Scientists have developed a new forensics technique in which they were able to extract images from the corneal reflections of an individual of people standing nearby. The technique can be useful while conducting criminal investigations. Researchers Rob Jenkins from the University of York in Britain, and collaborator Christie Kerr, from the University of Glasgow, conducted the experiment in which they found that faces can be reconstructed from images taken of an individual with commercial digital cameras and enhanced with off-the-shelf image-processing software.

For the experiment, the scientists used a high-end digital camera and sat five volunteers for a passport-photo-like shot, using studio lighting. All the five people where in the room even when not being clicked and stood close to the photographer to be included in the reflection off the subject's corneas. Then they asked the subjects to identify images from the reflections as well as the original digital images. Nine out of 10 volunteers were able to correctly identify from the corneal images. The group which was familiar with the five subjects were able to identify the persons with 84 percent success rate and those unfamiliar with the subjects in the photographs were able to identify with 71 percent success rate.

"The pupil of the eye is like a black mirror. To enhance the image, you have to zoom in and adjust the contrast. A face image that is recovered from a reflection in the subject's eye is about 30,000 times smaller than the subject's face. Our findings thus highlight the remarkable robustness of human face recognition, as well as the untapped potential of high-resolution photography," Jenkins said.