Are two views better than one? Investigating three-quarter view facial composites
Abstract
Purpose
The introduction of a three-quarter-view database in the PRO-fit facial-composite system has enabled an investigation into the effects of image view in face construction. The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of constructing full-face and three-quarter-view composites under different encoding conditions. It also examines the potential value of three-quarter-view composites that can be generated automatically from a front-view composite. The authors also investigate whether there is an identification benefit for presenting full-face and three-quarter composites together.
Design/methodology/approach
Three experiments examine the impact of encoding conditions on composite construction and presentation of composites at the evaluation stage.
Findings
The work revealed that while standard full-face composites perform well when all views of the face have been encoded, care should be taken when a person has only seen one view. When a witness has seen a side view of a suspect, a three-quarter-view composite should be constructed. Also, it would be beneficial for a witness to construct two composites of a suspect, one in full-face view and one in a three-quarter-view, particularly when the witness has only encoded one view. No benefit emerged for use of three-quarter-view composites generated automatically.
Research limitations/implications
This is the first study to examine viewpoint in facial composite construction. While a great deal of research has examined viewpoint dependency in face recognition tasks, composite construction is a reconstruction task involving both recall and recognition. The results indicate that there is a viewpoint effect that is similar to that described in the recognition literature. However, more research is needed in this area.
Practical implications
The practical implications of this research are that it is extremely important for facial composite operators in the field (police operators) to know who will make a good likeness of the target. Research such as this which examines real-life issues is incredibly important. This research shows that if a witness has seen all views of a perpetrator’s face then standard composite construction using a full-face view will work well. However, if they have only seen a single view then it will not.
Social implications
There are obvious wider societal implications for any research which deals with eyewitness memory and the potential identification of perpetrators.
Originality/value
No research to date has formally examined the impact of viewpoint in facial-composite construction.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank Krista Overliet and Sivakumar Anandaciva who assisted with the data collection for experiments one, two and four. The authors would also like to thank Michael Bromby, formerly of ABM UK for his technical assistance with PRO-fit and Duncan Robb and Jane Turnbull at Queen Margaret University College, Edinburgh for their assistance with the recruitment of participants.
Citation
Ness, H., Hancock, P.J.B., Bowie, L., Bruce, V. and Pike, G. (2015), "Are two views better than one? Investigating three-quarter view facial composites", The Journal of Forensic Practice, Vol. 17 No. 4, pp. 291-306. https://doi.org/10.1108/JFP-10-2014-0040
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2015, Emerald Group Publishing Limited