As a Function Health Artist I could see some intriguing applications for this research although what the military is looking at is far different than my skin applications.
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Lance Cpl. Cedric Haller II
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The camera can be traced back to as early as the 11th century. Even then, its aim was to replicate the function of the human eye to capture images. As time moved on, the camera became increasingly more advanced to the point that it has well surpassed its predecessor. With today’s research and technology, it has taken another giant leap in that direction.
The Sensors Exploitation Research Group at the Air Force Institute of Technology, led by Dr. Michael J. Mendenhall, has honed in on the process of differentiating human skin from other materials within an image to reduce false detection.
Cameras today have a plethora of different uses, such as:
- Locating wounded and missing persons
- Search, rescue and recovery
- Security and surveillance
These color-based images typically have high false detection rates, which can make it difficult to locate people. Mendenhall’s research team has developed a prototype camera system that specifically works with a skin detection and color estimation approach.
Mendenhall, an Assistant Professor of Computer Engineering at AFIT’s Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, along with his research team use a multispectral camera system to enhance skin detection by focusing on the amount of melanin in the skin. Melanin is the primary component in determining skin color.
“Our approach concentrates on the melanin and water in skin. It can detect the skin while providing a means to determine how much melanin it contains. Since melanin is the primary element contributing to skin’s color, it’s a valuable piece of information to extract,” said Mendenhall. “I can use our camera system to filter out skin types based on the details of the person of interest. We can show only fair skinned people, only dark skinned people, or anything in between. This is particularly useful in speeding up the search process and improving an analyst’s ability to locate persons of interest.”
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