Vein Recognition -

As scientists study deeper into the capabilities of biometrics, researches have now claimed that each person's vein structure is unique to any other. (The pattern of veins is unique to every individual). With this new discovery a new breed of technology is evolving called biometric vein recognition. This is where you place your hand over a sensor and, by detecting the vein patterns, the device is able to identify the person.

Thermal Recognition -

Recently scientists have discovered that even the thermal heat given out from our bodies/faces are unique to the other. Although still in the development stages, researchers say that by scanning the heat signals given out by a person's body, they can be recognized. This will work well for tracking large crowds walking at one given time (train stations, air ports, etc).

Machines that prevent terrorism by reading emotions -

The Future. It sounds crazy, but it made a big splash in the papers not long ago. Analysis of facial expressions could soon be used to detect whether somebody is about to commit a terrorist atrocity. Students working on the system primarily plan to use it for human-machine interactions, by which robots would be able to detect and process human emotion. With regards to the crime prevention aspect, graduate Abu Sayheed Sohail said "it could be used to identify suspicious movements, to draw a security agent's attention and alert him or her to maybe take a more careful look at five or six of the people." This work has the potential to help identify people who are possible security threats by analyzing their expressions, according to two researchers developing this approach in Montreal. But that's probably years away..
Source: Canwest News Service, Cananda.com

Supermarkets/ Shopping centers look at going for fingerprint at checkout counters

Many grocery stores and shopping centers in the United States and Europe have successfully completed pilot tests of ID verification by fingerprint recognition. With the increasing rate of identity theft, this system has proven to be very efficient.

Cenmetrix Systems is currently doing research and development on the possibility of introducing this system to Sri Lanka. The technology to perform this system is currently available.

CCTV & Biometrics

Currently research is being done to link regular CCTV cameras with biometrics. Although still in the testing stages, researches say that a person style of walking, his shoe size, the way the persons head moves when he walks, etc that are captured on CCTV cameras can be used to analyze a person and use his biometrics for identifying that person. They call this gait recognition. Sometimes CCTVs don't capture the person's face, or it's too dark to recognize a person on the camera, this is when gait recognition is being tested. Recently courts in UK had used video analysis of a person's gait to convict a burglar, whose image was unclearly captured on a CCTV camera on his way to a crime. Only the future can tell how full proof this system will be in capturing evidence.

HSBC Installs Facial Recognition Cameras

HSBC data center employees in the UK are getting ready to smile for the camera as the bank rolls out facial recognition technology at two data centers after a successful pilot at the bank's Canary Wharf headquarters. The bank will install 10 access control systems from vendor OmniPerception. The Checkpoint cameras have been dubbed "light immune" because they are able to read and recognize faces even in low light conditions. Earlier this year Societe General also implemented biometric access controls for personnel in the wake of the Jerome Kerviel rogue trading scandal. So, does this mean biometrics are finally coming into banking's mainstream? Source: Bank Technology News - www.americanbanker.com