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Brainy new biometric ideas studied by HUMABIO project
TECHNOLOGY TECHNOLOG Y
www.biometrics-today.com
ISSN 0969-4765 February 2009
iris recognition
Contents
Iris at a distance not yet mature enough, says UAE
T
he Ministry of Interior in the United Arab Emirates has told Btt that it tested and subsequently rejected Iris at a Distance technology, having trialled it at Abu Dhabi International Airport. An iris recognition system is already in place at entry and exit points across the UAE to ensure that previous expellees are not able to reenter the country. This system – and the iris at a distance technology under trial – was supplied by biometric supplier IrisGuard. According to Major-General Ahmed Nasser Al Raisi, Director of Central Operations at Abu Dhabi Police: “The iris system is very important for our security, but we are always looking at new technologies and trying to find the easiest solution that can work without keeping people waiting.” Advantages of iris at a distance technology are well documented – although clearly the
technology is not without technical challenges. Predominantly the iris-at-a-distance technology is designed to be easier to use compared to traditional iris recognition techniques. The UAE’s existing system has been upgraded to use dual eye cameras, and has so far caught in excess of 325,000 people attempting to illegally re-enter the country. Al Raisi told Btt that whilst 100% accuracy would be ideal, even a system performing at 75% accuracy would have been acceptable. Unfortunately, the iris at a distance technology did not achieve even these levels and was deemed by both the supplier and the UAE as unacceptable. According to Al Raisi, the UAE will soon be testing Iris-on-the-Move technology from an un-named supplier. This too, will be tested at Abu Dhabi International Airport.
alternative biometrics
A
News Highlights Iris at a distance not yet mature enough, says UAE 1 Brainy new biometric ideas studied by HUMABIO project
1
Sony aims for the jugular in vein market
2
IARPA seeks BEST biometrics
3
Animetrics to bring facial biometrics to the iPhone
4
Biometrics on the move in Australia
5
Business Watch Suprema’s revenue jumps by 100% on 2007
6
Precise Biometrics shows strong cash flow for 2008
6
Nuance and IBM voice agreement
6
Features
Brainy new biometric ideas studied by HUMABIO project lthough a long way from the biometric mainstream, European researchers are studying the use of sensors to identify individuals through their unique brain patterns and heart rhythms. The EU-funded HUMABIO research project is looking at new types of biometrics and is combining these with the latest sensor technologies. This includes using electrocardiograms (ECGs), which record heart rhythms, and electroencephalograms (EEGs), which record brain patterns, to identify people. According to an article originating from ICT Results (http://cordis.europa.eu/ictresults), the researchers have come up with prototype
TODAY
biometric
headgear which includes two electrodes to take the readings. This technology is still at pre-commercial, proof-of-concept stage and might take several years before becoming widely used. “Unobtrusiveness was one of the most important aspects of what we were trying to achieve,” says project coordinator Dimitrios Tzovaras, “but a lot of work will need to be done on the EEG and ECG sensors to make them unobtrusive”. The project is delighted with the results to date, however, and Tzovaras says: “This is the first time this type of biometric has been used for identification, and it solves most of the problems other biometric systems face.” Continued on page 2...
The evolution of airport screening technology
7
TURBINE: Trusted revocable biometric identities
8
Survey Dynamic Signature Recognition: A sign of the times
10
Regular Items News in brief Events calendar Editor's comment
3-6 5 12
ISSN 0969-4765/09 © 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. This journal and the individual contributions contained in it are protected under copyright by Elsevier Ltd, and the following terms and conditions apply to their use: Photocopying Single photocopies of single articles may be made for personal use as allowed by national copyright laws. Permission of the publisher and payment of a fee is required for all other photocopying, including multiple or systematic copying, copying for advertising or promotional purposes, resale, and all forms of document delivery. Special rates are available for educational institutions that wish to make photocopies for non-profit educational classroom use.
