nils-herrmann/clean_scirepeval huggingface dataset:
Forensic Writer Identification Using Allographic Features

Questioned document examination is extensively used by forensic specialists for criminal identification. This paper presents a writer recognition system based on allographic features operating in identification mode (one-to-many). It works at the level of isolated characters, considering that each writer uses a reduced number of shapes for each one. Individual characters of a writer are manually segmented and labeled by an expert as pertaining to one of 62 alphanumeric classes (10 numbers and 52 letters, including lowercase and uppercase letters), being the particular setup used by the forensic laboratory participating in this work. A codebook of shapes is then generated by clustering and the probability distribution function of allograph usage is the discriminative feature used for recognition. Results obtained on a database of 30 writers from real forensic documents show that the character class information given by the manual analysis provides a valuable source of improvement, justifying the proposed approach. We also evaluate the selection of different alphanumeric channels, showing a dependence between the size of the hit list and the number of channels needed for optimal performance.
Best regions for periocular recognition with NIR and visible images

We evaluate the most useful regions for periocular recognition. For this purpose, we employ our periocular algorithm based on retinotopic sampling grids and Gabor analysis of the spectrum. We use both NIR and visible iris images. The best regions are selected via Sequential Forward Floating Selection (SFFS). The iris neighborhood (including sclera and eyelashes) is found as the best region with NIR data, while the surrounding skin texture (which is over-illuminated in NIR images) is the most discriminative region in visible range. To the best of our knowledge, only one work in the literature has evaluated the influence of different regions in the performance of periocular recognition algorithms. Our results are in the same line, despite the use of completely different matchers. We also evaluate an iris texture matcher, providing fusion results with our periocular system as well.
Fingerprint Image-Quality Estimation and its Application to Multialgorithm Verification

Signal-quality awareness has been found to increase recognition rates and to support decisions in multisensor environments significantly. Nevertheless, automatic quality assessment is still an open issue. Here, we study the orientation tensor of fingerprint images to quantify signal impairments, such as noise, lack of structure, blur, with the help of symmetry descriptors. A strongly reduced reference is especially favorable in biometrics, but less information is not sufficient for the approach. This is also supported by numerous experiments involving a simpler quality estimator, a trained method (NFIQ), as well as the human perception of fingerprint quality on several public databases. Furthermore, quality measurements are extensively reused to adapt fusion parameters in a monomodal multialgorithm fingerprint recognition environment. In this study, several trained and nontrained score-level fusion schemes are investigated. A Bayes-based strategy for incorporating experts' past performances and current quality conditions, a novel cascaded scheme for computational efficiency, besides simple fusion rules, is presented. The quantitative results favor quality awareness under all aspects, boosting recognition rates and fusing differently skilled experts efficiently as well as effectively (by training).
IrisSeg: A fast and robust iris segmentation framework for non-ideal iris images

This paper presents a state-of-the-art iris segmentation framework specifically for non-ideal irises. The framework adopts coarse-to-fine strategy to localize different boundaries. In the approach, pupil is coarsely detected using an iterative search method exploiting dynamic thresholding and multiple local cues. The limbic boundary is first approximated in polar space using adaptive filters and then refined in Cartesian space. The framework is quite robust and unlike the previously reported works, does not require tuning of parameters for different databases. The segmentation accuracy (SA) is evaluated using well known measures; precision, recall and F-measure, using the publicly available ground truth data for challenging iris databases; CASIAV4-Interval, ND-IRIS-0405, and IITD. In addition, the approach is also evaluated on highly challenging periocular images of FOCS database. The validity of proposed framework is also ascertained by providing comprehensive comparisons with classical approaches as well as state-of-the-art methods such as; CAHT, WAHET, IFFP, GST and Osiris v4.1. The results demonstrate that our approach provides significant improvements in segmentation accuracy as well as in recognition performance that too with lower computational complexity.
Exploring deep learning image super-resolution for iris recognition

In this work we test the ability of deep learning methods to provide an end-to-end mapping between low and high resolution images applying it to the iris recognition problem. Here, we propose the use of two deep learning single-image super-resolution approaches: Stacked Auto-Encoders (SAE) and Convolutional Neural Networks (CNN) with the most possible lightweight structure to achieve fast speed, preserve local information and reduce artifacts at the same time. We validate the methods with a database of 1.872 near-infrared iris images with quality assessment and recognition experiments showing the superiority of deep learning approaches over the compared algorithms.
Sensor Interoperability and Fusion in Fingerprint Verification: A Case Study using Minutiae-and Ridge-Based Matchers

