Showing papers on "Biometrics published in 1996"

Tokenless identification system for authorization of electronic transactions and electronic transmissions

Abstract: A tokenless identification system and method are principally based on a correlative comparison of a unique biometrics sample, such as a finger print or voice recording, gathered directly from the person of an unknown user, with an authenticated biometrics sample of the same type obtained and stored previously (1). It can be networked to act as a full or partial intermediary between other independent computer systems (3), or maybe the sole computer systems carrying out all necessary executions.

User identification through sequential input of fingerprints

Abstract: An identification system using biometric information of human body parts and a secret sequence code. In particular, biometric information of human body parts is used to form the secret sequence code. Specifically, a combination entry device recognizes user's fingerprints which are entered as a sequence. The fingerprints must be entered in the proper sequence in order to be recognized by the system. The fingerprints are preferably recognized using a fast technique with a low-probability level of rejection. While the sensor can be fooled for any one fingerprint. The use of a plurality of different fingerprints improves the identification capability. In particular, the combination of fingerprints in the proper order is necessary to undo the lock.

Apparatus and method for securely processing biometric information to control access to a node

Abstract: A biometric device comprises a biometric processor including a data capture circuit that captures data associated with a predetermined biometric characteristic that is checked to regulate access to the node or area. The biometric processor further includes a cryptographic circuit, coupled to the data capture circuit, that internally processes the data clip which may include comparison of the data clip with pre-stored data being a master copy of the predetermined biometric characteristic of the user. Thereafter, the biometric processor transfers a message to the node to control access thereto.

A computer mouse

Abstract: A mouse 10 for operating a computer 25 includes operating keys 12, and means 11 for verifying or recognising biometric features, such as fingerprints, palm prints, other characteristics of the hands or fingers, or voice , of one or more users to permit or deny access to the computer. The mouse may be linked to the computer by a cable 13 or by infrared transmission means. All the fingerprint verification or recongnition circuitry is contained in the mouse, and initially a fingerprint is sensed by a sensor 24 and stored in memory 21 to identify, on future occasions, an authorised user.

Phase encryption of biometrics in diffractive optical elements.

Abstract: A new technique for the optical encoding of images is presented. The method of generalized projections is used to design diffractive optical elements for the phase encryption of biometrics for security applications. The encryption algorithm converges rapidly, and the decryption is seen to be secure and tolerant to additive noise.

Iris recognition technology

Abstract: IriScan Inc. has for the past two years, been developing an identification/verification system capable of positively identifying and verifying the identity of individuals without physical contact or a person in the loop. Personal identification has historically been based on what a person possesses (a card); knows (a Personal Identification Number); or is (an inherent physiological or behavioral characteristic). Facial features (both infra-red signatures and geometry), fingerprints, hand geometry, vein patterns, retinal patterns, voice patterns, and signature dynamics have all been explored as biometric identifiers with varying levels of success. All but voice end facial recognition require contact or have been characterized by some as invasive or intrusive. Many have suffered from high cost and unsatisfactory error rates. A new technology, using the unique patterns of the human Iris, shows promise of overcoming previous shortcomings and providing positive identification of an individual without contact or invasion, at extremely high confidence levels. The video-based system locates the eye and Iris; evaluates the degree of occlusion by eyelid and spectral reflection; determines the quality of image focus; and determines the center and boundary of the pupil and the limbus (outer edge of the iris) for processing

Laboratory evaluation of the IriScan prototype biometric identifier

Abstract: One thing that all access control applications have in common is the need to identify those individuals authorized to gain access to an area. Traditionally, the identification is based on something that person possesses, such as a key or badge, or something they know, such as a PIN or password. Biometric identifiers make their decisions based on the physiological or behavioral characteristics of individuals. The potential of biometrics devices to positively identify individuals has made them attractive for use in access control and computer security applications. However, no systems perform perfectly, so it is important to understand what a biometric device`s performance is under real world conditions before deciding to implement one in an access control system. This paper will describe the evaluation of a prototype biometric identifier provided by IriScan Incorporated. This identifier was developed to recognize individual human beings based on the distinctive visual characteristics of the irises of their eyes. The main goal of the evaluation was to determine whether the system has potential as an access control device within the Department of Energy (DOE). The primary interest was an estimate of the accuracy of the system in terms of false accept and false reject rates. Data was also collected to estimate throughput time and user acceptability. The performance of the system during the test will be discussed. Lessons learned during the test which may aid in further testing and simplify implementation of a production system will also be discussed.

