AimBrain combines audio, lip sync and facial authentication for new module

Apr 25, 2018 | Stephen Mayhew

Categories Biometric R&D | Biometrics News

In an effort to counter sophisticated spoofing technologies, biometric identity as-a-service platform AimBrain has introduced optional audio and lip synchronization into its facial authentication module to create AimFace//LipSync.

AimFace//LipSync provides AimBrain customers with stronger user authentication by combining facial recognition with a spoken challenge and lip movement analysis.

“We have developed an algorithm that uses both visual and audio data to detect a real person, not a presentation attack,” explained project leader Efstathios Vafeias, lead scientist at AimBrain. “By asking a user to say a randomised number to the camera, our technology now not only authenticates their face against a template but verifies that the numbers match the prompt and analyzes the synchronization between the voice and lip movement. So, as well as providing a step-change in security, this method maintains accuracy while being less susceptible to hardware or environmental changes.”

“Our lip sync technology means that to beat it, an attacker must be human, look exactly like the user and correctly say a random number, while we analyse the lip movements, within a limited timeframe,” said Andrius Sutas, CEO and co-founder at AimBrain. “The level of sophistication required for an attack goes far beyond ordinary capabilities.”

Alesis Novik, CTO and co-founder at AimBrain added that his product roadmap does not stop with lip syncing. “We are in the late stages of developing an integrated solution that combines facial authentication and voice authentication, and assigns an automatic weighting of the two, depending on the environment and context. If a user is in a noisy environment, the weighting will be on the visual side. In a dark environment, for example, the audio authentication plays a stronger part. We are nearly there and expect to launch later this year.”

It was reported earlier this month that a professor with Hong Kong Baptist University (HKBU) has been awarded a Gold Medal with Congratulations of Jury at the 46th International Exhibition of Inventions of Geneva for an authentication technique combining a password and lip motion recognition.