Tag Archives: vascular biometrics

Is Your Home Security System Smart or Dumb?

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using biometrics to secure your home

Home security has rapidly evolved beyond padlocks and deadbolts. Learn more about new technologies now available to better secure your place of residence.

Remember the times, when you used to buy those giant locks with massive keys to secure your houses? Or do you know how that was replaced by one central door key, which was too big to be kept inside your pocket? It’s true that time flies, but the other side is also true that it flies with a lot of changes. Today, security systems have become less complex and more technology based.

With huge technological advancements in recent years, life has become simpler and less of a painstaking journey. One of the best advancements is the ease in security systems provided by the invention of biometrics. This has become bliss for many businessmen and professionals cautious about their belongings.

However, do you think the usage of biometrics is limited for the business purposes only? Do you think the sophistication introduced in security systems is limited only for the people who can afford it? Be it a businessman or a homeowner, anyone can use a biometric security system at a low price and save their personal content from intruders. Besides being inexpensive, the setup is convenient to use as well.

If you are still doubting biometric security systems, let’s talk about some advanced biometric techniques to help you decide whether your security system is already smart or, requires an upgrade.

1) DNA Biometric system

Each person is different, clearly explained by their DNA. Each individual’s DNA is different than any other person in the whole world. For recognising the DNA of each person, the technology goes through extensive steps.

First, the system collects references through physical parts like hair, nail, blood or saliva. Afterwards, these samples are broken into small steps which consist of VNTR. Eventually, each fragment is sorted before getting compared to different samples. Due to these exhausting steps and processes, DNA biometric systems are not used widely like other biometric systems.

2) Vein Recognition

Vein recognition (vascular biometrics) is one of the latest inventions in biometric security systems. We know veins help carry blood to the heart. This biometric technique is unique as veins are inside the human body and this system works by transmitting near-infrared light via fingers and afterwards the camera records the vein patterns. The method makes use of pattern recognition to verify the authenticity of a user.

3) 2-D Barcode Scanner

2-D barcode is used to identify different products or items rather than humans. However, an amalgamation of biometric systems with 2-D barcode scanners helps in creating better and higher-level security level for identifying human beings.

This is widely used in scanning valid IDs like passports, voting cards and more with the individual’s fingerprints on them. The device is low in weight and installation is not complicated.

4) Facial Recognition

The name is good enough to tell you about this technology. This technology is widely used because of the ability to recognize an individual without them having any physical contact with a hardware device. Cameras put on the doors scan your face and match that with the database. Besides, the hardware involved is not expensive. The technology also synchronizes well with iris recognition and fingerprint identification systems. 3-D facial recognition is an rising trend where the system analyzes the relative body organs for a better authentication procedure.

5) Voice Recognition

Voice tract and accent are two factors that make every person’s voice unique. This technology is widely used in home security systems. These systems are less expensive and don’t demand heavy equipment.

Now the question that might pop up in your mind is about recording one’s voice and using it again and again. Well, these systems are smart and ask individuals to repeat few phrases to check if the voice is the same or not.

Information technology engineering has shown further growth by leaps and bounds and there are no second thoughts about it. Taking advantage of the same is the move that you should be making right now. More advancements lead to more ways to corrupt them, thus clinging to the latest and the trusted is the best and the only option left. So, what action will you take now? Is your smart home security system smart enough or rather dumb?

Author Bio: Samar Sood is a professional Content Writer and is currently working with Sharda University. The engineer loves to blog about technology.

 

Fingerprint vs Vascular biometrics – What are the differences?

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Fingerprint vs Vascular biometrics – Are they different?

fingerprint vs vascular biometrics

Fingerprint vs Vascular Biometrics – How are they different?

