Night-time surveillance system for forensic 3D mapping

This paper discusses a research in the development of a night-time surveillance imaging system for forensic mapping, and the exploitation of the system for crime suspect identification. The motivation of this research was to develop a precision stereo-imaging system using an off-the-shelf imaging sensor for 3D mapping of crime suspects. The prototype surveillance imaging system consisted of a high definition video (HDV) camcorder, a 3D stereo adapter, an Infrared (IR) filter and an IR illuminator. Using the concept of stereo-photogrammetry for craniofacial anthropometric measurement, body height and distinctive body feature of a suspect can be measured accurately in 3D. This study focused on the development and calibration of the prototype for surveillance purposes. A practical system evaluation was carried out at an ATM booth where stereo-video footage of a crime scene was captured and processed. The results of the research showed that the prototype was capable of obtaining spatial data with 27.0 mm accuracy in faint-light conditions and within 3.0 m from the imaging system.