The Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity - Its BEST and Beyond

Abstract

IARPA is pursuing innovative ideas and concepts for advancing standoff biometrics technologies. An emphasis is placed on classifying and recognizing unique human phenomenology acquired from significantly greater ranges than today's commercially available biometrics technology. In October 2007, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) formally established the Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity (IARPA). IARPA's mission is to invest in high-risk/high-payoff research programs that have the potential to provide the U.S. with an overwhelming intelligence advantage over our future adversaries. Biometrics has surfaced as a technology area of interest to IARPA. Today's biometric acquisition systems generally require cooperative or conditioned individuals under controlled or constrained conditions to achieve desired levels of recognition performance. IARPA's Office of Smart Collection has established the Biometrics Exploitation Science and Technology (BEST) Program to significantly: 1) advance the Intelligence Community's (IC) ability to achieve high-confidence match performance, even when the features are derived from non-ideal data; and 2) relax the constraints currently required to acquire high fidelity biometric signatures. The BEST Program is addressing many of the underlying biometrics technology challenges by investigating innovative approaches that enable revolutionary advances in science, algorithms, devices, and systems. IARPA is also seeking innovative ideas and concepts for the advancement of standoff biometrics technologies. An emphasis is placed on classifying and recognizing unique human phenomenology (i.e. anatomical, physiological, and/or behavioral), or novel biometric signatures, that may by acquired from significantly greater ranges than from today's commercially available biometrics technology.