FACIAL RECONSTRUCTION- A REVIEW

Facial reconstruction is used for many years to identify skeletal remains. It is a technique employed in a forensic investigation as a last resort to recreate an individual's facial appearance from his/her skull. It is also used in the image identification of criminals and victims as well as for post-mortem identification purposes. Facial reconstruction is a way to present visual information about an unknown individual in order to stimulate the general public into recognizing the person and lead to the discovery of new evidence. In this paper an attempt has been made to review the different methods of facial reconstruction reported in the literature. There are several techniques of doing facial reconstruction, which vary from two dimensional drawings to three dimensional clay models. With the advancement in 3D technology, a rapid, efficient and cost effective computerized 3D forensic facial reconstruction method has been developed which has brought down the degree of error previously encountered.This paper will also discuss the historical developments of facial reconstruction leading to the various techniques employed today.