Information fusion in fingerprint recognition has been studied in several papers. However, only a few papers have been focused on sensor interoperability and sensor fusion. In this paper, these two topics are studied using a multisensor database acquired with three different fingerprint sensors. Authentication experiments using minutiae and ridge-based matchers are reported. Results show that the performance drops dramatically when matching images from different sensors. We have also observed that fusing scores from different sensors results in better performance than fusing different instances from the same sensor
Quality Measures in Biometric Systems

Biometric technology has been increasingly deployed in the past decade, offering greater security and convenience than traditional methods of personal recognition. Although biometric signals' quality heavily affects a biometric system's performance, prior research on evaluating quality is limited. Quality is a critical issue in security, especially in adverse scenarios involving surveillance cameras, forensics, portable devices, or remote access through the Internet. This article analyzes what factors negatively impact biometric quality, how to overcome them, and how to incorporate quality measures into biometric systems. A review of the state of the art in these matters gives an overall framework for the challenges of biometric quality.
Compact multi-scale periocular recognition using SAFE features

In this paper, we present a new approach for periocular recognition based on the Symmetry Assessment by Feature Expansion (SAFE) descriptor, which encodes the presence of various symmetric curve families around image key points. We use the sclera center as single key point for feature extraction, highlighting the object-like identity properties that concentrates to this unique point of the eye. As it is demonstrated, such discriminative properties can be encoded with a reduced set of symmetric curves. Experiments are done with a database of periocular images captured with a digital camera. We test our system against reference periocular features, achieving top performance with a considerably smaller feature vector (given by the use of a single key point). All the systems tested also show a nearly steady correlation between acquisition distance and performance, and they are also able to cope well when enrolment and test images are not captured at the same distance. Fusion experiments among the available systems are also provided.
Cross-eyed 2017: Cross-spectral iris/periocular recognition competition

This work presents the 2nd Cross-Spectrum Iris/Periocular Recognition Competition (Cross-Eyed2017). The main goal of the competition is to promote and evaluate advances in cross-spectrum iris and periocular recognition. This second edition registered an increase in the participation numbers ranging from academia to industry: five teams submitted twelve methods for the periocular task and five for the iris task. The benchmark dataset is an enlarged version of the dual-spectrum database containing both iris and periocular images synchronously captured from a distance and within a realistic indoor environment. The evaluation was performed on an undisclosed test-set. Methodology, tested algorithms, and obtained results are reported in this paper identifying the remaining challenges in path forward.
Hill-Climbing and Brute-Force Attacks on Biometric Systems: A Case Study in Match-on-Card Fingerprint Verification

In this paper, we study the robustness of state-of-the-art automatic fingerprint verification systems against hill climbing and brute-force attacks. We compare the performance of this type of attacks against two different minutiae-based systems, the NIST Fingerprint Image Software 2 (NFIS2) reference system and a Match-on-Card based system. In order to study their success rate, the attacks are analyzed and modified in each scenario. We focus on the influence of initial conditions in hill-climbing attacks, like the number of minutiae in the synthetically generated templates or the performance of each type of modification in the template. We demonstrate how slight modifications in the hill-climbing algorithm lead to very different success rates
Learning-based local-patch resolution reconstruction of iris smart-phone images

Application of ocular biometrics in mobile and at a distance environments still has several open challenges, with the lack quality and resolution being an evident issue that can severely affects performance. In this paper, we evaluate two trained image reconstruction algorithms in the context of smart-phone biometrics. They are based on the use of coupled dictionaries to learn the mapping relations between low and high resolution images. In addition, reconstruction is made in local overlapped image patches, where up-scaling functions are modelled separately for each patch, allowing to better preserve local details. The experimental setup is complemented with a database of 560 images captured with two different smart-phones, and two iris comparators employed for verification experiments. We show that the trained approaches are substantially superior to bilinear or bicubic interpolations at very low resolutions (images of 13×13 pixels). Under such challenging conditions, an EER of ∼7% can be achieved using individual comparators, which is further pushed down to 4–6% after the fusion of the two systems.
A Ground Truth for Iris Segmentation

