SCI/TECH: Forget fingerprints and eye scans; the latest in biometrics is in vein

A newer source of biometric identification being used in Japan is soon to become available everywhere. This identification uses a near-infrared range camera to detect veins beneath the surface of the hand. Factors considered in the scan included the veins' positioning, the number of veins and where they intersect.



Biometric identification is apparently here to stay. I was unaware that the current methods where unreliable in any way but according to Fujitsu this scan is more accurate. This could be really beneficial in some ways but it will take me a while to warm up to biometrics as a form of ID. It's a sad time in human history to really and truly have a need for such things.

hey no problem , you want access? Just chop someones hand with a cleaver and youre ready to go....will work wonders in the middle of the night on cash machines

great idea guys...the wonders of modern technology....now someone tell me we couldnt live without this

I note the article does not state how accurate this type of scan is compared to fingerprints and eye scans. Until they know the accuracy, I will have my doubts.

This kind of reminds me of the movie "Demolition Man" with Sly and Wesly Snipes. I think they had biometric chips in their hands, though. I wonder if the machine can determine if the hand is alive or not? I suppose the camera looking down on the person holding a dead hand to the biometric scanner could be a "dead giveaway." Ha ha, ok bad joke.

"The result is a system that offers a higher level of security than competing technologies, including voice print, facial recognition, fingerprint recognition and iris scanning, according to Fujitsu."

It does state that this type of scan is better but it doesn't go into detail as to why it is.

[edit on 30-6-2005 by FreeThinking1]

Ok, I'll be first to call revelation prophesy..

No way to resist this one, the 'mark' is there in your hand from birth and the scanners will do their work making sure you can't buy or sell without ponying up your mark.

On the contrary, I think this type of thing blows most people's perception of what the mark of the beast is right out the window, in that many with concerns about it seem to think it can be something we could be tricked into receiving without knowing it is the dreaded mark.

With todays technology, the forms of identification that could be used in a way that could be viewed as accepting the mark of the beast no longer require "accepting" anything. So it seems to me that anything created being viewed as potentially being this mark without our knowledge are pretty out in left field. If there comes a mark in our lifetime, I think it would have to be something that no one has any doubt about, not something we are tricked into. So all the speculation about any new technology being "the mark" are just hysteria in my opinion.

I don't feel that this technology will the sole criteria for Bio-metric Identification, this might just complement present technologies to ensure better alround identification.
Yeah, I had the same doubt if the system could identify if the hand was alive or dead, I think that since it uses an infra red camera it should be able to detect the veins only if the hand has suffecient heat, but then again a freshly severed hand could still have enough heat to pass the system!
If this system is used along with other bio-metric identification systems like finger print identification, facial recognition, retinal mapping, and palm scans, all together will be quiet a formidable system to crack indeed.
I feel that the ultimate form of scan would surely involve some sort of rapid DNA test using some sort of noninvasive technique.
This article was informative and interesting.