Biometric identification by dermatoglyphics

Abstract: Biometric identification (voice, face, iris, fingerprints, etc.) of individuals takes a lot of processing due to the complexity of these patterns. In this paper we present a study by computer vision of the palmar dermatoglyphics. It is shown that the extraction and interpretation of this kind of pattern is less complicated than the patterns previously studied-they allow a particular firm to be obtained for each individual which may be used for identification purposes or genetic studies. The procedure is composed of the following steps: image acquisition, edge detection, binary conversion, thinning operation, image reconstruction and image interpretation. Preliminary results show that this approach is a viable alternative for person identification.

Person authentication device using biometrics information and method therefor

Abstract: PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To maintain high security even if a collation system of low precision is used or a fingerprint pattern is copied by considering the order of fingers to be inputted as a password, combining finger inputs for plural times and collating them. SOLUTION: A fingerprint input device 100 is constituted of a television camera, an A/D converter and a display device. The fingerprint feature quantity of a user and the input order of the fingers are previously registered in a fingerprint feature quantity file 110. The fingerprints inputted by a person who desires entering are collated with the fingerprints registered by a fingerprint collation device 120. A finger input order management device 130 judges whether a collation result is matched with the input order of the fingers, which is previously registered or not. Only when the prescribed number of input times (three times, for example) are terminated and the fingerprints are inputted in the finger input order of an input order registration table, a locking management device 140 opens the locking of a door. Thus, collation precision can be improved by the combination of the input order and biometrics information, which only a person himself knows.

Smartcard Based Authentication

Abstract: In the modern electronic world, authentication of a person is an important task in many areas of day-to-day life. Using a biometrics to authenticate a person’s identity has several advantages over the present practices of passwords and/or authentication cards using magnetic stripes or bar codes. However, with the use of a biometrics there is an open issue of misuse of the biometrics for purposes that the owner of the biometrics may not be aware of. In this chapter, we propose a new method of remote authentication that combines the security of a smartcard with the accuracy and convenience of biometrics to authenticate the identity of a person. With this approach, the need to access a large biometrics database is eliminated. The proposed method can be used in many application areas including system security, electronic commerce and access control.

Biometrics: Identifying Law & Policy Concerns

Abstract: Today’s “new technological realities” force us to examine, from the law and policy perspectives, what is required to safeguard the public interest and to ensure optimal results for society. Biometrics is one such new technology reality. While not enjoying the media stature and public controversy associated with high tech issues like genetic cloning and cyberspace, biometrics — which seeks a fast, foolproof answer to the questions, “Who are you?” or “Are you the person whom you claim to be?” — will cause the law to take notice as it becomes more extensively used in the public and private sectors. Businesses, numerous government agencies, law enforcement and other private and public concerns are making increasing use of biometric scanning systems. As computer technology continues to advance and economies of scale reduce costs, biometrics will become an even more effective and efficient means for identification and verification. After briefly discussing biometric technologies and biometric applications, this chapter defines privacy in the context of biometrics and discusses which specific privacy concerns biometrics implicates. This chapter concludes that biometrics is privacy’s friend because it can be used to help protect information integrity. The author also contends that any legitimate privacy concerns posed by biometrics, such as the possibility of a secondary market in individual biometric identification information, can be best handled by the existing law and policy framework. The author next considers the future of biometrics, and contends that “biometric balkanization,” or the use of multiple biometric technologies deployed for multiple applications, provides greater privacy protections than does biometric centralization, or the use of one dominant biometric technology for multiple applications.

Power and sample size for matched case-control studies

Abstract: The problem of sample size for matched case-control studies is approached without any advance information. In current practice, the probability of exposure 0 of matched controls and the correlation coefficient 0 between outcomes of a matched pair have to be available as in Dupont (1988, Biometrics 43, 1157-1168); the probability of discordant pairs is required in Schlesselman (1982, Case-Control Studies: Design, Conduct, Analysis) and Parker and Bregman (1986, Biometrics 42, 919-926). The measure of association w between a case's and the matched control's exposure status and 0 are also needed in Fleiss (1988, Proceedings of the XIVth International Biometrics Conference, 29-44). For a test of Ho: 7P 1 against the alternative hypothesis, H1: If = 7o > 1, sample sizes are determined without requiring any advance information both for pair-matching and for multiple matching using the model of Ejigou and McHugh (1977, Biometrics 33, 552-556; 1981, Biometrika 68, 85-91) and the results in Ejigou (1990, Biometricss 46, 61-69). The weakness of Ury's rule (1975, Biometrics 31, 643-649) is reviewed and alternatives are proposed. As in current procedures, our method enables one to determine power for a given HI, test size, and sample size. In addition, it also provides a solution to the problem of the number of controls to be matched to each case to achieve a desired level of power. This is also a new feature of our method.

