Finalizing the objectives of the project

Last time I wanted to convince the reader of the overall intention of my project but not went into the deep level of it because I had to prepare my project proposal as a formal documentation.

Therefore, this time I will clearly define my objectives for this particular project and specially the specific and generic objectives of it as it should be in a traditional academic research based project.

The main and the generic objectives of the mentioned project are defined below,

1. Demonstrate the usability of the computational pattern recognition in the local context.
2. Develop an application software to solve a common problem which is faced by the Sri Lankans everyday in order to achieve the objective defined above.

Based on the generic objectives defined above, I came across with the following specific objectives as well.

1. Research and understand the current theoretical background for the project before the project is started actively.

2. Setting a platform to implement the proposed software application as it will greatly encourage the future researches as well.

3. Currently the most accurate face recognition systems could not go beyond the accuracy level of 95%. Therefore, my third specific objective will be to increase the accuracy of the proposed system.

4. The fourth and the last objective is to propose any enhancements that can be usefull for the future researches in order to carry out research projects in the same area of study.

The above defines the objectives of my project in a summarized form. Next step will be to define the scope of this research computing project. Let me discuss that in another day ... I am sleepy now ZZZZ ...ZZZZ..ZZZ.

Problem Definition - Lets try to break down things

Previously I tried to explain how I could come up with a common problem in our society and specifically in our tiny island. There you see that all research and new inventions get start from day dreams and childhood stories which you might think never become truth.

So the now the things are becoming more complex as I have to elaborate the real life problem in such a manner that could be formulated to get resolved by Computer Science and Engineering. Yes, I am thinking now ... what should I do to start this research mmmmm.....ok I got it !!!

First I will break down the problem in a way that could be answered in a systematic way using a particular methodology.

1. There is a Database of information about the physical appearance of all the people in the country. For research purpose, at least there should be information of a subset of people in our country.

2. Every security person is equipped with a basic digital camera (what the hell .. I don't have money buy one now. Ok I will use my good old web camera), and a computer which is running Linux on it (why not Windows? .. that's a joke right).

3. The piece of software I am dreaming of developing is also installed in that particular machine I mentioned earlier.

So, that's it. Or really is that all about it? I don't think so, let me define the process of how this particular scenario is build.

4. Now, an ordinary person in the street is going to pass through the particular check-point and the security officer who is in charge will inform the civilian to stop and explain that he need to check the identity of that particular person.

5. Unfortunately, our civilian does not hold a valid Identity card or any physical piece that can be used to prove his identity.

6. Unlike before, well equipped officer takes a photo of the person's full body using his pocket camera or even by phone camera. After that, the officer start the Particular Software and upload the photo to the system.

7. Wait for some time ....
8. Still waiting ...
9. Now my software is analyzing the photo of the civilian uploaded by the officer and taking particular measurements from it. After it has taken all the information from the image of the person, it will send it to a centralize database which is holding similar type of data of millions of people.

10. The software will go through all the patterns stored inside the DB and it will match with the pattern in hand (the patterns identified from the photo taken by the officer).

11. Now the software has found few (say 4 photos) photos from the DB that looks similar to the photo of the particular civilian in the check-point.


12. Now, again the software filters deep into the last 4 photos and finally come to a conclusion that the particular person is the same as the person who is in the DB. After this, the system can present the accurate information already stored in the database(DB) regarding the civilian and the civilian may go free.


At last ...found one similar photo ...






What do you think ... is this a good idea to implement or just a day dream of a madman? Well, I am serious about this although. I will put my findings tomorrow as well and also the help of my viewers also needed. Please don't be shy to put any comments.

Problem identification - how it all started

Well the story begins like this. Once upon a time, there was an island in the Indian Ocean namely Sri Lanka. Yes, it was a really beautiful country and the people who lived there were also friendly as well but not for a long ....until 1982-83 where it all started.

After that, until the present day there is an internal conflict going in this tiny island. Doesn't matter who is right or who is wrong but something is happening. This is not all about politics or terrorism or any of those stuff but its all about computer science and advancement of technology and nothing else.


Government of Sri Lanka and the defense forces along with the Police department of Sri Lanka is trying it's best to keep the peace, law and order inside the country and should say that they are doing a hell of a good job. As a part of their duty keep the people safe, Security forces of Sri Lanka have established road barriers (commonly known as check points) where people on the street are investigated for their identity.



Figure: An officer of Sri Lanka Defense forces confirming the identity of a civilian at a Check Point

All the people who are stopped by the officers in the check point should prove their identity and should provide accurate information regarding them. Now I can understand that those who are in western countries may not understand how this is done,there I will explain it bit more.


Example scenario #1: I am traveling through a busy roads in Sri Lanka in my car and suddenly a Police officer at a check-point signs to stop my vehicle. After that he asks me to present either National Identity Card (NID), Passport or my Driving License. Let's assume that I hand over one of those to them, then the particular officer looks at my face as well as the picture in the NID (or passport or driving license, I will just use the acronym NID to represent all of them in future) and makes sure that I am the exact person who is described in the NID.

If Mr. Police officer is satisfied enough of my identity then I am free to go.

Example scenario #2: The same steps happens as in the first scenario except that I have forgot to bring my NID (or passport, driving license). Now both of us are in trouble,
From officer's point of view, I might be a terrorist who his duty is to hold me and question me until there is evidence enough to prove that I am innocent.
But for that they will have to arrest and take me to the Police station, torture me for some time... and the list goes on. Basically both the person who is getting arrested and the security officers are helpless since they both have their own opinions.

Example scenario #3: This time I am a real culprit (a terrorist) but I have a fake NID whose claiming that I am a Teacher of a Primary School.... etc. Now the Police officer gets satisfied and let me go since he does not have a way to double check my identity.

Well I think that now you might understand what the problem here and also might wondering that "what the hell the computer science have to do with this??"
Actually, can't we think of a simple solution for this problem ... I am wondering now. Well keep guessing cause I am going to formulate a solution that might help the peace keeping officers who are in the road as well as the ordinary peace loving people in the society. Still to come ...