GB2161667A - Portable facial image synthesiser - Google Patents

Abstract

A portable facial image synthesiser consisting of a box 1 containing a small T.V. camera 2 directed towards a device (7) which temporarily supports alternative illustrations of eyes, noses and mouths. Controls outside the box allow a witness, or a police-operator, to alter the mutual orientation, or distance apart of the facial parts, so altering the apparent width, separation and size of the facial elements as seen on an external television screen, which may be situated in the witness's home or in a police station, until the witness is satisfied that a likeness has been achieved. Two voltage controls (6) outside the box allow the adjustment of the relative illumination of the facial features and the background so as to assist the illusion of coalescence of the separate parts of the facial image. A permanent record of the synthesised face is obtained by photographing the television screen. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION A portable facial image synthesiser This invention relates to a device intended to help witnesses to recall the faces of criminals in order to assist the Police.

Several methods for assisting facial recall already exist. One well-known method, popular in the U.K.

requires the witness to select - from illustrations of many hundreds of alternative noses, eyes and mouths-those which he can recall as having been present in the face of a criminal previously seen. The selected elements are then assembled in jig-saw fashion under the witness's supervision to create a portrait of the criminal.

An obvious limitation of such a jig-saw method is that it cannot allow the distances between facial features (e.g. mouth line to eye-line) to be altered to accord with the witness's memory. The present invention is specifically designed to allow such distances (and indeed general facial proportions) to be altered.

It may also be argued that such currently available methods make unreasonable demands on the witness's ability to remember the individual disembodied details of a face. Research has shown, as explained in the applicant's book "The Human Face" (Constable 1974), that the face tends to be apprehended as a whole - as a single total configuration - rather than as a collection of separate individual parts. The present invention provides the witness, from the outset, with an image of a whole and complete face and makes no assumptions about the witness's ability to analyse the face and to subdivide it into its constituent parts.

In the Facial Synthesiser to be described, the facial image is displayed to the witness on a television screen, at first vaguely and indistinctly, but later more clearly as his confidence and certainty grows.

The witness is invited to look at the unclear facial image and to suggest any alterations to the face, either in overall size or shape, or in the size, shape or position of individual features which occur to him as being necessary as he continues to watch the image on the screen. The alterations which the witness suggests are brought about by the operation of simple controls which may be manipulated either by the witness himself or by a Police officer. These controls alter the position of the eyes or nose or mouth within the facial outline. They also allow the apparent width of these features or the distance between them to be altered. Means are also provided for altering the shape of the facial outline itself and for adding auxiliary items such as ears, beards, hair and headdress.The image modifiability which this new system allows means that only a relatively small number of facial parts are required in order to allow an almost infinite number of "faces" to be synthesised.

Finally, a permanent record for Police purposes of the synthesised face is achieved by photographing the screen either by Polaroid (RTM) or by conventional camera.

The new invention exploits the applicant's discovery that a highly acceptable impression of a human face is produced by the simple juxtaposition of detached and separately-represented facial parts, provided that these are viewed, not directly, but as an image on a television screen. The coalescing effect, on which this illusion of a whole, complete face depends, is much enhanced if care is exercised in keeping the illumination of facial parts and background at a similar level and if use is made of the contrast and brightness controls on the receiver and the aperture control on the camera.

The present invention comprises three major sections: 1 ) A small television camera mounted in a box the interior of which is controllably illuminated.

2) In the same box and in the line of sight of the T.V. camera there is a "facial feature holder" whose purpose is, temporarily, to support illustrations of alternative examples of eyes, noses, mouths, and other facial details in appropriate relative positions.

The "facial feature holder" is so constructed as to allow the distances between the facial parts and their orientations relative to each other and to the line of sight of the camera to be altered by means of controls external to the box.

3) Interposed between the camera and the "facial feature holder" is a movable transparent plate on which has previously been lightly marked an approximately-elliptical facial outline, those parts of the plate which are outside the outline being rendered relatively less transparent by shading. This plate is movable along the camera's line of sight as well as being rotatable and tiltable. Moving the plate allows the apparent shape and the overall size of a face which has already been generated by the use of the "facial feature holder", to be altered. A second auxiliary transparent plate allows the addition of ears, hair, beard and headdress. A slot is provided in the roof of the box to allow the Facial feature holder, the Facial outline plate and the Auxiliary plate all to be movable in a direction parallel to the camera's optic axis.The output cable from the television camera is connected either to a television monitor or receiver which may be situated in a Police station or to a domestic T.V. receiver situated in the witness's own home. The whole equipment is designed to be sufficiently robust to allow its being transported frequently and, perhaps in certain instances, continually in certain Police vehicles.