NEWS Continued from page 1... Editorial Office: Elsevier Ltd The Boulevard Langford Lane Kidlington Oxford OX5 1GB, UK Tel: +44 (0) 2920 560458 Fax: +44 (0) 1865 843933 Email: [email protected] Website: www.biometrics-today.com Editor: Mark Lockie Programme Editor: Steve Barrett Production Editor: Lin Lucas Subscription Information An annual subscription to Biometric Technology Today includes 10 printed issues and online access for up to 5 users. Prices: 991 for all European countries & Iran US$1072 for all countries except Europe and Japan ¥131 700 for Japan (Prices valid until 31 December 2009) To subscribe send payment to the address above. Tel: +44 (0)1865 843687/Fax: +44 (0)1865 834971 Email: [email protected], or via www.biometrics-today.com. Subscriptions run for 12 months, from the date payment is received. Periodicals postage is paid at Rahway, NJ 07065, USA. Postmaster send all USA address corrections to: Biometric Technology Today, 365 Blair Road, Avenel, NJ 07001, USA This newsletter and the individual contributions contained in it are protected under copyright by Elsevier Ltd, and the following terms and conditions apply to their use: Permissions may be sought directly from Elsevier Global Rights Department, PO Box 800, Oxford OX5 1DX, UK; phone: +44 1865 843830, fax: +44 1865 853333, email: [email protected]. You may also contact Global Rights directly through Elsevier’s home page (www.elsevier.com), selecting first ‘Support & contact’, then ‘Copyright & permission’. In the USA, users may clear permissions and make payments through the Copyright Clearance Center, Inc., 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, USA; phone: +1 978 750 8400, fax: +1 978 750 4744, and in the UK through the Copyright Licensing Agency Rapid Clearance Service (CLARCS), 90 Tottenham Court Road, London W1P 0LP, UK; phone: +44 (0)20 7631 5555; fax: +44 (0)20 7631 5500. Other countries may have a local reprographic rights agency for payments. Derivative Works Subscribers may reproduce tables of contents or prepare lists of articles including abstracts for internal circulation within their institutions. Permission of the Publisher is required for resale or distribution outside the institution. Permission of the Publisher is required for all other derivative works, including compilations and translations. Electronic Storage or Usage Permission of the Publisher is required to store or use electronically any material contained in this journal, including any article or part of an article. Except as outlined above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written permission of the Publisher. Address permissions requests to: Elsevier Science Global Rights Department, at the mail, fax and email addresses noted above. Notice No responsibility is assumed by the Publisher for any injury and/or damage to persons or property as a matter of products liability, negligence or otherwise, or from any use or operation of any methods, products, instructions or ideas contained in the material herein. Because of rapid advances in the medical sciences, in particular, independent verification of diagnoses and drug dosages should be made. Although all advertising material is expected to conform to ethical (medical) standards, inclusion in this publication does not constitute a guarantee or endorsement of the quality or value of such product or of the claims made of it by its manufacturer.
02265 Printed by Mayfield Press (Oxford) Ltd.
2
Biometric Technology Today
Other new types of biometrics the project has been working on are much closer to commercialisation. These include analysis of gait, or the way people walk and carry themselves, and analysis of seated posture. The project has also been enhancing facial and voice recognition techniques, and putting everything together into a multimodal biometric identification system which is more secure than the unimodal biometrics that comprise it. The new technologies developed by HUMABIO were tested in three pilot projects. The first was in a truck provided by one of the project’s industrial partners, Volvo. It combined facial and voice recognition with posture recognition via a seat cover fitted with a new type of inbuilt sensor for analysing how the driver sits. The system continually updates the driver’s biometric information both to warn if there is a change of driver, possibly following a hijack, and to make sure the driver is fit to drive. A second pilot was at the Euroairport in Basel, with voice, facial recognition and gait recognition being used to provide on-the-go authentication of airport personnel, such as security guards and airline pilots. The third demonstration, in a laboratory at Stuttgart, used biometric authentication to restrict access to a specific, high-value machine which can only be used by trained, authorised personnel. “In the first pilot, the seat cover was as comfortable as a normal [one], and the facial and voice sensors did not bother the driver at all. In the other two pilots, people at the airport and lab were able to move around freely in the monitored areas while their identities were authenticated. The goal of unobtrusiveness was attained, while security and safety was considerably enhanced compared to conventional systems,” says Tzovaras. The truck pilot was so successful that Volvo is now planning to install the authentication
system on all its trucks, and other parts of the system, such as the enhanced facial recognition camera, are also on the way to being commercialsed. While work is still needed on some of the technologies, there are working prototypes for all of them including EGC/EEG, which Tzovaras believes will one day be integrated into sophisticated biometric systems that terrorists and criminals will find it next to impossible to fool. HUMABIO is funded under the ICT strand of the Sixth Framework Programme for research.