In biometrics, fingerprint technology is by far the most popular and widely used modality. However, due to the evolving nature of the technology, many other biometric modalities have emerged such as vascular biometrics.  Even though they both share parts of the hand for identification purposes, these biometric modalities are quite different in how they work and their effectiveness in different environments. Continue reading →

M2SYS Receives Frost & Sullivan’s 2011 North American New Product Innovation Award for Hybrid Biometric Platform™

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Biometric recognition platform used with fingerprint, finger vein, palm vein and iris recognitionToday, Frost & Sullivan announced that M2SYS is the recipient of the 2011 North American New Product Innovation Award for Hybrid Biometric Platform™, the first scalable, multi-modal biometrics system that supports fingerprint, finger vein, palm vein, and iris recognition from a single server.  After careful evaluation of modern biometric recognition platforms, M2SYS was recognized for its ingenuity in creating a software platform that helps end users to hedge against investment risk and lower their total cost of ownership.

Frost & Sullivan recognized M2SYS and their Hybrid Biometric Platform™ multi-modal biometrics system for the award through careful evaluation against the following key benchmarks:

  • Product Innovation
  • Leverage of Leading Edge Technologies
  • Value Added Features and Benefits
  • Ability to Increase Customer ROI
  • Potential for Customer Acquisition and Market Penetration Potential

 

Released in July 2010, Hybrid Biometric Platform™ has already been deployed in many different capacities across the vertical markets that M2SYS operates in.  Many customers are already taking advantage of Hybrid Biometric Platform’s™ unique attributes by leveraging the flexibility to switch between biometric hardware devices without any additional investment in software thereby reducing capital expenditures and helping to ensure near 100% read rates for their users under any condition.  We are proud of this important recognition for Hybrid Biometric Platform™and thank Frost & Sullivan for the award.

Biometric Modalities: What makes a “Good Biometric?”

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The ear as a biometric identifierThe following is a guest post from Jason Hodge, Vice President of Business Development for SecurLinx.  SecurLinx specializes in networked biometric deployments and multi-modal biometric integration.  You can read more about biometric technology on the SecurLinx blog which can be found at http://securlinx.blogspot.com/

Iris, Retina, Face, Fingerprint, Finger vein, Palm geometry, Palm vein, gait, ear, DNA, body odor, voice, typing rhythm, signature recognition.  The range of human physical traits and behaviors offers fertile ground for scientists interested in quantifying them for use in identifying individuals.

Two main forces have influenced the selection of biometric identification modality from the near limitless choices: Convenience and Necessity.

Face and fingerprint have been by far the most convenient from both scientific and deployment perspectives.

Scientists need data to develop the algorithms that biometric systems use to identify individuals.  For face and finger, data was never a problem.  Bureaucracies have been collecting both for a century.

In deployment, it’s easy and convenient for participating individuals to interact with the technology.

Necessity, playing its usual role, has driven the development of other biometric modalities.  From a development perspective, given enough data, time and money, I suspect any definable aspect of the human anatomy could be used as a biometric identifier.

In instances where teeth are all that is known about an individual, they are used for high confidence identification.

As long as the telephone is with us as a ubiquitous communication tool, there will be significant demand for voice recognition no matter the challenges.

In order to displace finger/hand and face/eye biometrics in wide scale deployments, the newer biometric modalities will have to out-compete them on two levels, in the lab and in the market.  But in order to thrive as high value-added tools in highly specialized deployments they just need to help solve a high value problem.

Any biometric modality can be useful, especially if it’s the only one available.

Jason can be reached at Mail: blog@securlinx.com Twitter: @SecurLinx URL: www.securlinx.com

The Top 5 Reasons To Consider Fujitsu PalmSecure Biometric Technology Over Fingerprint

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fingerprint readerOk, so you readily admit you are a biometric novice.  You know that biometric identification is growing in prominence, offers many unique features and characteristics not available with other technologies like barcoding and personal identification numbers (PINs) and is an affordable option.  However, what isn’t so clear is the difference between biometric readers in addition to the when, where and why of their use.  Let’s try and shed some light on that by comparing fingerprint to palm vein biometric readers.

