BIOMETRIC SYSTEMS

Course objectives

General goals: To be able to design and evaluate a biometric or multibiometric system. Specific goals: To know the features and basic techniques related to physical biometric identifiers, such as face, fingerprint, iris, etc., and behavioral, such as gait, signature (dynamic), voice, typing mode, etc. Architecture of a biometric system: unimodal systems and multibiometric architectures. To be able to evaluate the performance of a biometric system according to the adopted modality: verification and identification. To be able to evaluate/assure the robustness of a biometric system against spoofing attacks (identity theft). Knowledge and understanding: Fundamentals of design of a biometric system and of the techniques to extract/match the specific characteristics for the main biometric traits. Applying knowledge and understanding: To be able to design and implement an application for biometric recognition for at least one biometric trait. Critical and judgmental capabilities: To be able to assess the performance and robustness of a biometric system to presentation attacks. To be able to transfer techniques and protocols in different contexts. Communication skills: To be able to communicate/share the requirements of a biometric system, the most suited modalities for a certain application, and the performance measures of a system. Capability of autonomous learning: To be able to autonomously get a deeper insight on the course topics, in relation to either specific/complex techniques and methods, or to biometric traits not covered in the course.

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MARIA DE MARSICO Lecturers' profile

Program - Frequency - Exams

Course program
Introduction to biometric systems (5 hours) Evaluation of a biometric system (10 hours) Performance evaluation Reliability of recognition results Main biometric traits (30 hours) Face detection Face recognition 2D and 3D Ear recognition Iris recognition Basics on fingerprints recognition Other biometrics Multibiometric systems (15 hours) Course web page: https://sites.google.com/a/di.uniroma1.it/biometric-systems/
Prerequisites
Good programming proficiency Basics of image processing (suggested)
Books
Course slides and selected readings For deeper study: A.K. Jain, P. Flynn, A.A. Ross, Handbook of Biometrics, Springer, 2008. H. Wechsler, Reliable Face Recognition Methods: System Design, Implementation and Evaluation, Springer, 2007. A.Ross, K. Nandakumar; A.K. Jain. Handbook of Multibiometrics. Springer, 2006
Teaching mode
Theoretical lessons and examples from literature
Frequency
During COVID emergency it will be possible to attend lessons online. Read details on te course page. Lezioni teoriche ed esempi dalla letteratura
Exam mode
EXAM MODALITIES Sufficient assessment must be achieved on both the project and the oral questions which will cover the entire course program. Project: design and implementation of a biometric module using MATLAB or OpenCV, in group (strongly suggested) or individual. A detailed report of the project must be prepared, which clearly points out the external sources that were used, and the points where you developed your original code to build the final application. You have to underline any design choice you had to make in order to have the application work, and a clear architecture structure to highlight the parts of code taken from libraries and the part of code developed by you. Then you have to carry out a thorough performance evaluation, possibly in verification mode, and results must be reported in the report. Finally, the oral examination includes questions about the whole course, and not only the project. Presentation to the classroom, written essay and demo regarding the project Questions on all course topics Language: Italian or English The dates on INFOSTUD refer to the deadline for submitting the project report. The date for oral examination will be agreed upon later.
Bibliography
Suggested readings at the end of each lesson
Lesson mode
Lessons are held face-to-face for a total of 5 hours per week
MARIA DE MARSICO Lecturers' profile

Program - Frequency - Exams

Course program
Introduction to biometric systems (5 hours) Evaluation of a biometric system (10 hours) Performance evaluation Reliability of recognition results Main biometric traits (30 hours) Face detection Face recognition 2D and 3D Ear recognition Iris recognition Basics on fingerprints recognition Other biometrics Multibiometric systems (15 hours) Course web page: https://sites.google.com/a/di.uniroma1.it/biometric-systems/
Prerequisites
Good programming proficiency Basics of image processing (suggested)
Books
Course slides and selected readings For deeper study: A.K. Jain, P. Flynn, A.A. Ross, Handbook of Biometrics, Springer, 2008. H. Wechsler, Reliable Face Recognition Methods: System Design, Implementation and Evaluation, Springer, 2007. A.Ross, K. Nandakumar; A.K. Jain. Handbook of Multibiometrics. Springer, 2006
Teaching mode
Theoretical lessons and examples from literature
Frequency
During COVID emergency it will be possible to attend lessons online. Read details on te course page. Lezioni teoriche ed esempi dalla letteratura
Exam mode
EXAM MODALITIES Sufficient assessment must be achieved on both the project and the oral questions which will cover the entire course program. Project: design and implementation of a biometric module using MATLAB or OpenCV, in group (strongly suggested) or individual. A detailed report of the project must be prepared, which clearly points out the external sources that were used, and the points where you developed your original code to build the final application. You have to underline any design choice you had to make in order to have the application work, and a clear architecture structure to highlight the parts of code taken from libraries and the part of code developed by you. Then you have to carry out a thorough performance evaluation, possibly in verification mode, and results must be reported in the report. Finally, the oral examination includes questions about the whole course, and not only the project. Presentation to the classroom, written essay and demo regarding the project Questions on all course topics Language: Italian or English The dates on INFOSTUD refer to the deadline for submitting the project report. The date for oral examination will be agreed upon later.
Bibliography
Suggested readings at the end of each lesson
Lesson mode
Lessons are held face-to-face for a total of 5 hours per week
  • Lesson code1041792
  • Academic year2025/2026
  • CourseComputer Science
  • CurriculumSingle curriculum
  • Year2nd year
  • Semester1st semester
  • SSDINF/01
  • CFU6