In early 2025 I wrote two posts about efforts to recognize people from quite a long way away. The first was designed to recognize people one kilometer away, while the second increased the distance to 100 kilometers. At the time I vaguely remembered WHY institutions were mounting these research efforts:
“I can’t find it, and I failed to blog about it (because reasons), but several years ago there was a U.S. effort to recognize people from quite a long way away….The U.S. effort was not a juvenile undertaking, but from what I recall was seeking solutions to wartime use cases, in which the enemy (or a friend) might be quite a long way away.”
It took me two years to remember the program (BRIAR) and the agency involved (IARPA).
“The BRIAR program aims to provide the U.S. Intelligence Community with the ability to perform accurate and reliable biometric identity intelligence across a wider range of imagery and collected from a wider selection of sensor platforms.”
The program began in 2021, and we’re starting to see the results, including this latest effort.
“A multi-university research team has developed a biometric recognition system designed to identify people at long distances using not only facial recognition, but also gait and body-shape analysis captured from drones and elevated surveillance video.
“The system, called FarSight, points toward a broader form of biometric surveillance in which people may be identifiable even when their faces are partially obscured, low resolution or unavailable….
“The system was evaluated using the Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity’s (IARPA) Biometric Recognition and Identification at Altitude and Range dataset, known as BRIAR. The program is aimed at extending biometric recognition into difficult operational conditions, including severe range, altitude and image quality constraints.”
At long distances, it’s easier to capture someone’s body shape or gait than it is to capture their face. Not sure of the accuracy, though, which is why this is being studied.
Yes, there are numerous methods of proving humanity.
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