Figure 1: Face-storing database software: The problem and the solution ART (click graphic to zoom by 1.4x)

Recognizing enterprise application needs

Selecting the combination of hardware and commercially available real-time database software is a decision that almost every embedded systems designer must make. Particularly when designing facial recognition systems, engineers want database products that meet the varying needs of embedded systems used in real-time enterprise applications.

L-1 Identity Solutions Bioscrypt Division teamed up with McObject and Texas Instruments (TI) to address the challenges of creating a facial recognition system. Using the McObject eXtremeDB Fusion embedded database combined with a TI TMS320DM6446 digital media processor, Bioscrypt developed a small, high-performance face reader product.

The VisionAccess 3D face reader can store up to 60,000 facial templates and verify a persons identity in less than a second. The system accomplishes key computing tasks including image processing and facial search and matching on the device, eliminating its back-end industrial server. Leveraging the embedded platform saves on shipping costs, reduces installation complexity, and minimizes space requirements, making the Security technology unobtrusive in high-traffic workplaces such as the Venetian Macao-Resort-Hotel in Asia, which uses the face readers to authenticate its 12,000 employees.

This project illustrates how benefits such as performance, ease of development, small form factor, and low production costs are often secured early in a products life at the stage of comparing and choosing technology building blocks. Although many devices are connected via the Internet, having a local database that is fast and flexible enough to meet the many configuration options found in embedded computing systems is a must. Maintaining a secure connection with emerging enterprise solutions is critical for future success.

Quick facts

McObject LLC

Founded: 2001

Management: Steven Graves, cofounder and CEO

Headquarters: Issaquah, WA

URL: www.mcobject.com