Colour 3-D electronic imaging of the surface of the human body

Abstract

The NRC laboratories have developed a laser scanning technique to digitize shapes and colours in registration. The technique, known as synchronized scanning, is capable of digitizing topography as small as the relief of a bare finger tip, showing a clear picture of the skin structure (essentially a clean fingerprint without distortion), as well as the shape and size of body components such as hands, face, and feet, and the full body of one or more subjects simultaneously. The laser scanner uses a RGB laser, coupled to an optical fibre, which is projected in the field of view. The three-dimensional colour measurements are made by optical triangulation to a resolution of 10 μm for finger tip scans and a resolution of 1 mm for whole body scans. Experimental results are presented and discussed. Potential applications of this technology in the field of identification and inspection of humans include face recognition, finger, foot and teeth print identification, and 3-D mugshots that can be rapidly broadcast through satellite communication. One of the unique properties of this technology is that absolute measurements, not only appearance and relative position of features, can be used for identification purposes.