A New Generation of Biometrics???
One of the key issues of Biometrics (along with that of Privacy Rights) is the contact with the actual device. For instance, touching your hand or finger onto the platen, in order for the picture to be captured, so that the unique features can be extracted, and the subsequent Enrollment/Verification Template created. A question I get asked very often in this regard is “What if I contract an illness or a disease by touching the Biometric Device???” The truth is, you have a much higher probability of contracting an ailment by shaking hands with people, and the normal chores we go about our daily lives. But given the way that Biometrics is advancing so rapidly, the point will come when everything will be contactless-gone will be the days when the finger or hand will have to actually touch the platen involved. And in fact, I came across a research report which supports this hypothesis of mine.
The nitty gritty: “The touchless sensing market has gained momentum since a year and is increasing rapidly. The touchless sensing market is expected to reach $3656.8 million by the end of 2015. The companies are realizing the potential of this market and answering the customer needs regarding better hygienic factors. The touchless biometrics market is also on the rise . . . The gesture recognition market is expected to reach $625 million in 2015 from $200 million in 2010 at an expected CAGR of 25.6% from 2010 to 2015. The gesture recognition market was commercialized in the third quarter of 2010 with the launch of the Microsoft XBOX Kinect (hardware). Gesture recognition has their applications in a several sectors ranging from entertainment, consumer electronics, and transportation to healthcare. The market acceptance of this industry is very low since this is a new technology and the users are not aware of the technology as yet. However, this market is estimated to grow in the next seven to eight years.” (SOURCE: http://www.findbiometrics.com/industry-news/i/9070/).
My Take
If you take a look at the above quote very carefully, contactless Biometrics has been much more narrowly and specifically defined as “touchless sensing”. Whatever it is, it still means that the end user will not have to touch the Biometric Device by any means. According the macro statistic, the “touchless sensing market” will continue to receive strong demand and growth well into 2015. The biggest market drivers of this growth rate is the concern of the hygiene of the Biometrics Technology, and the belief that taking an image from a contactless standpoint will mean more accurate Biometric Templates. For instance, a light can still take an image of a hand or finger if it has cuts, scars, or abrasions on it, whereas a device which requires direct contact with the hand or finger may not yield an accurate Biometric Template. But think about it.
Look at all of the Biometric Technologies which I have discussed about, both from the Physical Biometric and the Behavioral Biometric standpoints. Pretty much everything is contactless, with the exception of Fingerprint Recognition and Hand Geometry Recognition. But, there is still this misnomer and myth of the public that all Biometrics requires contact. The flat out truth, there is hardly any contact required. Even with the latest Biometric Technologies which come about (most notably Vein Pattern Recognition), no contact is required, all that is done is that a special light is shone, in order to reflect back an image, so that the unique features can be extracted. In my view, the public needs to be educated on two fronts: 1) That a majority of Biometrics is contactless, so there is no need to have hygiene fears of any type or kind; 2) The light that is flashed to get a picture of the veins, iris, face, etc. is perfectly safe, and that no harm will come. Why do I bring up this second point???
Well, despite the fact that the public might be accepting of the contactless form of Biometrics, there will still be fear about the light (in most cases, it is just an infrared light which is used). If you take a second look at the quote above, you will also notice that there is a small blurb about Gesture Recognition. For as long as I have been in the Biometrics Industry, even I myself do not know about it too much. I am strictly assuming that it means a Biometric Device will look at something like the gestures of your hand or fingers to positively verify/identify you. This type of Biometric Technology is also expected to have a huge growth rate, again, exemplified by the statistics which can be seen in the quote above also. It is projected that this newer type of Biometric Technology (if it can be classified as such) is expected to grow strong in the next decade. According to the research report, a key reason why this has not taken off as much because of the low awareness rate of it. Bu truth be told, it has received a wide spectrum of attention, especially by the market research industry.
As I have written about before as well, Gesture Recognition is being used quite heavily to gauge responses to advertisements (whether online or on traditional TV), in order to formulate and execute marketing strategies which will work, and mean that customers will buy products and services. What all this means is that contactless Biometrics will be the wave of the future, no matter what shape or form it takes.
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