Pentagon seeks to turn photos into 3-D models.

• Author: Book, Elizabeth G.
• Position: Security Beat

The Unisys Corporation's Global Public Sector, in Bell, Pa., has received a $1.23 million contract to conduct biometric research for the Defense Department. The Pentagon wants Unisys to improve the technology currently used to identify individuals from a database of two-dimensional photographs.

The contractor will work on converting photographs into a three-dimensional model with skin texture, expressions and aging, according to Greg Baroni, president of the Unisys sector. In addition, the ream will replicate the movement of real humans.

If successful, Baroni said, this program will enable authorities to make better use of thousands of photographs already on file. This, he said, will make it possible for authorities to...