New Apple iPhone 8 May Have 3-D Facial Recognition

Apple was granted a patent for a method of face detection at different distances in a dynamic picture or live video feed yesterday.

The patent, 9,589,177, titled “Enhanced face detection using depth information”, was issued on March 7 by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office and describes a method of “capturing a depth map and an image of scene.” Common facial recognition systems scan for faces using multiple “candidate windows” of varying dimensions. This not only requires a large amount of processing power, but can also result in a larger amount of false matches.

To address this, Apple’s patent describes using an infrared light to project an “optical radiation pattern” onto a given scene (i.e. faces). The optical radiation pattern could then be translated into a depth of field mapping for a facial recognition system. This allows a face recognition system to isolate the faces in a realtime video feed despite when the faces are located at differing positions and depths within the  captured scene — a situation that can become increasingly complex in live videos or scenes that are dynamic.

For a facial recognition system, human faces become “bigger” or “smaller” based on their relative distance to the digital camera aperture, which can be a challenging issue for the scanning windows. The method described in the patent would employ intelligently-scaled windows that are adjusted relative to their depth-of-field coordinates — reducing the computational overhead and increasing face recognition accuracy.

Intriguingly, the patent also mentions a “depth mapping and image processing” system, which is probably based on a technology that was created by the 3D imaging/motion-capture startup company, PrimeSense, that Apple acquired a few years ago. While it is not a biometric recognition or verification system itself, the method described might be a portion of a larger suite of systems and building blocks for a “revolutionary” front-facing camera touted to be a part of this year’s upcoming new iPhone that has been much-ballyhooed. Specifically, Apple’s iPhone X may feature the advanced 3D facial and iris recognition systems powered by PrimeSense’s proprietary tech.