Objective
An increasing number of crimes and accidents have silent witnesses in the form of (surveillance and monitoring) cameras. Concurrently, developments in image processing and computer vision have enabled far more practical applications. The IMPROOFS project aims at exploiting these advances for the forensic sciences (IMPROOFS = IMage PROcessing Operations for Forensic Support).
Research teams working in the forensic sciences and computer vision have joined forces to develop new tools for forensic image processing that will complement the existing ones. The emphasis is on three strands: 1) image enhancement and restoration, 2) extracting measurements from images like lengths or heights, and even complete 3D scene layouts, and 3) person identification. These subjects have certainly been considered before in the area of forensic image processing, but three recent developments in computer vision will be brought to bear, with a wider range of applications and increased user-friendliness as a result: 1) non-linear partial differential equations (PDE's) for image filtering and image correspondence, 2) geometric methods (invariants) that do not require camera calibration in order to make measurements, and 3) snake and region based trackers for computing correspondences over video sequences.
The participating computer vision labs have contributed to these developments. They will further mould these techniques to turn them into flexible and user-friendly tools for the envisaged applications. The forensic labs will further specify the priorities for forensic image processing as the project evolves, will make sure the tools are developed on realistic data by providing real case imagery, and will look into the crucial issue of validation to safeguard the acceptability by the courts.
Switching to computer handling of the data can be considered essential per se, since it can turn forensic results from subjective assessments into objective measurements.
The consortium has been constructed as to ensure its effectiveness. There are three components: computer vision and image processing labs, organisations that give forensic support, and - as steering partners - five companies that are interested in marketing and selling the results. This construction should allow swift technology transfer to the market.
The proposers believe the issues considered can best be tackled at a European scale. This allows the scarce expertise in this specific area to be better combined, and is in keeping with the political willingness to spur more intensive collaborations between the different European police forces, as envisaged in the Maastricht treaty. On the other hand, the proposers believe that developing the tools outside the police forces will better guarantee the dissemination of the results to other fields and, not unimportantly, will guarantee the suspect's defence better accessibility to the same technology.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- engineering and technology electrical engineering, electronic engineering, information engineering electronic engineering sensors optical sensors
- natural sciences computer and information sciences artificial intelligence computer vision
- natural sciences mathematics pure mathematics mathematical analysis differential equations partial differential equations
- medical and health sciences other medical sciences forensic sciences
You need to log in or register to use this function
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Data not available
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Coordinator
3000 LEUVEN
Belgium
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.