A new computational methodology for the construction of forensic, facial composites

A facial composite generated from an eyewitness's memory often constitutes the first and only means available for police forces to identify a criminal suspect. To date, commercial computerised systems for constructing facial composites have relied almost exclusively on a feature-based, 'cut-andpaste' method whose effectiveness has been fundamentally limited by both the witness's limited ability to recall and verbalise facial features and by the large dimensionality of the search space. We outline a radically new approach to composite generation which combines a parametric, statistical model of facial appearance with a computational search algorithm based on interactive, evolutionary principles. We describe the fundamental principles on which the new system has been constructed, outline recent innovations in the computational search procedure and also report on the real-world experience of UK police forces who have been using a commercial version of the system. © 2009 Springer Berlin Heidelberg.