.e., portions of bad quality in the biometric image data.
• the system 102 may identify a portion having a quality score below a predefined level as an unusable portion, while a portion having a quality score above a predefined level may be identified as a usable portion.
• the system 102 superimposes the image quality map on the biometric image data to obtain a feedback image, as illustrated in Figure 1(c), such that the unusable portions are erased from the biometric image data, while the usable portions are retained in the biometric image data.
• the system 102 may inscribe on the feedback image a text feedback indicating the action to be taken by the user to improve the image quality.
• the text feedback may be "tilt finger right”, “move finger closer to camera”, “increase brightness” and so on.
• the system 102 may provide the feedback image to the user as the feedback related to the biometric image data. Based on the feedback, the user may obtain, through the biometric data capturing module 108, another biometric image data corresponding to the biometric source. The above referred procedure may be repeated till biometric image data of high acceptability index is received and provided to the authorization server 104 for authentication. The system 102 thus, on receiving the biometric image data of high acceptability index transmits the biometric image data to the authorization server 104 for authorizing the server to access the secure database connected to the authorization server 104.
• the biometric image data may be analyzed and validated on a central server implementing the system 102.
• the image data may be analyzed and validated on the authorization server 104 or a quality analysis server (not shown in the figure) connected to the authorization server 104.
• the user may capture and transmit, through the communication device, the fingerprint image to the biometric data capturing module 108 of the central server.
• the biometric image data may be analyzed on the central server using the procedure as described above.
• the viewer module 110 may transmit the biometric image data to the authorization server 104 and send an acceptability message to the user's communication device.
• the viewer module 1 10 may send a message "image transmitted for authentication" to the user's communication device.
• the system 102 thus enables the communication device to provide a real-time feedback of the quality of the biometric image data to a user. Providing the real-time feedback before capturing the biometric image data prevents the user from the hassle of re-capturing the biometric image data in case of rejection of the biometric image data due to reasons of poor quality. Additionally, the present subject matter may also enable the user to submit the biometric image data as the authorization sample during registration with the online services.
• the authorization server 104 may be configured to save the biometric image data as the authorization sample in the database at the time of registration of the user with the online service.
• FIG. 2 illustrates components of the biometric data validation system 102, according to an embodiment of the present subject matter.
• the system 102 includes interface(s) 202, one or more processor(s) 204, and a memory 206 coupled to the processor(s) 204.
• the interfaces 202 may include a variety of software and hardware interfaces, for example, interfaces for peripheral device(s), such as a keyboard, a mouse, an external memory, a camera device, and a printer. Further, the interfaces 202 may enable the system 102 to communicate with other devices, such as web servers and external databases.
• the interfaces 202 can facilitate multiple communications within a wide variety of networks and protocol types, including wired networks, for example, local area network (LAN), cable, etc., and wireless networks, such as Wireless LAN (WLAN), cellular, or satellite.
• the interfaces 202 may include one or more ports for connecting a number of computing systems with one another or to another server computer.
• the processor(s) 204 can be a single processing unit or a number of units, all of which could include multiple computing units.
• the processor 204 may be implemented as one or more microprocessors, microcomputers, microcontrollers, digital signal processors, central processing units, state machines, logic circuitries, and/or any devices that manipulate signals based on operational instructions.
• the processor 204 is configured to fetch and execute computer-readable instructions and data stored in the memory 206.
• the memory 206 may include any computer-readable medium known in the art including, for example, volatile memory, such as static random access memory (SRAM) and dynamic random access memory (DRAM), and/or non-volatile memory, such as read only memory (ROM), erasable programmable ROM, flash memories, hard disks, optical disks, and magnetic tapes.
• volatile memory such as static random access memory (SRAM) and dynamic random access memory (DRAM)
• non-volatile memory such as read only memory (ROM), erasable programmable ROM, flash memories, hard disks, optical disks, and magnetic tapes.
• ROM read only memory
• erasable programmable ROM erasable programmable ROM
• the modules 208 include routines, programs, objects, components, data structures, etc., which perform particular tasks or implement particular abstract data types.
• the modules 208 further include the biometric data capturing module 108, an analysis module 212, the viewer module 110, and other module(s) 214.
• the other modules 214 may include programs that supplement applications on the system 102, for example, programs in the operating system.
• the data 210 serves, amongst other things, as a repository for storing data processed, received, and generated by one or more of the modules 208.
• the data 210 includes biometric data 216, analysis data 218, feedback data 220, and other data 222.
• the other data 222 includes data generated as a result of the execution of one or more modules in the other modules 214.
• the system 102 is configured to validate and transmit the biometric image data of the user to the authentication server 104 for authorizing the user to access the secure database.
• the biometric data capturing module 108 obtains the biometric image data corresponding to the biometric source of the user and provides the biometric image data to the analysis module 212.
• the biometric image data may include the realtime biometric feed of the biometric source provided by the camera device and viewed on the system 102.
• the biometric data capturing module 108 intercepts the real-time biometric feed provided by the camera device and saves it as the biometric image data in the biometric data 216.