Fingerprint biometrics is the most widely used modality in the industry hands down.  Well over half of all the biometric deployments across the globe are for fingerprint technology and it works very well in most situations.  Despite this, fingerprint biometrics is not normally viewed within the industry as a “one-size-fits-all” solution.  There are some subtle variables to recognize and keep in mind if shopping for a biometric system and considering fingerprint as your choice of reader.  Variables that may not be obvious at first but could very well cause you to choose palm vein biometrics instead as the optimal hardware for your deployment.

You may not have considered these top 5 reasons to evauluate palm vein biometrics over fingerprint, but we assure you that they are important reasons to consider and deserve careful review before moving forward:

Reason #1 – Your workforce tends to have unfavorable skin integrity.

Many people work in industries that require the use of tools, chemicals and machines.  Industries that are heavily dependent on the hands of their workers which may compromise skin integrity.  Cuts, scrapes, scars, bruises, dryness, roughness, moisture and other skin conditions can render an individual’s fingerprint unreadable which can cause difficulties when using a fingerprint reader. Consider using palm vein technology instead which does not rely on skin integrity but instead uses near infrared light to map the vein pattern beneath your palm and uses that as the template for your biometric identification.

Reason #2 – Hygiene is of particular concern to you and your staff.

Fingerprint readers require direct contact with the sensor to scan and identify an individual.  Direct contact can lead to periodic reader cleansing especially in environments that see a high volume of use.  Palm vein readers require direct contact with a hand guide placed over the sensor, and theoretically a successful scan could be executed by simply hovering over the device. For those utilizing the hand guide however, the device is easy to clean and keep sanitary without compromising the performance of the actual biometric sensor.

Reason #3 – Maximizing return on investment.

Because fingerprint readers require direct contact with the sensor (see #2) which accelerates wear and tear on the device, the longevity of the reader tends to be shorter.  Since palm vein readers do not require direct contact with any sensor to capture biometric credentials, they tend to last longer helping you to achieve a higher return on your initial investment.

 

Reason #4 – The stigma associated with fingerprint readers.

 

 

 

 

 

Fujitsu palm vein reader

M2-PV Palm Vein Reader

 

 

 

 

 

 

One of the most important aspects of deploying a biometric identification system is communicating to employees the safety and integrity of capturing and storing their biometric template data.  There are those who consider the capture of their fingerprint visceral because of the stigma that an image being stored has the potential to be misused or stolen.  Palm vein technology uses near infrared light to read vein patterns beneath the skin so the system is non-traceable – i.e. there is no latent footprint when a person enrolls and uses this type of system.  Because vein patterns exist inside of the body, it is practically impossible to recreate someone’s biometric template.

Reason #5 – Palm vein technology is affordable.

For all of the distinct advantages that palm vein technology offers, it is an affordable alternative to fingerprint.  You may think that switching to a biometric modality that uses near infrared light through a contactless sensor to map a vein pattern beneath the skin might be wildly more expensive than fingerprint but this is not the case.  We have examples of customers who were originally using fingerprint and decided to switch to palm vein technology for one or more of the reasons listed above.

Contact us to learn more about how Fujitsu’s palm vein technology can work to your advantage if you are considering a biometric system or if you have a current system that uses fingerprint technology.

We’d like to hear from our palm vein users – how has using Fujitsu’s palm vein reader been an asset to your biometric system deployment?  Please share your thoughts in the comments section below.

 

 

M2SYS Exhibiting At This Year’s American Payroll Association Congress Trade Show

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PC-based biometric time clockIf you plan on attending the 29th Annual American Payroll Association (APA) Congress this week in Salt Lake City, please stop by our Booth (#1019) to see firsthand how RightPunch PC-based biometric time clock identification technology can interface with your payroll software to help cut costs, increase efficiencies and boost productivity.  We will be showcasing fingerprint, finger vein and palm vein biometric technology with demos and plenty of experts on hand to answer your questions.

With the ability to now seamlessly interface with Kronos, ADP, TimeForce (Qqest), Empower and Insperity workforce management platforms, RightPunch is an affordable PC-based biometric time clock that has the potential to save 2%-4% of gross payroll.  Plus, it speeds up the check-in/check-out process to boost employee productivity and it is more safe and efficient than ID cards or personal identification numbers.  RightPunch also eliminates employee time theft, reported to cost U.S. companies nearly $400 billion per year.

