Google Acquires Facial Recognition Software Company PittPatt http://tinyurl.com/3dworyl
Facial Recognition – actually identifying the person – is more advanced than facial detection – simply determining how many faces are in a shot – and is going to become an important source of postproduction metadata.
Final Cut Pro X attempts to analyze shots (optionally) for facial detection, as does Premiere Pro CS5 and later. Final Cut Pro X also attempts to derive from the size of the face, the type of shot: Wide, M, MC, etc. Right now the technology is a little “hit and miss” or basically unreliable. For now. Â These technologies will get better. Apple purchase a Swedish company last September to boost it’s efforts in Facial Recognition.
Meanwhile Google are also building up their portfolio of recognition technologies with the purchase of PittPatt.
When we get reliable Facial Detection, we’ll be able to find shots of individuals across our source media wherever they appear in a shot, and we’ll only have to apply a name once. When we get reliable facial detection, which is not yet, today.