When a match is made the computer highlights the target and sounds an alarm. An operator then checks the image and decides if it is necessary to contact the police. The police in the area see the system as a way of making CCTV more efficient. Depending on the success of the trial, other targets like paedophiles could also be scanned. The system could also be used to help track down missing persons.
Mandrake is the first identification system to be able to work from moving pictures.
It has been designed by Software Systems International which has been concentrating on identification systems for several years. Less advanced systems are already in operation, including one which compares pictures of criminals with individuals crossing the Mexican border. One state in the US is using a database of millions of pictures to check on people who may be entering into more than one marriage, and another state is checking for duplicate drivers' licence applications in the same way. However she acknowledges that the computer will not always strike a perfect match. We do expect that we will get a little bit of difference in interpretation because sometimes it will pick up a face at a three-quarters angle.