A specific embodiment of the invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 shows, in perspective, the facial image synthesiser with connections to an external television receiver (4) and to an electric mains supply (3).

Figure 2 shows the "facial feature holder" (7) which provides support for separate illustrations of eyes, nose, and mouth which may be attached to one or other of the plates (14, 15,16) fixed to the bases of its three independent concentric shafts.

Figure 3 illustrates how a quite different facial image may be presented to the television camera without changing the facial feature illustrations. In diagram 'A' the rotary motion is exploited to narrow the apparent distance between the eyes. In diagram 'B' the axial movement has been used to lift the mouth closer to the nose.

Referring to the drawing (Figure 1) the "Facial Image Synthesiser" comprises a protective carrying box (1) in which is mounted a black-and-white television camera (2) movable along the direction of its optic axis and provided with connecting cables to mains (3) and external T.V. monitor or receiver (4).

The interior of the box is illuminated by two pairs of mains-driven lamps (5) the light intensity of each pair being controllable by a voltage controller (6) mounted outside the box. Along the line of sight of the television camera there is a "facial feature holder" (7) which is also illustrated in detail in Figure 2, which consists of three concentric hollow shafts (8,9, 70) of different diameters and lengths, mounted vertically and capable of being independently rotated horizontally and also of being moved, independently, axially (i.e. vertically). At the upper ends of each of these shafts there is attached a small lever (11 ,1 12, 13) to facilitate independent movement of each shaft either by the operator or the witness.Examples of the effects of these axial and rotatory movements of the shafts on the total image of the face are illustrated in Figure 3.

Means are provided for temporarily attaching illustrations of individual facial features (e.g. eyes, nose, mouth) to the lower ends of one or other of the three separate rotatable shafts (14, 15, 16).

Access to the lower ends of these vertical shafts is provided through the side of the box (normally closed) both for attaching the facial features and for adjusting the camera.

Between the camera (2) and the "facial feature holder" (7) is interposed a transparent "facial outline plate" (17) on which is marked an elliptical facial outline, and which is rendered less transparent in those areas which lie outside the outline. This plate is mounted by means of a universal joint (18) and is provided with an operating handle (20) so as to be movable in almost all directions. The transparent plate is also capable of being moved along the camera axis. The combined effect of these two kinds of mobility (as illustrated in Figure 4) is to allow the production on the television screen of an image of the outer boundary to the face which may be large or small, long, short, wide, narrow, round, pear-shaped or elliptical.

Also in the line of sight of the camera is a second transparent "auxiliary plate" (19) with handle (21) on which may be marked, or to which may be affixed, representations of ears, hair, beard or headdress and whose position in the slot relative to the facial feature holder may be changed as required. This auxiliary plate, as well as the facial outline plate, and the facial feature holder are all rendered free to move in a direction parallel to the optic axis of the camera by their being mounted in a slot (22) cut in the roof of the box.

Claims (7)

1. A portable Facial-Image Synthesiser comprising an internally illuminated box containing a small T.V. camera whose output cable is connectable to an external T.V. receiver or monitor, the camera being variably focussable on a facial feature supporting device within the box to which are attachable representations of eyes, nose and mouth, each such feature being separately movable by controls outside the box.

2. A portable Facial Image Synthesiser as claimed in claim 1, wherein the independent movement of the facial features is achieved by the provision of concentric cylinders of different lengths, to the projecting lower ends of which may be temporarily attached pictures of alternative facial elements, each of these cylinders being separately movable both axially and by horizontal rotation.

3. A portable Facial Image Synthesiser as claimed in claim 1 or claim 2 in which means am provided for controlling the relative illumination of facial features and background by two voltage controlling devices.

4. A portable Facial Image Synthesiser as claimed in claim 1, claim 2 or claim 3 wherein a movable sheet of slightly abraded transparent material, obscured by paint except for a central elliptical area, is interposed between the camera and the facial feature device.

5. A portable Facial Image Synthesiser as claimed in claim 1, claim 2, claim 3 or claim 4, wherein a second movable sheet of transparent material is interposed between camera and background in the line of sight of the camera and to which illustrations of hair, spectacles, beard or other auxiliary facial details may be affixed.

6. A portable Facial Image Synthesiseras claimed in any preceding claim wherein photographic representations of facial features are temporarily attachable by adhesive putty to small metal patches permanently fixed to each of the projecting lower ends of the concentric cylinders.

7. A portable Facial Image Synthesiser substantially as described herein with reference to Figures 1-4 of the accompanying drawing.