The hallmark themes of the APA Congress are “Competence, Compliance, Community” so what better time to educate yourself on biometric technology, which ensures compliance with labor tracking laws and offers so many benefits and a strong potential to maximize your return on investment.

Take a look at this video to learn more about one of our customers who recently implemented RightPunch biometric identification with their Kronos time and attendance software to replace paper time sheets and instantly saw a 90% efficiency increase:

 

 

 

Fujitsu and M2SYS to Hold No Cost Webinar on Benefits of Palm Vein Biometrics for Retail Loss Prevention

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Fujitsu and M2SYS are teaming up again to offer a no cost Webinar on the value of using PalmSecure Palm Vein biometric technology in retail environments to help bolster loss prevention.  The Webinar will be held on May 12th at 2 p.m. EST, to view the invitation and sign up please click on this link:

http://m2sys.com/free-loss-prevention-webinar.htm

This Webinar is the 2nd in a series of free workshops to educate retailers on the value of using PalmSecure Palm Vein biometric technology and the M2SYS Hybrid Biometric Platform in several capacities for retailers.  The first Webinar in the series was held back in March and covered the value of using Palm Vein biometric technology to eliminate time theft.  You can view a copy of the PowerPoint slides of that presentation by clicking on this link:

http://www.slideshare.net/M2SYS/slide-share-power-point-fujitsu-palm-vein-time-theft-041811

We encourage retailers, or anyone else who is concerned about the impact of shrinkage and the need to beef up loss prevention policies to attend this important Webinar.  Last year, we wrote about the problem of loss prevention and how the unique attributes of biometric technology can help to tighten role based security and establish airtight access control. In addition, PalmSecure Palm Vein biometric technology can help:

  • Lower False Returns
  • Raise Employee Accountability
  • Protect Data
  • Increase Efficiency
  • Identify High-Risk Individuals
  • Prevent Unauthorized Access
  • Establish Concrete Audit Trails

 

Space is limited for this Webinar so please reserve your spot today!

 

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The Impact of Fujitsu’s Slimmer and Faster Palm Vein Sensor on the Biometrics Industry

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In case you missed it, last week Fujitsu Frontech released a smaller, slimmer and faster vascular palm vein reader that promises to be small enough to add biometric recognition user authentication in laptop computers and other electronic components.  This is a significant announcement for the evolution of vascular palm vein sensor technology proving that Fujitsu continues to innovate in the field and encourage the widespread adoption of this technology throughout the industry.

If you recall, vascular biometric technology does not rely on fingerprints for identification purposes, so the integrity of the skin is not an issue.  Instead, vascular biometrics uses a near infrared light to map and capture vein patterns beneath the skin and then uses that image as the basis for individual identification.  In most cases, fingerprint technology works well but has proved to not be a “one size fits all” biometric modality especially in cases where end users may have cuts, scrapes, scars and bruises or fall under a certain age or ethnic demographic.

With the release of the new, slimmer palm vein sensor Fujitsu has opened the door for laptop, notebook and electronic device manufacturers to adopt a vascular  authentication modality for their components essentially providing what is arguably one of the most reliable and accurate biometric technologies to a wider array of products.  Fujitsu also stated that the new palm vein sensor technology has significant improvements in speed and functionality over previous sensors.  This is significant news and will most likely continue to catapult the rapid growth of palm vein vascular biometrics into the higher echelon of biometric modalities.

We have already discussed how palm vein and vascular biometrics has impacted healthcare and membership management and why its important to consider this technology if you are searching for a biometric identification system for your business.  Now that Fujitsu has released the new palm vein sensor technology, we hope to soon be writing about how this technology has helped to increase security on laptops and electronic devices and the continued proliferation of vascular biometric identification within many vertical markets.

What are your thoughts on Fujitsu’s new, slimmer and faster palm vein sensor?

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