Fujitsu have recently announced a new form of biometric device which uses a near-infrared camera that captures each person’s unique palm vein pattern, or template. First applications include patient identification in US healthcare and customer identification in Japanese Banks.

The device, resembling a small black cube uses a vascular pattern recognition system to accurately identify people while they hold their palm just above the cube. The scan, requiring less than a second, captures the unique branching pattern of blood veins and instantly converts key data points into a numerical code that can be compared with other palm scans to identify matches. The miniaturized device can plug into a laptop computer via a USB port, while an alternative version released last year incorporates the palm scanner into a computer mouse to facilitate secure logins.

Beyond security, the palm-reader and associated software boast another advantage: not having to remember multiple passwords for starting Windows sessions and password-protected applications. The new technology is said to have a low “false acceptance ratio” that yields less than one incorrect match per every million tries which is far better than fingerprint recognition techology. Although iris scanning is still seen as the most reliable biometric identification method, it is less convenient for the user and requires careful set up. This biometric technology could be one to watch and might well find a place as part of many future “sweet spot” systems.

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