Details of Grant 

EPSRC Reference:	GR/S06745/01
Title:	Synthesis of facial composites for improved suspect identification
Principal Investigator:	Pike, Professor G
Other Investigators:	Brace, Dr N
Researcher Co-Investigators:
Project Partners:
Department:	Psychology
Organisation:	Open University
Scheme:	Standard Research (Pre-FEC)
Starts:	01 April 2003	Ends:	31 March 2005	Value (£):	90,524
EPSRC Research Topic Classifications:	Cognitive Science Appl. in ICT Image & Vision Computing
EPSRC Industrial Sector Classifications:
Related Grants:	GR/S06738/01
Panel History:
Summary on Grant Application Form
Current facial composite systems used by Police Forces are time-consuming and costly and the resulting composites very variable in quality. The aim of this collaborative research programme is o explore a new method for synthesis of facial composites enabling quicker, more accurate composits to be obtained. The basic approach taken to synthesis will be through the combination of a principal components-based facial appearance model with an interactive genetic algorithm. In the first phase of the project, a graphicaly driven software system will be designed and developed at UKC to offer maximum facility for composites to be made. Tests will then be conducted with this on a sample population by our collaborators at Open under the guidance of participating police forces. In particular, quantitative assessment will be made on the ability of subjects to build both simple synthetic composites (comprising a small number of components) and real faces, both known and unknown. The second phase of the project will explore the psych/mathematical convergence of the approach by both optimisation of the algorithmic procedure itself (via a simulated witness program) and the operational variables (field trials using human particpants). A number of technical approaches will be explored including weighted PCA and Bayesian methods. Quantiative comparisons will be made between our system and existing composite technology such as E-FIT.
Key Findings
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Further Information:
Organisation Website:	http://www.open.ac.uk