Understanding ACE-V Latent Fingerprint Examination Process via Eye-Gaze Analysis

The latent fingerprint examiners often mark minutiae and perform a comparison of latent fingerprints with exemplar fingerprints of known identity. The interpretation of details in the fingerprints is often based on the proficiency of examiners. Different examiners discern fingerprint regions and details differently due to an unconscious choice of certain features driven by their experiences. In this study, we aim to draw inferences from the perceptual behavior by collecting eye gaze of examiners while they mark minutiae and perform comparison. The study shows the patterns observed across different forensic examiners and infers specific heuristics used by examiners to discern features. These practices could be inculcated back into an AFIS system to improve automated comparison and help train novice examiners. To draw inferences, novice and expert examiners perform latent to exemplar fingerprint comparison by following the ACE-V mechanism. During the comparison, examiners provide a value determination, quality score, and minutiae markup with respective confidences. 29 distinct examiners perform a total of 158 trials, where, the eye gaze is recorded simultaneously. Using the eye gaze fixation, we empirically find Regions of Interest (ROI) of examiners on the prints and utilize it towards developing an understanding of the search strategy.