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PHOTO: Face ID Infrared Dot Matrix

ardo111

ardo111

macrumors member
Original poster
Apr 21, 2008
31
123
Calgary, AB
Hi! First post on the forum.

I'm a photographer by trade and got my iPhone X today.

I used a 720nm infrared camera and my iPhone X 256GB (using Animoji to ensure continuous read of Face ID dot matrix projection) to capture the image on the right. The image on the left is just an iPhone X selfie for reference. :)

It really shows the layout, size and accuracy of the dots... I thought it was impressive!

Hope you enjoy!

DotMatrix2.jpg
 
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Dots are pretty big, which is surprising. I'm sure that future versions of the module will project even more tiny dots for a more accurate representation.
 
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TH3D4RKKN1GH7 said:
Dots are pretty big, which is surprising. I'm sure that future versions of the module will project even more tiny dots for a more accurate representation.
Click to expand...

I bet this amount of dots creates a pretty foolproof representation. There is about 15 dots that make up.. my eyebrow for example. With 15 points of reference on an eyebrow, it has a good idea of whose eyebrow it is and can differentiate it from others.

But yes I suppose there is room to improve — that said, this INSANE amount of dots projected by something smaller than a pencil eraser is nothing short of incredible!
 
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Aibocyrus said:
Very cool. Great idea to showcase the dot projection!
Click to expand...

Brought out my 2008, IR converted Nikon D60 and spammed the shutter while letting Face ID do its thing ... roughly one in six shots was a crisp clean dot matrix like this.

One in six were also just like an IR flood beam, maybe for face detection to then activate the (more complicated and resource-heavy) dot matrix and camera.
 
That's perfect. I was hoping to see exactly a photo like this.

It's like the face-tracking dots they used in Avatar or Tron:Legacy (or dozen of other movies) without the stick-on glue.
 
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Re: Lasers vs. Retinas...

The infrared shot was taken with 1/50th at ISO 800 and f/2.8. So a decent exposure, and the points didn't even clip the whites in the exposure. In fact they're about a full stop away from doing so (if you speak camera. If not, that means 1/2 of the way to being full-white).

So then I'd need 1/50th, f/2.8 and ISO 1600 to see these dots. From a the ambient outdoor light of a cloudy day usually being about 16x as bright as this exposure, that tells me that each of these dots are incredibly dim. To add to that, everything reflects infrared light, especially textiles and foliage. So I'd field a guess that this is no more harmful to your eyes than looking at a leafy tree on a sunny day.
 
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Outdoor infrared light distribution is even and uniform, not intensely focused. The output of the dot projector's infrared may be very low, but chronic exposure to precisely focused infrared "dots" over extended period of time (assuming a few years) x ~80 times a day, added to that the flood illuminator's IR light flashes (in low light), no body knows the cascading effects it may cause.
 
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You can really see how those IR dots create 3D depth, thus why a photo can't fool the phone. Thats why when people set up FaceID, they need to go slow to create a better 3D image rendering of themselves, and they will have less issues with this feature.
 
Ntombi said:
Fascinating! Thanks. I’ve been looking at the videos, but the still shot is great.

Welcome!
Click to expand...

Thanks! :)
[doublepost=1509947685][/doublepost]
serialiphoneuser said:
Outdoor infrared light distribution is even and uniform, not intensely focused. The output of the dot projector's infrared may be very low, but chronic exposure to precisely focused infrared "dots" over extended period of time (assuming a few years) x ~80 times a day, added to that the flood illuminator's IR light flashes (in low light), no body knows the cascading effects it may cause.
Click to expand...

Well focused or flat, luminance matters not. If I point a camera flash at your face in a big flood, then do it again but only allow one point of light through, technically the spot luminance is the same. The exposure used was measuring the focused dots. So even one focused dot is dimmer than the flooding light of an outdoor scene. My guess is your retinas then, receive more IR light (over a flat distribution) from looking around on a sunny day than they would from this dot projector, focused or otherwise.
 
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LIVEFRMNYC said:
Can you do one with Animojis, just to see the difference in what it uses?
Click to expand...

I actually used Animoji to capture this image. I was initially spamming the shutter, taking about six photos in quick succession while I woke my phone from sleep, trying to get the instant that it used the dot projector. I captured the same dot matrix with Face ID as I did Animoji, just Animoji had more consistent projection.

I think Face ID uses an infrared flood beam to check for the presence of a face and image the eyes, then initiates the dot matrix to get the 3D scan. Dot matrix alone cannot read eyes, and a flood alone obviously cannot act as a 3D scan.
 
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ardo111 said:
I actually used Animoji to capture this image. I was initially spamming the shutter, taking about six photos in quick succession while I woke my phone from sleep, trying to get the instant that it used the dot projector. I captured the same dot matrix with Face ID as I did Animoji, just Animoji had more consistent projection.

I think Face ID uses an infrared flood beam to check for the presence of a face and image the eyes, then initiates the dot matrix to get the 3D scan. Dot matrix alone cannot read eyes, and a flood alone obviously cannot act as a 3D scan.
Click to expand...

Cool, thanks for the explanation.
 
ardo111 said:
Hi! First post on the forum.

I'm a photographer by trade and got my iPhone X today.

I used a 720nm infrared camera and my iPhone X 256GB (using Animoji to ensure continuous read of Face ID dot matrix projection) to capture the image on the right. The image on the left is just an iPhone X selfie for reference. :)

It really shows the layout, size and accuracy of the dots... I thought it was impressive!

Hope you enjoy!

View attachment 731829
Click to expand...

That's wicked! Thanks for sharing :D
 
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