vein
Sony aims for the jugular in vein market
S
ony is entering the vein market – to compete with market leaders Hitachi and Fujitsu – and has announced a compact sized, finger vein product called “mofiria”. The apparently user-friendly technology is designed to offer quick response and high accuracy, the company claims, and comes in a compact size for mounting on mobile devices such as a personal computer or mobile phone. Sony claims that compared to the other biometric authentication techniques, vein authentication technology has certain advantages, including higher forgery resistance and biometric stability over the years. However, Sony claims that the weak point of conventional vein authentication systems is their size, speed of authentication, their need for a finger or hand guide, and their relatively high cost. In contrast, Sony’s device, it was claimed at the 4th ETSI Security Workshop in Sophia Antipolis in January, will have a sensor of less than one millimetre in diameter, will be faster
Image of Reflective dispersion method
February 2009
www.biometrics-today.com
ISSN 0969-4765 February 2009
iris recognition
Contents
Iris at a distance not yet mature enough, says UAE
T
he Ministry of Interior in the United Arab Emirates has told Btt that it tested and subsequently rejected Iris at a Distance technology, having trialled it at Abu Dhabi International Airport. An iris recognition system is already in place at entry and exit points across the UAE to ensure that previous expellees are not able to reenter the country. This system – and the iris at a distance technology under trial – was supplied by biometric supplier IrisGuard. According to Major-General Ahmed Nasser Al Raisi, Director of Central Operations at Abu Dhabi Police: “The iris system is very important for our security, but we are always looking at new technologies and trying to find the easiest solution that can work without keeping people waiting.” Advantages of iris at a distance technology are well documented – although clearly the
technology is not without technical challenges. Predominantly the iris-at-a-distance technology is designed to be easier to use compared to traditional iris recognition techniques. The UAE’s existing system has been upgraded to use dual eye cameras, and has so far caught in excess of 325,000 people attempting to illegally re-enter the country. Al Raisi told Btt that whilst 100% accuracy would be ideal, even a system performing at 75% accuracy would have been acceptable. Unfortunately, the iris at a distance technology did not achieve even these levels and was deemed by both the supplier and the UAE as unacceptable. According to Al Raisi, the UAE will soon be testing Iris-on-the-Move technology from an un-named supplier. This too, will be tested at Abu Dhabi International Airport.
alternative biometrics
A
News Highlights Iris at a distance not yet mature enough, says UAE 1 Brainy new biometric ideas studied by HUMABIO project
1
Sony aims for the jugular in vein market
2
IARPA seeks BEST biometrics
3
Animetrics to bring facial biometrics to the iPhone
4
Biometrics on the move in Australia
5
Business Watch Suprema’s revenue jumps by 100% on 2007
6
Precise Biometrics shows strong cash flow for 2008
6
Nuance and IBM voice agreement
6
Features
Brainy new biometric ideas studied by HUMABIO project lthough a long way from the biometric mainstream, European researchers are studying the use of sensors to identify individuals through their unique brain patterns and heart rhythms. The EU-funded HUMABIO research project is looking at new types of biometrics and is combining these with the latest sensor technologies. This includes using electrocardiograms (ECGs), which record heart rhythms, and electroencephalograms (EEGs), which record brain patterns, to identify people. According to an article originating from ICT Results (http://cordis.europa.eu/ictresults), the researchers have come up with prototype
TODAY
biometric
headgear which includes two electrodes to take the readings. This technology is still at pre-commercial, proof-of-concept stage and might take several years before becoming widely used. “Unobtrusiveness was one of the most important aspects of what we were trying to achieve,” says project coordinator Dimitrios Tzovaras, “but a lot of work will need to be done on the EEG and ECG sensors to make them unobtrusive”. The project is delighted with the results to date, however, and Tzovaras says: “This is the first time this type of biometric has been used for identification, and it solves most of the problems other biometric systems face.” Continued on page 2...
The evolution of airport screening technology
7
TURBINE: Trusted revocable biometric identities
8
Survey Dynamic Signature Recognition: A sign of the times
10
Regular Items News in brief Events calendar Editor's comment
3-6 5 12
ISSN 0969-4765/09 © 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. This journal and the individual contributions contained in it are protected under copyright by Elsevier Ltd, and the following terms and conditions apply to their use: Photocopying Single photocopies of single articles may be made for personal use as allowed by national copyright laws. Permission of the publisher and payment of a fee is required for all other photocopying, including multiple or systematic copying, copying for advertising or promotional purposes, resale, and all forms of document delivery. Special rates are available for educational institutions that wish to make photocopies for non-profit educational classroom use.
