Are Auntie Ethel’s legs the future of security?
By Davey Winder in Editorial
Veins are the news fingerprints.
Well that’s what the biometric boffins at Snowflake Technologies are hoping at any rate, with the release of a prototype Vein Pattern Recognition system. Just as no two fingerprints are the same so, say Snowflake, all of our vein patterns are just as unique. Which is quite handy, as anyone who has ever seen my Auntie Ethel’s legs will be relieved to know. Luckily, the VPR machines that Snowflake has developed does not require you to insert a varicose vein overloaded leg, but rather just your hand. A simple subcutaneous scan of vein patterns is made in about the same time as it takes to scan a fingerprint or eyeball, and recognition is just as quick and easy as well.
Which begs the question, of course, why bother when fingerprint biometrics has gained such a widespread global acceptance and for all intents and purposes is doing a fine job? If you really want the James Bond touch then there are existing higher-tech solutions out there such as iris scanners to satisfy even the most obsessive security gadget fetishist.
Snowflake argues that VPR offers a lower false acceptance and rejection rate while enjoying faster processing, making it quicker and easier to use than other biometric systems on the market already. I am also told it is more hygienic as there is no physical contact with the scanner required, just hovering of a hand over the scan bed. Mind you, if Aunt Ethel got her leg in there I would not want to get too close afterwards I can assure you.
Only a couple of things are missing from making this the perfect biometric security gadget for your business then: an actual production unit and an actual price to implement it.
Oh well, back to trying to remember my password while the fingerprint scanner refuses to believe that is my index finger, or even a finger at all for that matter
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