Face Recognition Vendor Test (FRVT) 2012

 

Jan. 8, 2013:  The FRVT evaluation has attracted unprecedented interest and is ongoing.  The revised schedule is as follows.  For Classes A, C and D (which process still images):  All Phase 1 submissions should be received by January 24.  The last Phase 1 report will be sent to participants by February 4.  Phase 2 will begin on February 5, and all algorithms should be sent to NIST by March 28.  The Phase 3 schedule will be announced at the end of Phase 2.  New and current participants are welcome to submit algorithms to Phases 1, 2, or 3.  

For Class V (video sequences): Phase 1 is open now, and will remain open until at least until Feb 8.  The Phase 2 schedule will be announced at end of Phase 1, and a Phase 3 will follow.

Nov. 28, 2012: Updates to the FRVT 2012 Video validation package are now available at the following link http://nigos.nist.gov:8080/frvt2012/video/frvt2012VideoValidation_updates.tar. The tar file contains two updated source files (frvt2012Video.h and .cpp), which should be copied into the validation package's src/include and src/testdriver folders respectively.

These updates have also been rolled into the complete FRVT 2012 Video validation package, which is still available here http://nigos.nist.gov:8080/frvt2012/video/frvt2012VideoValidation.tar.gz.

Oct 12, 2012: The FRVT 2012 Video validation package is now available http://nigos.nist.gov:8080/frvt2012/video/frvt2012VideoValidation.tar.gz . The purpose of validation is to ensure that NIST's execution of your SDK submission produces the expected output. The process requires you to

1. compile and link the provided validation code against your libraries,
2. run the executables, and
3. email the results to frvt2012@nist.gov.

Please see the included README file for more details. NIST will run the same validation code on your submitted SDKs and check that the results come out identical. Comments regarding the source code should be directed to frvt2012@nist.gov. 

Aug 15, 2012.   A updated FRVT 2012 Concept and API document clarifies on the number of class C that may be submitted. Two kinds of class C implementation are defined – class CN and CP which are intended to minimize different costs applied to false negative and false positive errors respectively. 

July 31, 2012.   Additional information has been provided in an updated version of the FRVT 2012 Concept and API document.

July 10, 2012: The FRVT 2012 validation package is now available. The purpose of validation is to ensure that NIST's execution of your SDK submission produces the expected output. The process requires you to 1) compile and link the provided validation code against your libraries, 2) run the executables, and 3) email the results to frvt2012@nist.gov.

Please see the included README file for more details. NIST will run the same validation code on your submitted SDKs and check that the results come out identical. Comments regarding the source code should be directed to frvt2012@nist.gov .

July 2, 2012:   The final version of the Concept, API and Evaluation plan is now available. It includes revised participation details in sections 1.11 and Annex A2.  In addition, the final version of the formal participation agreement is also available.

June 15, 2012: NIST announces the availability of the third draft Concept, Evaluation Plan, and API for FRVT 2012. The document is linked here NIST_FRVT2012_api_v07.pdf. Comments and questions should be directed to frvt2012@nist.gov.

May 15, 2012: NIST announces the availability of the second draft Concept, Evaluation Plan, and API for FRVT 2012. The document is linked here NIST_FRVT2012_api_06.pdf. Comments and questions should be directed to frvt2012@nist.gov.

April 17, 2012: NIST announces the availability of the concept, evaluation plan and API for the conduct of the FRVT 2012 evaluation. The activity is intended to evaluate face recognition algorithms with still and video imagery. The API document NIST_FRVT2012_api.pdf is now available. The first draft of this document is open for public comment until April 30, 2012.

Prospective participants in the FRVT 2012 evaluation should read, sign, and submit the participation agreement linked from FRVT2012_ParticipationApplication_v1.pdf . Questions should be directed to frvt2012@nist.gov 

Introduction

The Face Recognition Vendor Test (FRVT) 2012 continues a series of large scale independent evaluations for face recognition systems. Previous activities in the series were the FERET, FRVT 2000, FRVT 2002, FRVT 2006 and MBE 2010.  The primary goal of the FRVT 2012 is to measure advancements in the capabilities of prototype systems and algorithms from the commercial and academic communities. The FRVT 2012 aims to evaluate performance on several recognition tasks, including:

 
One-to-many identification in a set of mugshot images
One-to-one verification of visa images
Multi-sample still facial imagery
Recognition of persons in video sequences
Twins
90 degree profile-view
Gender estimation (M|F)
Age estimation (in years)
Pose estimation
Expression neutrality

Schedule

The FRVT 2012 will commence in late July 2012. Algorithms can be submitted to NIST from that time until mid December, at which time NIST will prepare test reports for publication starting by mid 2013.

Procedures and Interface Specifications

The test will be conducted according to a participation agreement, procedures and an API specification that will be released in late March 2012. This will be derived from that used for the 2D still image track of the MBE 2010.