NEWS Continued from page 1... Editorial Office: Elsevier Ltd The Boulevard Langford Lane Kidlington Oxford OX5 1GB, UK Tel: +44 (0) 2920 560458 Fax: +44 (0) 1865 843933 Email: [email protected] Website: www.biometrics-today.com Editor: Mark Lockie Programme Editor: Steve Barrett Production Editor: Lin Lucas Subscription Information An annual subscription to Biometric Technology Today includes 10 printed issues and online access for up to 5 users. Prices: 991 for all European countries & Iran US$1072 for all countries except Europe and Japan ¥131 700 for Japan (Prices valid until 31 December 2009) To subscribe send payment to the address above. Tel: +44 (0)1865 843687/Fax: +44 (0)1865 834971 Email: [email protected], or via www.biometrics-today.com. Subscriptions run for 12 months, from the date payment is received. Periodicals postage is paid at Rahway, NJ 07065, USA. Postmaster send all USA address corrections to: Biometric Technology Today, 365 Blair Road, Avenel, NJ 07001, USA This newsletter and the individual contributions contained in it are protected under copyright by Elsevier Ltd, and the following terms and conditions apply to their use: Permissions may be sought directly from Elsevier Global Rights Department, PO Box 800, Oxford OX5 1DX, UK; phone: +44 1865 843830, fax: +44 1865 853333, email: [email protected]. You may also contact Global Rights directly through Elsevier’s home page (www.elsevier.com), selecting first ‘Support & contact’, then ‘Copyright & permission’. In the USA, users may clear permissions and make payments through the Copyright Clearance Center, Inc., 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, USA; phone: +1 978 750 8400, fax: +1 978 750 4744, and in the UK through the Copyright Licensing Agency Rapid Clearance Service (CLARCS), 90 Tottenham Court Road, London W1P 0LP, UK; phone: +44 (0)20 7631 5555; fax: +44 (0)20 7631 5500. Other countries may have a local reprographic rights agency for payments. Derivative Works Subscribers may reproduce tables of contents or prepare lists of articles including abstracts for internal circulation within their institutions. Permission of the Publisher is required for resale or distribution outside the institution. Permission of the Publisher is required for all other derivative works, including compilations and translations. Electronic Storage or Usage Permission of the Publisher is required to store or use electronically any material contained in this journal, including any article or part of an article. Except as outlined above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written permission of the Publisher. Address permissions requests to: Elsevier Science Global Rights Department, at the mail, fax and email addresses noted above. Notice No responsibility is assumed by the Publisher for any injury and/or damage to persons or property as a matter of products liability, negligence or otherwise, or from any use or operation of any methods, products, instructions or ideas contained in the material herein. Because of rapid advances in the medical sciences, in particular, independent verification of diagnoses and drug dosages should be made. Although all advertising material is expected to conform to ethical (medical) standards, inclusion in this publication does not constitute a guarantee or endorsement of the quality or value of such product or of the claims made of it by its manufacturer.
02265 Printed by Mayfield Press (Oxford) Ltd.
2
Biometric Technology Today
Other new types of biometrics the project has been working on are much closer to commercialisation. These include analysis of gait, or the way people walk and carry themselves, and analysis of seated posture. The project has also been enhancing facial and voice recognition techniques, and putting everything together into a multimodal biometric identification system which is more secure than the unimodal biometrics that comprise it. The new technologies developed by HUMABIO were tested in three pilot projects. The first was in a truck provided by one of the project’s industrial partners, Volvo. It combined facial and voice recognition with posture recognition via a seat cover fitted with a new type of inbuilt sensor for analysing how the driver sits. The system continually updates the driver’s biometric information both to warn if there is a change of driver, possibly following a hijack, and to make sure the driver is fit to drive. A second pilot was at the Euroairport in Basel, with voice, facial recognition and gait recognition being used to provide on-the-go authentication of airport personnel, such as security guards and airline pilots. The third demonstration, in a laboratory at Stuttgart, used biometric authentication to restrict access to a specific, high-value machine which can only be used by trained, authorised personnel. “In the first pilot, the seat cover was as comfortable as a normal [one], and the facial and voice sensors did not bother the driver at all. In the other two pilots, people at the airport and lab were able to move around freely in the monitored areas while their identities were authenticated. The goal of unobtrusiveness was attained, while security and safety was considerably enhanced compared to conventional systems,” says Tzovaras. The truck pilot was so successful that Volvo is now planning to install the authentication
system on all its trucks, and other parts of the system, such as the enhanced facial recognition camera, are also on the way to being commercialsed. While work is still needed on some of the technologies, there are working prototypes for all of them including EGC/EEG, which Tzovaras believes will one day be integrated into sophisticated biometric systems that terrorists and criminals will find it next to impossible to fool. HUMABIO is funded under the ICT strand of the Sixth Framework Programme for research.
vein
Sony aims for the jugular in vein market
S
ony is entering the vein market – to compete with market leaders Hitachi and Fujitsu – and has announced a compact sized, finger vein product called “mofiria”. The apparently user-friendly technology is designed to offer quick response and high accuracy, the company claims, and comes in a compact size for mounting on mobile devices such as a personal computer or mobile phone. Sony claims that compared to the other biometric authentication techniques, vein authentication technology has certain advantages, including higher forgery resistance and biometric stability over the years. However, Sony claims that the weak point of conventional vein authentication systems is their size, speed of authentication, their need for a finger or hand guide, and their relatively high cost. In contrast, Sony’s device, it was claimed at the 4th ETSI Security Workshop in Sophia Antipolis in January, will have a sensor of less than one millimetre in diameter, will be faster
Image of Reflective dispersion method
February 2009