Detecting a double can be done by comparing and contrasting photos to identify physical differences. This is a method of general acceptance that would seem to meet the requirements of the Frye Test discussed below.
... The first step is to ... find and select images to be able to proportion the best photos for quality and range, and provide measurements and comparisons...To make a comparison between two different periods was therefore necessary to lay down some markers, comparing the best available images of the same subject and carried out in rapid succession. As a basis for determining the proportions and be able to do work was sacrificed an important aspect in the identification: the distance interpupillare [between the pupils]...
Fabio Gigante Andriola and Alessandra, ASK WHO WAS THE "BEATLE", 15 July 2009
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... A German forensic pathologist studied hundreds of Hussein photos and videotapes, concentrating on his mustache and eyebrow measurements. Then he used computer software to locate specific points such as the tip of his nose and the cheekbone creating a face print which was compared to the Hussein photographs. His conclusion: that there are three Hussein impersonators, all with small, distinct differences.
Tatiana Morales, CIA: Man On Tape Is Saddam, March 21, 2003
In 2003, German television network ZDF broadcast claimed that Iraq's former president Saddam Hussein was frequently replaced with doubles for TV appearances. This analysis was based on sophisticated measuring techniques, which detected discrepancies in the position of Hussein's facial features and blemishes from appearance to appearance. It was supported by the opinion of Jerrald Post, the man who created the CIA's Psychological Profile Unit.[22] ...http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_decoy
Is Kim Jong Il dead? Yes, North Korea’s “Dear Leader” is no more, having passed away in the fall of 2003, writes Waseda University professor Toshimitsu Shigemura in Shukan Gendai... In the spring of 2006, says Shigemura, American spy satellites succeeded in photographing Kim. An analysis of the photographs led to an astonishing conclusion: Kim had grown 2.5 cm!...
Biometrics refers to methods for uniquely recognizing humans based upon one or more intrinsic physical or behavioral traits...http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Recognition_of_human_individuals
Biometric characteristics can be divided in two main classes:
Physiological are related to the shape of the body. Examples include, but are not limited to fingerprint, face recognition, DNA, hand and palm geometry, iris recognition, which has largely replaced retina, and odor/scent.
Behavioral are related to the behavior of a person. Examples include, but are not limited to typing rhythm, gait, and voice. Some researchers[1] have coined the term behaviometrics for this class of biometrics.
Strictly speaking, voice is also a physiological trait because every person has a different vocal tract, but voice recognition is mainly based on the study of the way a person speaks, commonly classified as behavioral.
Using photographs for biometrical analyses would seem to satisfy the strenuous Frye Test, which is a "general acceptance test ... to determine the admissibility of scientific evidence in United States Federal courts. It provides that expert opinion based on a scientific technique is admissible only where the technique is generally accepted as reliable in the relevant scientific community...
To meet the Frye standard, scientific evidence presented to the court must be interpreted by the court as "generally accepted" by a meaningful segment of the associated scientific community. This applies to procedures, principles or techniques that may be presented in the proceedings of a court case..." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frye_standard
Please note that Frye is no longer the standard for US federal courts, but it remains the standard in a number of states.
... [T]he Supreme Court's decision in Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, Inc., 509 U.S. 579 (1993), held that the adoption of the Federal Rules of Evidence had superseded the Frye decision as the standard for determining the admissibility of expert evidence in federal courts...
Arvin Maskin, Konrad Cailteux, The Supreme Court Establishes Standard of Review for Daubert Decisions and Reaffirms District Court
Ear biometrics have also been proposed as a means of identifying a double:
...When employing face or lip as a biometric, changing of their appearance with the expression of the subject creates problem but in case of ear the shape and appearance is fixed.Md. Mahbubur Rahman, Md. Rashedul Islam, Nazmul Islam Bhuiyan, Bulbul Ahmed, Md. AminulIslam, Person Identification Using Ear Biometrics
...Identification by ear biometrics is promising because it is passive like face recognition, but instead of the difficulties to extract face biometrics, it uses robust and simply extracted biometrics like those in fingerprinting. The ear is a unique feature of human beings. Even the ears of “identical twins” differ in some respects. There are persons in crime laboratories that assume that the human external ear characteristics are unique to each individual and unchanging during the lifetime of an adult...
... All we have two, one by ear, but the characteristics are different for every human being. "In Germany, a recognition procedure craniometrico, identification of the right ear even tantamount to fingerprint, ie the collection of fingerprints," recalls Carlesi. But what trago? It is the small cartilage covered with skin that overhangs the entrance to the ear and ear canal, like the whole ear, not be changed surgically ...Fabio Gigante Andriola and Alessandra, ASK WHO WAS THE "BEATLE", 15 July 2009
Facial recognition software could also be used to identify a double. For example, Phantomas
is a robust Facial Recognition software that derives its information from 1,700 characteristics in the face to generate a template guarantying constant accurate recognition regardless of image quality. Headshots, composites (either hand drawn or computer generated), or even a frame captured from a surveillance video system can be used...It is based on high performance facial recognition technology that automatically sorts the image database according to similarities, presenting only a specific selection of images on the monitor. The selected images are displayed according to special ranking. They are ranked by the degree of similarity to the original image or picture...It encompasses global and fully neural face recognition, which eliminates identification impairments that can occur by a change, addition or removal of glasses, beards, hairstyles or even the signs of ageing (sic)...
While admittedly not as robust as Phanomas, it is interesting that some facial recognition software only found a 65-74% match for pictures that were both supposedly of Paul McCartney.
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