The Finnish company Deltabit Oy is creating awareness of access-control systems that are replacing traditional keys. A fingerprint already opens the door to keep-fit rooms at Tampere, Finland.
Deltabit Oy has been developing systems and applications based on fingerprint recognition for more than six years. The basic idea is the keyless concept. Fingerprint recognition can be used in access control for opening doors, controlling burglar alarms and supervising working hours. The only limitations are those set by the imagination.
"Our focus in the field of biometric identification is on entrance control systems, customer-management systems and on patient and personal identification systems at hospitals," says managing director Jouna Järviö.
A solution for every home
The solutions that Deltabit develops are easy to use. Markets are to be found where strong identification is needed.
"With biometric identification the person to be identified does not need to carry anything. A mere finger is enough. Recognition is very easy, quick and reliable. You can't forget or lose a finger, nor can you lend it to a friend," Järviö says.
Deltabit is at present developing a simple, one-door biometric entrance control unit that can be used with low-rise housing, terraced dwellings and blocks of flats. A keyless solution that is suitable for every home is expected to be coming onto the market at the beginning of 2005.
"A recognition system is being designed for libraries in which a fingerprint will replace the traditional library card. We're also developing a biometric regular-customer system for restaurants."
Promising field, little competition
A promising future lies ahead for biometric identifiers. Yet competition in the field is minimal. In Scandinavia, besides Deltabit, there is only one other company in the same business. Companies are focusing on western Europe, the United States and the Far East. Deltabit's foothold on the market is increasing.
"In five to seven years' time biometric identifiers will be a strong factor alongside present identification. It's not beyond of the realms of possibility that biometric identification will replace traditional methods.
Source: Tekes (National Technology Agency)
Related stories:
Home IQ: Winning technologies will make people smarter -- not their houses
Someday, we may be getting fashion advice from our mirrors. Instead of digging through our closets to find the perfect complement for a new shirt, we may hold it up to our bedroom mirror for a computer to scan. Using radio-frequency identification technology, our electronic fashion stylist will then offer suggestions based on what's in our closet or how the latest edition of Vogue or Teen Beat pairs up something similar.
Software Helps Developers Get Started with PIV Cards
The National Institute of Standards and Technology has developed two demonstration software packages that show how Personal Identity Verification (PIV) cards can be used with Windows and Linux systems to perform logon, digital signing and verification, and other services. The demonstration software, written in C++, will assist software developers, system integrators and computer security professionals as they develop products and solutions in response to Homeland Security Presidential Directive 12 and the FIPS 201-1 standard.
Hitachi develops finger vein authentication technology for steering wheels
Hitachi, Ltd. announced today the development of finger vein authentication technology which provides authorized driver verification in a fraction of a second just by gripping the steering wheel.
Biometrics researchers report on facial recognition technology
On the face of it, the old saying goes, things are not always as they seem. However, when it comes to faces, things are almost always what they seem, according to a new report coauthored by two University of Notre Dame biometrics researchers.
Biometrics for secure mobile communications
Though security applications that verify a person's identity based on their physical attributes, such as fingerprint readers or iris scanners, have been in use for some time, biometric security has only recently started to appear in mobile phones, PDAs and notebook computers where the need for miniaturisation represents a technological challenge.
Existing Technologies Combine to Make Automated Home
The National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (Japan), Ymatic Ltd., and Biometrica Systems Asia Co. Ltd. have jointly developed a novel automated home – not with new technology, but with a clever combining of existing solutions. The home combines robots guided by IC tags, a biometric face authentication system, and a wireless network using a software solution called RT middleware.
U.K. biometric ID card faces questions
The introduction of biometric national identification cards to the United Kingdom now seems like an inevitability. Yet doubts have been raised by a committee in the House of Commons itself about whether existing technology is actually able to handle the ID card scheme, due to be implemented in 2008.
Breakthrough in split second 3D face imaging
Face recognition technology that could revolutionise security systems worldwide has been developed by computer scientists at Sheffield Hallam University. The new specialist software can produce an exact 3D image of a face within 40 milliseconds.