The changing face of biometrics

FedSubmit from Mentalix: Why it's interesting: This rugged fingerprint scanner is designed for law enforcement and prison systems to check the identity of jailbirds and perform background checks and call up arrest records. It can process both card and live finger scans, and comes in three basic packages, including one just for the US state of Texas.
H-CAM Iris Scan from Global Rainmaker: Why it's interesting: This Web-based iris scan is intended to show how the underlying system called the HBOX can be used to capture the iris image of a person intending to complete a financial transaction, perhaps taking cash from a bank machine or making a credit-card transaction. That iris image would be checked against a database of registered iris images before allowing the transaction to be completed.
The Vascular Scanner from Identica: Why it's interesting: Vascular biometrics involves scanning the veins of the hand to gain a pattern unique to an individual. This scanner looks at the back of the hand, rather than the palm, which according to Identica presents less chance of cuts and abrasions than the palm and has fewer cultural issues around the world. It's used for everything from port entry to data-center authentication.
Cognitec Face-Vacs Alert: Why it's interesting: Facial-recognition system used to continuously scan a crowd. The goal is to identify targeted individuals whose faces have already been captured as a digital image and stored in the Cognitec facial-recognition system. When Face-Vacs picks up a face that it recognizes through a facial biometrics match, it immediately pulls up the recorded face image and displays it with the live camera image of the scanned crowd.
HandKey II from Schlage: Why it was interesting: Schlage, well-known for door locks, also makes this hand-geometry biometrics authentication device that's used for accessing a building by checking the shape of the hand.
Mobile-Eyes from Retica Systems: Why it's interesting: This iris scanner, which looks like a set of binoculars, can capture the iris of each eye simultaneously, the only iris biometrics scanner on the market that does so.
In biometrics, they can check your fingerprint, palm, face, iris, and even the veins of your hand. The Biometrics Consortium Conference and Technology Expo 2008, held in the US, was the place to see the very latest -- and strangest -- in products designed to find out if you are really you. Binocular iris scans, anyone?
Drive-Through Iris on the Move from Sarnoff: Why it's interesting: They're scanning passengers as vehicles pass by. Can capture iris images of up to six people per minute through its dual-camera oscillating mirrors. Intended to check those entering a facility...or a vehicle.
Multimodal Biometric Solutions Provider Jumpkit from Crossmatch: Why it's interesting: Carried into the battlefield by US soldiers, it can capture iris, fingerprint and photo images on detainees. The ruggedized equipment also includes a small Inmarsat antenna for immediately sending data to a US analysis facility, which can respond in about 15 minutes as to whether the detainee has been previously identified.
Which of these technologies do you see taking off...or keeping you from taking off next time you're at the airport?

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