Classical iris biometric systems assume ideal environmental conditions and cooperative users for image acquisition. When conditions are less ideal or users are uncooperative or unaware of their biometrics being taken the image acquisition quality suffers. This makes it harder for iris localization and segmentation algorithms to properly segment the acquired image into iris and non-iris parts. Segmentation is a critical part in iris recognition systems, since errors in this initial stage are propagated to subsequent processing stages. Therefore, the performance of iris segmentation algorithms is paramount to the performance of the overall system. In order to properly evaluate and develop iris segmentation algorithm, especially under difficult conditions like off angle and significant occlusions or bad lighting, it is beneficial to directly assess the segmentation algorithm. Currently, when evaluating the performance of iris segmentation algorithms this is mostly done by utilizing the recognition rate, and consequently the overall performance of the biometric system. In order to streamline the development and assessment of iris segmentation algorithms with the dependence on the whole biometric system we have generated a iris segmentation ground truth database. We will show a method for evaluating iris segmentation performance base on this ground truth database and give examples of how to identify problematic cases in order to further analyse the segmentation algorithms.
Secure access system using signature verification over tablet PC

Low-cost portable devices capable of capturing signature signals are being increasingly used. Additionally, the social and legal acceptance of the written signature for authentication purposes is opening a range of new applications. We describe a highly versatile and scalable prototype for Web-based secure access using signature verification. The proposed architecture can be easily extended to work with different kinds of sensors and large-scale databases. Several remarks are also given on security and privacy of network-based signature verification
Iris boundaries segmentation using the generalized structure tensor. A study on the effects of image degradation

We present a new iris segmentation algorithm based on the Generalized Structure Tensor (GST), which also includes an eyelid detection step. It is compared with traditional segmentation systems based on Hough transform and integro-differential operators. Results are given using the CASIA-IrisV3-Interval database. Segmentation performance under different degrees of image defocus and motion blur is also evaluated. Reported results shows the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm, with similar performance than the others in pupil detection, and clearly better performance for sclera detection for all levels of degradation. Verification results using 1D Log-Gabor wavelets are also given, showing the benefits of the eyelids removal step. These results point out the validity of the GST as an alternative to other iris segmentation systems.
Experimental analysis regarding the influence of iris segmentation on the recognition rate

In this study the authors will look at the detection and segmentation of the iris and its influence on the overall performance of the iris-biometric tool chain. The authors will examine whether the segmentation accuracy, based on conformance with a ground truth, can serve as a predictor for the overall performance of the iris-biometric tool chain. That is: If the segmentation accuracy is improved will this always improve the overall performance? Furthermore, the authors will systematically evaluate the influence of segmentation parameters, pupillary and limbic boundary and normalisation centre (based on Daugman's rubbersheet model), on the rest of the iris-biometric tool chain. The authors will investigate if accurately finding these parameters is important and how consistency, that is, extracting the same exact region of the iris during segmenting, influences the overall performance.
Improving Very Low-Resolution Iris Identification via Super-Resolution Reconstruction of Local Patches

Relaxed acquisition conditions in iris recognition systems have significant effects on the quality and resolution of acquired images, which can severely affect performance if not addressed properly. Here, we evaluate two trained super- resolution algorithms in the context of iris identification. They are based on reconstruction of local image patches, where each patch is reconstructed separately using its own optimal reconstruction function. We employ a database of 1,872 near-infrared iris images (with 163 different identities for identification experiments) and three iris comparators. The trained approaches are substantially superior to bilinear or bicubic interpolations, with one of the comparators providing a Rank-1 performance of 88% with images of only 15x15 pixels, and an identification rate of 95% with a hit list size of only 8 identities.
Scenario-based score fusion for face recognition at a distance

The effect of different acquisition distances on the performance of face verification is studied. In particular, we evaluate two standard approaches using popular features (DCT and PCA) and matchers (GMM and SVM) under variation in the acquisition distance, as well as their score-level combination. The DCT-GMM-based system is found to be more robust to acquisition distance degradation than the PCA-SVM-based system. We exploit this fact by introducing an adaptive score fusion scheme based on a novel automatic scenario estimation which is shown to improve our system in uncontrolled environments.
Iris Super-Resolution Using Iterative Neighbor Embedding

Iris recognition research is heading towards enabling more relaxed acquisition conditions. This has effects on the quality and resolution of acquired images, severely affecting the accuracy of recognition systems if not tackled appropriately. In this paper, we evaluate a super-resolution algorithm used to reconstruct iris images based on iterative neighbor embedding of local image patches which tries to represent input low-resolution patches while preserving the geometry of the original high-resolution space. To this end, the geometry of the low-and high-resolution manifolds are jointly considered during the reconstruction process. We validate the system with a database of 1,872 near-infrared iris images, while fusion of two iris comparators has been adopted to improve recognition performance. The presented approach is substantially superior to bilinear/bicubic interpolations at very low resolutions, and it also outperforms a previous PCA-based iris reconstruction approach which only considers the geometry of the low-resolution manifold during the reconstruction process.
Benchmarking Quality-Dependent and Cost-Sensitive Score-Level Multimodal Biometric Fusion Algorithms

