3-D Revolutionary

The Face Behind Facial Recognition, Roberto Mariani, Ph.D.

In today’s world, many of us find it difficult to fathom our lives without the current and on-going trends of technological systems. It is not only in our personal lives that we depend on technology: major corporations, military units, and International governments rely on the integrity of technology for purposes such as mapping, tracking, identification, and security, along with many other uses. In a constantly evolving world, new technology is constantly being developed and improved upon, including Digital Imaging technology.

This technology will undoubtedly change the face of security and defense throughout the world. One of the forerunners in the technology industry is Roberto Mariani, Ph. D., recognized by Continental Who’s Who as a top constituent in the Digital Imaging Industry among International Chief Executive Officers. Roberto has excelled as CEO/CTO founder of XID Technologies Pte Ltd, a privately owned organization, and the only company in the world performing outdoor face recognition based on face synthesis technology. He is also Co-Founder of Tagit Pte. Ltd., a company that provides open-architected mobile banking and mobile commerce platform for financial institutions, travel and entertainment companies, enterprises, telecommunication companies, merchants, and their customers. Furthermore, Roberto served as former member of the research staff at the Institute for Info comm Research, A*STAR, where he invented and patented the Face Synthesis for Face Recognition. It is obvious that Roberto has found great success in the fields of Digital Imaging and Facial Recognition Systems, and it is exceedingly clear that Roberto’s experience is superior to many in his fields of endeavor. Currently, Roberto is the CEO/CTO of the innovative company, Skydoor, which strives to promote online imaging knowledge and science.

A true visionary, Roberto specializes in the technology arena with a focus in computer vision, pattern recognition, facial recognition, facial synthesis, artificial intelligence, neural networks, vision and graphics, team construction and leadership. He is extremely knowledgeable in the areas of reasoning, planning, communication, and perception. Roberto also offers his expertise in technology licensing, business models and competitive analysis as well building trust and raising funds from strategic partners.

To many outside of the Digital Imaging Industry, Facial Recognition Systems may seem like a chapter from a science fiction novel. However, Face Recognition software has been in the works since the 1960’s and has become exceedingly advanced with the advent of the 21st century, with Roberto Mariani as a contender in its foundation. Facial Recognition Systems play a huge role in security procedures, criminal apprehension, and government defense. Roberto has been instrumental in advancing this technology including the capture of video images of a scene, as well as the identification and verification of one or more persons in a scene through the use of a stored database of faces. Through the application of synthetic lighting and pose models on the image, the system can generate many models to present the face of both the past and the future. This greatly enhances its accuracy in face recognition and in turn, enables the screening of criminal suspects to be carried out more efficiently and effectively.

Roberto’s research has received funding from the Real World Computing Partnership, MITI Japan, along with support from the Electro Technical Laboratory, Tsukuba and ISS/KRDL/ LIT/I2R in Singapore. Through his research efforts, Roberto was crucial to the development of a face recognition system for the mobile robot JIJO-2 and has invented and patented face synthesis technology. The system is able to predict in real-time the appearances of a human face under varying lighting conditions; 3D poses; with/without glasses; beard and/or mustache. Additionally, Roberto has served as the representative of the Singapore government as Facial Recognition Expert at the International Biometric Expert Committee in Washington, DC. He is a regular speaker at various international events focused on entrepreneurship, technology, biometrics, and research and development. Roberto is affiliated with, and former chairman of, the Biometric Interchange Profile Committee, Singapore, NEXUS 2007, Mentor of A*STAR Incubation Center and Spinoff, Mentor Startup Singapore 2009, Image Processing Interest Group; CXO; Software CEO’s and Business Developers Living in Asia; as well as ANSES. Roberto’s proficiency has even earned him the role as a judge at the National Infocomm Awards in Singapore.

 

His accomplishments are exceedingly impressive and exemplify his vast knowledge. As a result of his dedication to the field and immense professional accomplishments, Roberto has received 15 international awards including 2 nominations and finals at the World Technology Awards in 2004 and 2006, thus it is evident why Roberto Mariani is identified with honor. His prestigious commendations include, Face Synthesis Technology, winner of Best Innovation in Biometrics of the year London, in 2002, The Defense Technology Award, Singapore, in 2002, and Top 6 Best Innovation of the Year 2003 at the Asian Innovation Awards in Singapore. His founded company XID has also been awarded as Top 15 Best Innovations of the Year, APICTA; Top 8 finalist at World Technology Award in 2006, as well as earning its place as a finalist in the Top 5 Most Promising Security Startup in the World race. Roberto has earned his Ph.D. summa cum laude (felicitations du jury) in computer vision from Institute Geograhpique National, in Paris, France. As a result of his research and innovation, Roberto has undeniably proven professional credibility with his insurmountable expertise in the field as well paid dues with his involvement and contributions along the journey to becoming a high-profile professional. Roberto consistently demonstrates traits of ambition, dedication, desire, and intelligence that have played a role in granting a seal of excellence above his peers. He is the owner of 5 patents with 4 pending patents, is a published writer of 40 publications and he does not show signs of stopping.

 

His future outlook is to continue to create new and innovative additions to the field of technology

Roberto ‘s expertise can be relied upon so that as our ever changing societies become more technologically aware, he is possibly the professional who has already conceived, patented, or invented what the wave of the future will look for. Roberto can respond and identify opportunities, and not only bring ideas to the table, but create what will be sought after. It is obvious as our continuum surges forward that much of what is, or was once, considered a challenged routine is evolving into faster and safer methods of technology. This innovation undoubtedly comes from the greats, such as Roberto who have technologically paved the path.

 

Roberto’s career has been full of success and innovation, and his future looks to create more opportunities for success. Looking ahead, Roberto hopes to continue to create new and innovative additions to the field of technology as well as lead his new company, Skydoor, to even greater successes. The next time you are watching a Sci-fi movie you may ask yourself if what you see is a work of fiction, or… has the idea already been conceived and put into practice by Roberto Mariani? ICE

Writer: Continental Who’s Who^® Member Author: Roberto Mariani