A new attraction has opened up at London’s Science Museum whereby visitors can have their faces scanned in 3D. It is envisaged that this will allow for the creation of the largest 3D facial database in the world. The exhibition is called “Me in 3D” and is open until 10th April 2012. So if you want to see a 3D scan of your face the pay a visit to the Science Museum before the exhibit closes up shop in April.
For many years 2D facial recognition systems have been the norm, but research into 3D facial recognition systems is now where all the work is really being done. If you are interested is learning more about presently existing 3D facial databases then take a look at (http://www.face-rec.org/databases). One quite popular and freely available dataset is GavaDB (http://gavab.escet.urjc.es/recursos_en.html) which contains 549 3D facial scans. I would imagine that within a week or two the installation at the Science Museum will have created a database of 3D scans that far exceeds the size of many detailed in the above links. According to the website the whole process takes just five minutes.
To see further information about the 3D system take a look at
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-16519269
http://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/mein3d
Dr. Daniel C. Doolan News & Photos 