• Major breakthroughs in facial recognition, cause for concern?

    Technological advances could soon make identifying an individual in a crowd as simple as taking a photo with a smartphone; researchers at Carnegie Mellon University’s Heinz College have developed PittPatt, a software tool that can take a snapshot of a person and track down their real identity in a matter of minutes

  • Voice-recognition market to reach $58.4 billion in 2015

    New report says the voice recognition technologies market will grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 8.8 percent between 2010 and 2015; the total market is valued at an estimated $38.4 billion in 2010 and is expected to reach $58.4 billion in 2015; this growth will spur additional growth in two sub-markets: voice recognition software technologies and text-to-speech software

  • M2SYS's Hybrid Biometric Platform offers flexibility

    The biometric recognition market lacks enterprise-ready, customizable, device-independent systems that allow organizations of any size to avoid being limited to one biometric modality or a single biometric device; Frost & Sullivan says M2SYS’s Hybrid Biometric Platform addresses this problem

  • Innometrik, Lumidigm integrate technologies

    Lumidigm says that Innometriks’ Rhino reader, which combines embedded Lumidigm fingerprint biometrics, smart cards, PKI, and digital signature technologies, is now handling high security applications in extreme weather and rough environments for several organizations of the U.S. Department of Defense

  • SmartMetric set to release new biometric smart card

    In the first quarter of 2012, SmartMetric, Inc. plans to unveil its newest SmartCard, which is the size of a standard credit card but has the ability to record fingerprint biometrics to ensure the highest level of security in financial transactions

  • iBeta becomes NIST approved biometrics test lab

    With the increasing ubiquity of biometrics in everything from airport scanners, laptops, cell phones, hospitals, and vehicles, iBeta Quality Assurance recently gained official certification to test new biometric technologies

  • AOptix shows dual iris-face scanner

    AOptix is showing the latest addition to its family of biometric products, the InSight Duo, which the company describes as “the world’s first biometric system with simultaneous ISO standards-compliant iris and face capture”

  • New technology detects altered fingerprints

    The widespread use of fingerprint recognition systems has led some individuals to disfigure or surgically change their fingerprints to mask their identities; new technology can help law enforcement and border control officials detect these altered fingerprints

  • Researchers developing "soft biometric" video analysis system

    Researchers in Australia are developing a way to identify individuals using “soft” biometrics like their estimated weight, hair color, and skin tone in video footage; the researchers hope to create a Google-style search, where police officers can actually search for an individual in hundreds of hours of video footage just by typing in a basic description

  • Gait biometrics shows promise

    A new biometric technology may soon join retinal scans, voice recognition, and fingerprints as a means to identify individuals: gait pattern biometrics; a method of identifying individuals by the way they walk, saunter, swagger, or sashay has achieved accuracy of about 90 percent in early trials

  • Fingerprint biometrics help secure medical data at Arizona hospitals

    As more healthcare networks begin storing patient records electronically, they have become increasingly concerned with security and many are turning to biometrics; a healthcare provider in Southern Arizona recently introduced fingerprint biometrics at its facilities to help secure patient records and increase efficiency

  • Businesses customizing ads with facial biometrics

    In a futuristic turn, some advertisers have already begun customizing their digital ads to whoever passes by using facial recognition software; so far the Venetian resort in Las Vegas, Nevada has been the first to adopt this technology in the United States; the resort has installed cameras with facial recognition technologies near their digital displays to customize restaurant and entertainment suggestions for individuals passing by

  • Expert warns facial biometrics could compromise privacy

    As facial biometric technology becomes increasingly ubiquitous, IT experts warn that these systems can easily be abused and therefore require stringent privacy policies and data encryption

  • Face-mapping app for smartphone searching

    A new app, when combined with a centralized server, combs people’s cell phones looking to find photos that have a face in them that match what someone is looking for; the app could be used to look for an abducted child, or a criminal hiding in crowds

  • Bio-Key acquires S.I.C., hopes to tap mobile phone fingerprint market

    On Monday Bio-Key International, Inc. announced that it had signed a letter of intent to acquire S.I.C. Biometrics Inc., a manufacturer of a plug-in biometric fingerprint scanner for mobile phones; the acquisition leaves Bio-Key International in position to tap into the lucrative mobile biometric market, especially for Apple products