A comment on interim analyses in crossover trials.

Abstract: In a recent issue of Biometrics, Cook (1995, Biometrics, 51, 932-945) considered the possibility of applying sequential analysis to 2 x 2 crossover trials and made a comparison with more conventional approaches. We believe this comparison to be misleading in a number of respects.

Access Control System Using Dynamic Handwriting Features.

Abstract: The increasing number of protected areas requires reliable methods of access control. Traditionally, computer systems rely on passwords for access security. To avoid unauthorized access, an access control might use biometric features such as fingerprints, irispatterns, voiceprints or signature. This paper presents a system for verifying a personal’s identity by comparing signatures. Signatures are intrinsically more secure than passwords. Their invisible dynamics cannot simply be guessed. A pressure sensitive graphics tablet as the input device records the pen motion during signature and sends signals to a computer. From this data, characteristic parameters like horizontal and vertical trace, velocity and acceleration are determined. Depending on the variation of these values in comparison to reference datasets, the system classifies the signature to be an original or a forgery. A database has been constructed with 400 dynamic signatures to validate chosen features and procedures.

The use of d' as a aldquo;decidabilityardquo; index

Abstract: Decision tasks and detection tasks normally involve some uncertainty. The uncertainty is inherent in the task and in the available signal, regardless of strategies that the observer might have, such as being liberal or conservative. The quantity d' is a lcriterion-independentr measure which seeks to express how inherently decidable the decision task is, or how detectable the signal is, regardless of the observer's error-avoidance preferences. For the case of biometric identification, d' essentially measures how inherently ldiscriminabler people are from each other, based on a chosen template and acquisition method. Biometric decisions are fundamentally lsame/differentr decisions. A same/different decision has four possible outcomes because there are two possible lstates of the worldr (same or different), and for either of these true situations, there are two possible decisions. Two of these four outcomes are correct. The quantitative statistic d' can be used as a single, dimensionless measure of the inherent decidability of the question lsame or differentr in the field of biometric identification. When properly derived in accordance with the principles of statistical estimation theory, it can be a useful figure of merit when considering which biometric technology and system is appropriate to a given entry/access control scenario

Bartus Iris biometrics

Abstract: This is the final report of a one-year, Laboratory-Directed Research and Development (LDRD) project at the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL). We won a 1994 R&D 100 Award for inventing the Bartas Iris Verification System. The system has been delivered to a sponsor and is no longer available to us. This technology can verify the identity of a person for purposes of access control, national security, law enforcement, forensics, counter-terrorism, and medical, financial, or scholastic records. The technique is non-invasive, psychologically acceptable, works in real-the, and obtains more biometric data than any other biometric except DNA analysis. This project sought to develop a new, second-generation prototype instrument. 1. Background and Research Objectives We received a 1994 R&D 100 Award for the invention of the Bartas Iris Verification System. The instrument is named for Seigneur du Bartas, the French poet who first called the eyes "the windows of the soul." The concept actually dates to 1885 when Alphonse Bertillon first proposed using iris colors and patterns to identify people [1,2]. The idea has reappeared several times during the 1960's, 1970's, and 1980's [3,4], but has not previously been demonstrated or implemented. The Bartas Iris Verification System verifies the identify of people based on video images of the externally visible iris, the colored part of the eye. It does this by analyzing the extremely complex iris patterns and markings that are unique to each person [3-131. (Even identical twins have different iris patterns.) Iris patterns become permanent after adolescence and do not change with time or stress. They change very little with injury or disease. The pattern for a person's left eye differs from that for hidher right. Iris patterns are the result of a complex meshwork of melanocyte and fibroblast cells [3,8,10]. The density and pigmentation of this meshwork vary across the iris, forming a complex pattern that becomes permanent at puberty [3,6,8,12]. Iris color depends on the density of cells and on the concentration of pigment. Brown eyes have a high density of cells *Principal investigator, e-mail: rogerjohnston@lanl.gov