This article describes a computer software program that creates three-dimensional mug shots.
Dr. Arsev Eraslan, the chief scientist at the National Institute of Justice's (NIJ's) Office of Law Enforcement Technology Commercialization (OLETC), believed that he could improve upon the two-dimensional mug shots that were used by law enforcement agencies. Using off-the-shelf technology from the aerospace industry and a database of 2,000 scanned faces from the U.S. Air Force, Erslan developed a unique computer program with the capability to create a three-dimensional face. The article describes how the program works and notes that it does not require expensive equipment; it is designed to run on a personal computer equipped with a 200 MHz Pentium, processor. The program comes with an automatic composite builder to allow investigators to quickly create the three-dimensional mug shot while the victim describes the suspect. Contact information is provided.