Just a (recognized) face in the crowd

Hockey season is upon us and that means … facial recognition tests. And no, this is not some "playoff beard" scenario.

The DHS Science & Technology Directorate's Resilient Systems Division continues to develop biometric identification technologies for a variety of uses. One of its latest biometric ID tests was conducted Sept. 21, when it tasked facial recognition software to pick volunteers out of a crowd of thousands at a hockey arena.

DHS and the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory tested the facial recognition capability at the Toyota Center in Kennewick, Wash., during the season opener of the Tri-City Americans of the Western Hockey League. The Toyota Center has been used as a long-term test bed for data collection since 2008.

During the test, DHS said PNNL collected video to see if the new software could recognize PNNL employees who had volunteered to participate in the test from among almost 6,000 faces.

PNNL posted notices around the arena to let fans know of the testing, sent letters to season ticket holders and set up "opt out" lanes people could use to avoid the test. According to reports in the Tri-City Herald in Richland, Wash., the test used recognition software to pick out a few dozen volunteers at 46 randomly purchased seats in the arena from as far away as 100 meters.

PNNL spokesman Greg Koller said the lab collected the video of the crowd after the game and sent it along to DHS, which will test it against the recognition software.

"We plan to do it a handful of more times this season," Koller said. "Different times will allow for different lighting. People wear coats and jackets," and other variables, he said.

Including those playoff beards.