We investigated gaze-contingent fusion of infrared imagery during visual search. Eye movements were monitored while subjects searched for and identified human targets in images captured simultaneously in the short-wave (SWIR) and long-wave (LWIR) infrared bands. Based on the subject's gaze position, the search display was updated such that imagery from one sensor was continuously presented to the subject's central visual field ("center") and another sensor was presented to the subject's non-central visual field ("surround"). Analysis of performance data indicated that, compared to the other combinations, the scheme featuring SWIR imagery in the center region and LWIR imagery in the surround region constituted an optimal combination of the SWIR and LWIR information: it inherited the superior target detection performance of LWIR imagery and the superior target identification performance of SWIR imagery. This demonstrates a novel method for efficiently combining imagery from two infrared sources as an alternative to conventional image fusion. © 2017 Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Canada.
This study explored emotional and physiological states in response to stressful situations involving deception, and their relation to facial imaging. Male participants were evaluated (i.e., appraised) impending stressors. Stressor appraisals ranged from threat (i.e., appraisals that there are a lack of sufficient resources to meet the demands of a stressor) to challenge (i.e., appraisals that there are adequate coping resources to manage stressor demands). We used appraisals to discriminate two appraisal groups: threat versus challenge. The capacity to detect state changes of the human face was examined using several standoff sensing technologies, including 2D visible (VIS) and mid-wave infrared (MWIR) cameras. Psychophysiological determination of the human state was achieved through self-assessment and physiological measures which formed the ground truth for the classifier systems. Two deception studies, a false opinion study and a false behavior study, served as high-stakes stressors to understand facial changes with respect to human stress states. The methodology extracted MWIR statistical features from facial regions in response to changes in stress state. Using the statistical features from MWIR sensor and implementing Eigen analysis allowed classification of the threatened and challenged participants for the false behavior study with an accuracy of 85%.
In this paper, a 128x128, 34μm pixel-pitch, room temperature infrared image sensor and processor is presented. With a measured power consumption of 8.9mW (540μW / pixel) in full operating mode (image acquisition and data processing), the sensor exhibit a Noise Equivalent Temperature Difference (NETD) of 190mK at room temperature and doesn't require a Thermo-Electric Cooler (TEC). The circuit also features a novel ∑Δ Analogue to Digital Conversion architecture, 12 frames of Built-in SRAM and 128 column-wise full-custom processors that target a broad range of applications such as 2-points corrected IR camera or feature extraction for privacy-compliant presence detection, localization and counting. Built-in analogue and digital pixel-level offset pre-correction improves operability and manufacturing yields thus pushing bolometers IR technology one step forward towards high-end applications for consumer market.