• the biometric image data may include an image of the biometric source obtained by the biometric data capturing module 108 either through the camera device of the system 102 or as an input from the user.
• the biometric data capturing module 108 subsequently saves the image as the biometric image data in the biometric data 216.
• the biometric image data may be analyzed by the analysis module 212 to validate whether the biometric image data is usable for further purposes.
• the analysis module 212 accesses the biometric data 216 and obtains the biometric image data to ascertain the acceptability index of the biometric image data.
• the analysis module 212 initially determines a relevant segment and one or more additional segments of the biometric image data.
• the relevant segment may be understood as the segment of the biometric image data that focuses on the biometric source.
• the fingerprint image may include a first phalanx having the fingerprints as the relevant segment and certain additional portions, such as a background and a portion of second phalanx of the finger as the additional segments.
• the analysis module 212 removes the additional segments from the biometric image data to obtain the relevant segment.
• the analysis module 212 may save the relevant segment in the analysis data 218.
• the analysis module 212 subsequently analyzes the relevant segment to determine the acceptability index.
• the analysis module 212 analyzes the relevant segment using the first image analysis technique, such as the NFIQ.
• the analysis module 212 scans the biometric image data using the first image analysis technique and provides the acceptability index of the relevant segment and, in turn, of the biometric image data.
• the analysis module 212 may score the relevant segment based on one or more predetermined parameters. For instance the analysis module 212 may analyze the relevant segment to determine its quality, for instance, in terms of clarity, brightness, and biometric information captured, and score the relevant segment. Quality in terms of clarity may include whether the relevant segment is clear enough to be analyzed for authentication, for example, in case of fingertips it may be determined whether ridges and grooves of the finger are clearly visible or not.
• Quality in terms of brightness may include whether the relevant segment is too dark or too bright for being analyzed, for example, in case of excess brightness or darkness a part of the fingerprints may become eventually invisible.
• Quality in terms of biometric information captured may include whether the relevant segment captures the complete biometric source or not, for example, in case of the fingerprints a part of the first phalanx may not have been captured due to, say, an incorrect angle of the camera device.
• the analysis module 212 may thus analyze the relevant segment to determine its quality and score the relevant segment, for example, out of a score of 100 based on the predetermined parameters. Based on the score, the acceptability index may then be determined by the analysis module 212. For instance, a score of more than 95 may mean an acceptability index of 1 , a score between 90 and 95 may mean an acceptability index of 2, a score between 80 and 90 may mean an acceptability index of 3, and so on. In one implementation, the analysis module may determine an acceptability index above a predetermined threshold level as a high acceptability index and an acceptability index below the predetermined threshold level as a low acceptability index.
• the analysis module 212 may determine the acceptability index of 1 or 2 as the high acceptability index and acceptability index of more than 2 as the low acceptability index.
• the analysis module 212 may thus identify a relevant segment and in turn a biometric image data having a high acceptability index as an image usable for the further processing. Further, a relevant segment and in turn a biometric image data having a low acceptability index may be determined by the analysis module 212 as an image unusable for the further processing.
• the acceptability index along with the score for the relevant segment may then be saved in the analysis data 218.
• the system 102 may provide to the user a feedback related to the biometric image data.
• the viewer module 1 10 provides the feedback to the user.
• the analysis module 212 may determine the biometric image data as acceptable for authentication and the viewer module 1 10 may provide a go ahead feedback to the user.
• the viewer module 110 may provide, say in the form of a textual message, a feedback on the display of the system 102 indicating the user to capture the image.
• the user may operate a capture image button on the system 102 to send a capture image request to the biometric data capturing module 108.
• the biometric data capturing module 108 may capture, through the camera device, an image of the biometric source, say, the finger.
• the system 102 may subsequently transmit the image as the biometric data to the authorization server 104 for authentication.
• the analysis module 212 may determine the biometric image data as unacceptable for authentication and may further analyze the relevant segment using the second image analysis technique. In one implementation, the analysis module 212 analyzes the relevant segment and generates the image quality map corresponding to the relevant segment and in turn the biometric image data.
• the image quality map includes a plurality of blocks with each block corresponding to a portion of the relevant segment. Further, as can be seen in the Figure 1(b), each block is assigned a value indicative of the quality score of the corresponding portion. For example, in the Figure 1(b), few blocks are assigned a value of 4, few blocks are assigned a value of 3, while other blocks are assigned a value of 2. Further, as previously described, the analysis module 212 may determine a portion having a quality score below a predefined level, say, 3 as an unusable portion. While a portion having a quality score above the predefined level of 3 may be identified as a usable portion by the analysis module 212. The image quality map may be subsequently saved in the analysis data 218 by the analysis module 212.
• all such portions of unacceptable quality may be subsequently determined by the analysis module 212 and used for creating a feedback image.
• the viewer module 110 accesses the analysis data to obtain the image quality map and superimposes the image quality map on the biometric image data to generate the feedback image.
• the viewer module 1 10 erases the unusable portions from the biometric image data and retains only the usable portions in the biometric image data to obtain the feedback image as illustrated in the figure 1(c).
