Preface

The next Face Recognition Vendor Test (FRVT) was originally scheduled to begin in the September/October 2005 time frame. However, the start date for the FRVT project has changed to 30 January 2006. Therefore, the name of the project has changed accordingly to FRVT 2006. All references to FRVT 2005 on this website have been changed to FRVT 2006, although they refer to the same evaluation.

Introduction

The Face Recognition Vendor Test (FRVT) 2006 is the latest in a series of large scale independent evaluations for face recognition systems. Previous evaluations in the series were the FERET, FRVT 2000, and FRVT 2002 (see www.frvt.org). The primary goal of the FRVT 2006 is to measure progress of prototype systems/algorithms and commercial face recognition systems since FRVT 2002. FRVT 2006 is planning to evaluate performance on:

  • High resolution still imagery (5 to 6 mega-pixels)
  • 3D facial scans
  • Multi-sample still facial imagery
  • Pre-processing algorithms that compensate for pose and illumination

To guarantee an accurate assessment, the FRVT 2006 will measure performance with sequestered data (data not previously seen by the researchers or developers). A standard dataset and test methodology will be employed so that all participants are evenly evaluated. The government will provide both the test data and the test environment to participants. The test environment is called the Biometric Experimentation Environment (BEE). The BEE is the FRVT 2006 infrastructure. It allows the experimenter to focus on the experiment by simplifying test data management, experiment configuration, and the processing of results.

The FRVT 2006 is being conducted by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and will start on 30 January 2006. FRVT 2006 is not currently planning to be a NIST Patriot Act certification; however, the results of FRVT 2006 may be used in designing future NIST Patriot Act certifications.

One of the goals of the FRVT 2006 is to independently determine if the objectives of the Face Recognition Grand Challenge (FRGC) are achieved. The FRGC is a separate algorithm development project designed to promote and advance face recognition technology that supports existing face recognition efforts in the U.S. Government. One of the objectives of the FRGC is to develop face recognition algorithms capable of performance an order of magnitude better than FRVT 2002. The FRGC is being conducted from May 2004 through March 2006. FRGC data is available to potential FRVT 2006 participants to assist in preparing for the FRVT 2006. Organizations can participate in the FRVT 2006 without formally participating in FRGC. However, to obtain FRGC data, potential participants must sign the required licenses and follow FRGC data release rules. To request a FRGC data set, please follow directions for participating in FRGC found on the "FRGC Webpage."

FRVT 2006 Eligibility

Face recognition technology researchers and developers from companies, research institutions, and academia are eligible to participate.

The formal registration period for applying to participate in FRVT 2006 has ended. To sign up to receive FRVT 2006 email updates, please go to Request Information.

The FRVT 2006 Test Director is Dr. Jonathon Phillips. However, all questions relating to FRVT 2006 should be addressed through the Frequently Asked Questions page.

Participants

The following organizations are participating in the FRVT 2006 evaluation:

  • Animetrics, Inc.
  • Carnegie Mellon University
  • Cognitec Systems GmbH
  • Diamond Information Systems (DIS)
  • Geometrix, Inc.
  • Guardia
  • Identix, Inc.
  • Neven Vision
  • New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT)
  • Nivis, LLC
  • Old Dominion University
  • Panvista Limited
  • Peking University, Center for Information Science
  • PeopleSpot Inc.
  • Rafael Armament Development Authority Ltd.
  • SAGEM SA
  • Samsung Advanced Institute of Technology (SAIT)
  • Tsinghua University
  • Tili Technology Limited
  • Toshiba Corporation
  • University of Houston
  • Viisage

Agency Participation

While the FRVT 2006 is being conducted by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), it is jointly sponsored by five other U.S. Government agencies who share NIST's interest in measuring the improvements in face recognition technologies:

  • Federal Bureau of Investigation
  • Intelligence Technology Innovation Center
  • National Institute of Justice
  • National Institute of Standards and Technology
  • Technical Support Working Group
  • U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Science & Technology
  • U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Transportation Security Administration