Probabilistic Fingermark Quality Assessment with Quality Region Localisation

The assessment of fingermark (latent fingerprint) quality is an intrinsic part of a forensic investigation. The fingermark quality indicates the value and utility of the trace evidence recovered from the crime scene in the course of a forensic investigation; it determines how the evidence will be pr...

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Main Authors: Tim Oblak, Rudolf Haraksim, Laurent Beslay, Peter Peer
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2023-04-01
Series:Sensors
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/23/8/4006
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author Tim Oblak
Rudolf Haraksim
Laurent Beslay
Peter Peer
author_facet Tim Oblak
Rudolf Haraksim
Laurent Beslay
Peter Peer
author_sort Tim Oblak
collection DOAJ
description The assessment of fingermark (latent fingerprint) quality is an intrinsic part of a forensic investigation. The fingermark quality indicates the value and utility of the trace evidence recovered from the crime scene in the course of a forensic investigation; it determines how the evidence will be processed, and it correlates with the probability of finding a corresponding fingerprint in the reference dataset. The deposition of fingermarks on random surfaces occurs spontaneously in an uncontrolled fashion, which introduces imperfections to the resulting impression of the friction ridge pattern. In this work, we propose a new probabilistic framework for Automated Fingermark Quality Assessment (AFQA). We used modern deep learning techniques, which have the ability to extract patterns even from noisy data, and combined them with a methodology from the field of eXplainable AI (XAI) to make our models more transparent. Our solution first predicts a quality probability distribution, from which we then calculate the final quality value and, if needed, the uncertainty of the model. Additionally, we complemented the predicted quality value with a corresponding quality map. We used GradCAM to determine which regions of the fingermark had the largest effect on the overall quality prediction. We show that the resulting quality maps are highly correlated with the density of minutiae points in the input image. Our deep learning approach achieved high regression performance, while significantly improving the interpretability and transparency of the predictions.
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spelling doaj.art-201435ef41ef4dfcbd4bf6b66aa2276e2023-11-17T21:17:43ZengMDPI AGSensors1424-82202023-04-01238400610.3390/s23084006Probabilistic Fingermark Quality Assessment with Quality Region LocalisationTim Oblak0Rudolf Haraksim1Laurent Beslay2Peter Peer3Faculty of Computer and Information Science, University of Ljubljana, 1000 Ljubljana, SloveniaJoint Research Centre, European Commission, 21027 Ispra, ItalyJoint Research Centre, European Commission, 21027 Ispra, ItalyFaculty of Computer and Information Science, University of Ljubljana, 1000 Ljubljana, SloveniaThe assessment of fingermark (latent fingerprint) quality is an intrinsic part of a forensic investigation. The fingermark quality indicates the value and utility of the trace evidence recovered from the crime scene in the course of a forensic investigation; it determines how the evidence will be processed, and it correlates with the probability of finding a corresponding fingerprint in the reference dataset. The deposition of fingermarks on random surfaces occurs spontaneously in an uncontrolled fashion, which introduces imperfections to the resulting impression of the friction ridge pattern. In this work, we propose a new probabilistic framework for Automated Fingermark Quality Assessment (AFQA). We used modern deep learning techniques, which have the ability to extract patterns even from noisy data, and combined them with a methodology from the field of eXplainable AI (XAI) to make our models more transparent. Our solution first predicts a quality probability distribution, from which we then calculate the final quality value and, if needed, the uncertainty of the model. Additionally, we complemented the predicted quality value with a corresponding quality map. We used GradCAM to determine which regions of the fingermark had the largest effect on the overall quality prediction. We show that the resulting quality maps are highly correlated with the density of minutiae points in the input image. Our deep learning approach achieved high regression performance, while significantly improving the interpretability and transparency of the predictions.https://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/23/8/4006fingermarklatent fingerprintquality assessmentdeep learningquality mapprobabilistic interpretation
spellingShingle Tim Oblak
Rudolf Haraksim
Laurent Beslay
Peter Peer
Probabilistic Fingermark Quality Assessment with Quality Region Localisation
Sensors
fingermark
latent fingerprint
quality assessment
deep learning
quality map
probabilistic interpretation
title Probabilistic Fingermark Quality Assessment with Quality Region Localisation
title_full Probabilistic Fingermark Quality Assessment with Quality Region Localisation
title_fullStr Probabilistic Fingermark Quality Assessment with Quality Region Localisation
title_full_unstemmed Probabilistic Fingermark Quality Assessment with Quality Region Localisation
title_short Probabilistic Fingermark Quality Assessment with Quality Region Localisation
title_sort probabilistic fingermark quality assessment with quality region localisation
topic fingermark
latent fingerprint
quality assessment
deep learning
quality map
probabilistic interpretation
url https://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/23/8/4006
work_keys_str_mv AT timoblak probabilisticfingermarkqualityassessmentwithqualityregionlocalisation
AT rudolfharaksim probabilisticfingermarkqualityassessmentwithqualityregionlocalisation
AT laurentbeslay probabilisticfingermarkqualityassessmentwithqualityregionlocalisation
AT peterpeer probabilisticfingermarkqualityassessmentwithqualityregionlocalisation