First Snowfall
Well, as I woke up this morning, knowing that it would be cold, still hoping the sun would be out. But instead, I just woke up to a very cloudy and drab morning, the usual typical winter stuff. As I looked down to the ground, I noticed that we got our first accumulated snowfall. While it was probably no more than half an inch or so, it will still our first major accumulation for the season (though it did snow some time ago, with no accumulation). As I saw this unfold, the temptation to work from home was quite strong. But none the less, I conjured up some motivation hopped into the shower, and got ready for the work day. I have to admit I was pretty sluggish, not wanting to go out, trudge through the snow, facing the fact that I would have to spend some time wiping off the snow and ice off of my car windows.
So, as I finally ventured out into the parking lot, the snow and ice weren’t too bad, nor was removing it from my car. Believe it or not, the only major problem I had was with my keys, fumbling around for them, and trying to open my apartment door, and car doors. So, the immediate solution I thought for this was of course, Biometrics.
So, today, our content deals with a Biometrics Vendor whom just announced the release of a small fingerprint recognition system designed primarily for doors: “FingerTec USA - a biometric time clock manufacturer is promoting its new Q2i W fingerprint door lock for small and medium-sized businesses. The latest in the Q2i series of biometric time clocks, the Q2i W offers all of the functionality of its predecessor with the convenience of wireless connectivity . . . FingerTec USA's access control fingerprint timeclocks offer a number of functionalities, allowing employers to monitor staff comings and goings while also preventing unauthorized entry without the use of keys. Administrators can even customize their fingerprint door lock systems to adjust their restrictions based on the time of day. For a greater level of security, FingerTec USA's Q2i W fingerprint time clocks can also be configured to require multiple forms of verification, including RFID, MIFARE, or HID cards and manual password entry.” (SOURCE: http://www.findbiometrics.com/industry-news/i/9410/).
My Thoughts
Well, if you read the above quote, there is probably not too much difference about this Biometrics solution than what other vendors have come out with. So in a nutshell, to change subjects, you can see just how competitive the Biometrics Industry can be, with competing products and solutions, which are very similar, together. The make or break here is the robustness of the mathematical algorithms, and the processing speed for identification and verification with the templates in the database. So yea, this is another solution for time and attendance applications, nothing new that I have not written about before. But what caught my attention is its wireless capability.
I have no doubt written about countless number of Biometric solutions, but this is probably one of the very few times I have seen a solution like this, with this kind of capability. So, as I was reading this, my mind tried to further extrapolate how this could be used to help my undaunting situation described up above. Here is what I thought of: It would be so nice to have major apartment buildings (such as the one I live in) to have a fingerprint recognition system like this, so that all of the tenants have to do is literally unlock the door with a quick scan of their finger. This is especially true in the harsh winter conditions we experience here in Chicago, and when experiencing the fun of grocery shopping.
Now, when we imagine this kind of setup, the first thought that comes to mind is having it at the main entrances of the apartment complex. But, why can’t it also be used for the tenant’s door as well??? You see, this system is wireless, so what I am thinking of it something where as the main door is unlocked, the tenant’s door is unlocked at the same time (with some lag of course), with this wireless connectivity. Now granted, this is just what is in my brain, it would take some (probably a lot of work) to get all of the technical details up and running so that there would be no system glitches.
But darn, if this kind of set up came to fruition, it would be so slick. Heck, for that matter, why not use this type of system for opening our car doors as well? There are actually some applications which do this, but these reside primarily with the upper echelon car manufacturers (such as Lexus, Volvo, Volkswagen, Porsche) who can afford the costs of implementing a fingerprint recognition system like this. But truth be told, it will probably be quite some time until all of this could come into existence. It is not so much the technical details of it, but rather, in these economic times, major apartment complexes would view Biometrics more of a luxury item than a necessity. But, knowing me, I beg to differ . . .
Comments