The A to Z of biometrics

Facial recognition

Facial recognition systems work by using the 80 different nodal points or landmarks on the human face - the valleys and peaks - made by features.

The list from A to Z

Click on the links below to find out more on each of the entries in the list.

A is for Accuracy
B is for Behavioural biometric
C is for Cash machine
D is for Database
E is for Ear
F is for Facial recognition
G is for Gummi bears
H is for Hand geometry
I is for Iris
J is for Juan Vucetich
K is for Keystroke dynamics
L is for Liveness testing
M is for Mobile phones
N is for Network security
O is for Oxford
P is for Palm
Q is for Queues
R is for Registration
S is for Signature verification
T is for Twins
U is for Universality
V is for Voice verification
W is for Walk
X is for X-ray
Y is for Young
Z is for Zurich Airport

These measurements include the distance between eyes, cheekbones, jaw-line or chin.

The use of this biometric is widespread and increasing - police in the UK are already investigating how to incorporate facial recognition software into a new national mugshot database.

The DVLA is also exploring whether the facial images derived from passport photographs and held in its own database can be used for machine-assisted face recognition. The UK ID cards project is also likely to use facial recognition.