ODU sets pace to better ID a face

After the 2001 terrorist attacks, facial recognition software became one of the technologies to get fast-track federal and industry funding. It was touted as a way to identify terrorists at airports and in crowds at large events such as the Super Bowl. … But civil libertarians raised red flags over possible privacy invasions, and facial recognition, as developed so far, has proved unreliable.

Now, an ODU engineering professor wants to change the perception of the technology.

"We need 100 percent accuracy," said Vijayan Asari, an Old Dominion University professor of electrical and computer engineering. It's a lofty goal that could come out of the second-floor laboratory at ODU's Vision Lab, which Asari directs.