• the viewer module 110 replaces the biometric image data with a pre-processed image that indicates portions of good quality as the usable portions and indicates unusable portions with a shaded region. Further, the viewer module 110 may inscribe the text feedback on the feedback image.
• the viewer module 110 may indicate the user to capture the biometric image data in a properly lit area, as illustrated in the figure 1(d).
• the feedback image thus obtained may be saved by the viewer module 1 10 in the feedback data 220.
• the viewer module 110 may provide the feedback image to the user as the feedback related to the biometric image data.
• the viewer module 1 10 may provide only a textual feedback, for example, a text message suggesting the user to capture the biometric image data from a different angle so as to capture the whole biometric source.
• the user may obtain, through the biometric data capturing module 108, another biometric image data corresponding to the biometric source.
• the biometric image data is analyzed on the central server implementing the system 102
• the user may transmit another biometric image data to the central system 102 for the analysis. The above referred procedure may be repeated till biometric image data of high acceptability index is received and provided by the system 102 to the authorization server 104 for authentication.
• biometric data validation system 102 has been described as a communication device, it will be obvious to a person skilled in the art that all the modules and functionalities of the biometric data validation system 102 may be implemented in a central server, such as the authorization server 104.
• Figure 3 illustrates a method 300 for validating biometric image data, in accordance to an embodiment of the present subject matter.
• the method 300 is implemented in computing device, such as the system 102.
• the method may be described in the general context of computer executable instructions.
• computer executable instructions can include routines, programs, objects, components, data structures, procedures, modules, functions, etc., that perform particular functions or implement particular abstract data types.
• the method may also be practiced in a distributed computing environment where functions are performed by remote processing devices that are linked through a communications network.
• biometric image data corresponding to a biometric source is obtained, for example, by the biometric data validation system 102.
• the biometric image data may include a real-time biometric feed, i.e., an image of the biometric source as viewed on the biometric data validation system 102.
• the real-time biometric feed may be viewed on the biometric data validation system 102 through a biometric data capturing application when a camera device of the biometric data validation system 102 is positioned over the biometric source.
• the biometric image data may include an image of the biometric source that may be transmitted, by the user through a communication device, to a central server implementing the biometric data validation system 102.
• the biometric image data may be obtained by a biometric data capturing module, for example, the biometric data capturing module 108. Further, the biometric image data may be saved in the biometric data 216 for further analyses.
• an acceptability index for the biometric image data is ascertained.
• the acceptability index is ascertained, for example, by the analysis module 212 of the biometric data validation system 102.
• the acceptability index may be understood as a rating indicative of usability of the biometric image data for further processing.
• the biometric image data is initially analyzed to determine relevant segments and certain additional segments of the biometric image data.
• the relevant segment may be understood as the segment of the biometric image data that focuses on the biometric source.
• the additional segments may be understood as the segments of the biometric image data that include background or other information not required for the authorization of the biometric image data.
• the relevant segment may be subsequently analyzed to determine the acceptability index.
• the relevant segment may be analyzed using a first image using analysis techniques used in tools, such as the NFIQ.
• the first image analysis technique scans the relevant segment and provides the acceptability index of the relevant segment and in turn the biometric image data.
• the first image analysis technique may score the relevant segment based on one or more predetermined parameters to obtain the acceptability index.
• a relevant segment having a high acceptability index, i.e., an acceptability index above a predetermined threshold level may be ascertained as usable for further processing.
• a relevant segment having a low acceptability index i.e., an acceptability index below the predetermined threshold level may be ascertained as an unusable for further processing.
• a feedback for the biometric image data is provided, for example, by a viewer module, such as the viewer module 110.
• the feedback is provided based on the acceptability index ascertained at the block 304.
• the biometric image data may be transmitted for further processing, such as for authorization to an authorization server, such as the authorization server 104.
• a feedback may be given, say, in the form of a textual message" data validated, sent for authorization".
• the biometric image data may be further analyzed using a second image analysis technique, such as MINDTCT.
• the second image analysis technique analyzes the relevant segment and generates the image quality map corresponding to the relevant segment and in turn the biometric image data.
• the image quality map may be superimposed on the relevant segment to obtain the feedback image to be provided to the user.
• a text feedback indicating the action to be taken by the user to improve the image quality may be inscribed on the feedback image. For example, in case the biometric image data is too dark, the device may indicate the user to capture the biometric image data in a properly light area. Additionally, the user may be provided with only a textual feedback, for example, in the form of a message.
• an image captured, based on the feedback may be provided to an authorization server, for example, the authorization server 104.
• an image corresponding to the biometric image data may be captured and transmitted, for example, by the user through the biometric data validation system 102.
• the biometric image data is an image saved in the biometric data validation system 102
• the image may be directly transmitted to the authorization server.

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• 2012
  • 2012-01-19 IN IN166DE2012 patent/IN2012DE00166A/en unknown
  • 2012-12-18 WO PCT/EP2012/075914 patent/WO2013107582A1/fr not_active Ceased

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