Automatically verifying the identity of a person by means of biometrics (e.g., face and fingerprint) is an important application in our day-to-day activities such as accessing banking services and security control in airports. To increase the system reliability, several biometric devices are often used. Such a combined system is known as a multimodal biometric system. This paper reports a benchmarking study carried out within the framework of the BioSecure DS2 (Access Control) evaluation campaign organized by the University of Surrey, involving face, fingerprint, and iris biometrics for person authentication, targeting the application of physical access control in a medium-size establishment with some 500 persons. While multimodal biometrics is a well-investigated subject in the literature, there exists no benchmark for a fusion algorithm comparison. Working towards this goal, we designed two sets of experiments: quality-dependent and cost-sensitive evaluation. The quality-dependent evaluation aims at assessing how well fusion algorithms can perform under changing quality of raw biometric images principally due to change of devices. The cost-sensitive evaluation, on the other hand, investigates how well a fusion algorithm can perform given restricted computation and in the presence of software and hardware failures, resulting in errors such as failure-to-acquire and failure-to-match. Since multiple capturing devices are available, a fusion algorithm should be able to handle this nonideal but nevertheless realistic scenario. In both evaluations, each fusion algorithm is provided with scores from each biometric comparison subsystem as well as the quality measures of both the template and the query data. The response to the call of the evaluation campaign proved very encouraging, with the submission of 22 fusion systems. To the best of our knowledge, this campaign is the first attempt to benchmark quality-based multimodal fusion algorithms. In the presence of changing image quality which may be due to a change of acquisition devices and/or device capturing configurations, we observe that the top performing fusion algorithms are those that exploit automatically derived quality measurements. Our evaluation also suggests that while using all the available biometric sensors can definitely increase the fusion performance, this comes at the expense of increased cost in terms of acquisition time, computation time, the physical cost of hardware, and its maintenance cost. As demonstrated in our experiments, a promising solution which minimizes the composite cost is sequential fusion, where a fusion algorithm sequentially uses match scores until a desired confidence is reached, or until all the match scores are exhausted, before outputting the final combined score.
Periocular biometrics: databases, algorithms and directions

Periocular biometrics has been established as an independent modality due to concerns on the performance of iris or face systems in uncontrolled conditions. Periocular refers to the facial region in the eye vicinity, including eyelids, lashes and eyebrows. It is available over a wide range of acquisition distances, representing a trade-off between the whole face (which can be occluded at close distances) and the iris texture (which do not have enough resolution at long distances). Since the periocular region appears in face or iris images, it can be used also in conjunction with these modalities. Features extracted from the periocular region have been also used successfully for gender classification and ethnicity classification, and to study the impact of gender transformation or plastic surgery in the recognition performance. This paper presents a review of the state of the art in periocular biometric research, providing an insight of the most relevant issues and giving a thorough coverage of the existing literature. Future research trends are also briefly discussed.
A practical electronic instrumentation course for engineering students

A course on Electronic Instrumentation has recently been developed at the Universidad Autonoma de Madrid (Spain), which specifically emphasizes practical aspects. The objective of the course is to link theoretical principles with practical issues of electronic instrumentation through the development of a final project. First, students take practical work in several different scenarios, which are the basis for the design of an engineering project aimed to solve an electronic instrumentation problem which is set by the students. Students are exposed to a set of multidisciplinary aspects, both theoretical and practical, providing them with the ability of integrating blocks in which they have practically worked into a full instrumentation project. The course provides not only enhanced academic training but also increased student motivation, as students are encouraged to propose their own projects.
Eigen-patch iris super-resolution for iris recognition improvement

Low image resolution will be a predominant factor in iris recognition systems as they evolve towards more relaxed acquisition conditions. Here, we propose a super-resolution technique to enhance iris images based on Principal Component Analysis (PCA) Eigen-transformation of local image patches. Each patch is reconstructed separately, allowing better quality of enhanced images by preserving local information and reducing artifacts. We validate the system used a database of 1,872 near-infrared iris images. Results show the superiority of the presented approach over bilinear or bicubic interpolation, with the eigen-patch method being more resilient to image resolution reduction. We also perform recognition experiments with an iris matcher based 1D Log-Gabor, demonstrating that verification rates degrades more rapidly with bilinear or bicubic interpolation.