Contactless biometric technology set to become the new normal's digital security standard

OVER the years, the use of biometric technology devices in access control and authentication has become more ubiquitous. They are already widely used in airport automated border control systems, building and office access systems, and are even built into smartphones. Since the Covid-19 pandemic landed, however, many of these contact-based technologies fell out of favour.

Naturally - and especially with distancing measures being part of the norm - this accelerated the development and adoption of their next generation: contactless biometrics.

Contactless biometrics were already gaining popularity before Covid-19 due to the improved processing speed and enhanced security over their touch-required counterparts. Multiple types of contactless biometric technology are currently available in the market - such as facial, iris and voice recognition systems. Even fingerprint scanners are becoming more sophisticated; they no longer require pressure to capture a person's fingerprint.

Heightened concerns over health and safety, the rising adoption of Automatic Identification and Data Capture (AIDC) technology and supportive government legislation are currently spiking both interest and demand for contactless biometrics.

In fact, the global market is expected to increase by 20 per cent over the next seven years with a forecasted revenue of US$30.15 billion in 2027. This signals enormous potential for contactless biometrics to become the next standard of authentication.

PRINTS WITHOUT PRESSURE

Fingerprint recognition has long been one of the most popular modalities of biometric technology. Previously, contact-based variants created a digital picture of the fingerprint when a finger was pressed onto the scanner, then attempted to match it with an existing picture in the system. However, touching deforms the skin of the finger every time, which hinders fingerprint matching efforts and reduces efficiency - especially if the finger is not clean. Scanner surfaces are also prone to wear and tear from repeated contact.

Contactless fingerprint recognition only requires a single-second wave of the hand over a sensor. Innovations in image processing technology and artificial intelligence (AI) allow scanners to illuminate the three-dimensional (3D) surface of the fingers and quickly render a model through reflection and shadow.

The fingerprints are then matched to a database to identify the user. These scanners can capture multiple fingerprints at once for greatly enhanced accuracy - close to 90 per cent on average - as well as producing low false positive match rates and having a longer lifespan.

These advantages allow contactless fingerprint recognition to provide a frictionless experience for users without compromising security, especially in access control for gated communities or offices. Drivers can simply wave at the devices through their car windows to open barrier gates. Workers can pass their hand over scanners to activate electronic turnstiles. It only takes seconds for the system to verify their identity and grant them entry or exit, reducing wait times and alleviating frustrations.

NEW FACE OF BIOMETRICS

Facial recognition is nearly synonymous with contactless biometrics. It has gained widespread acceptance in recent years due to its ease of use, as well as because the face provides more unique data about a person than any other biometric option, which AI systems can be trained to recognise.

It detects and captures a photo of a face with a camera, then analyses the image and quantifies nodal points into data. That data is then matched to other templates in a cloud database to identify the user.

Current iterations of facial recognition software are more robust and account for a wide variety of circumstances. They can accommodate haircuts and accessories, are relatively insensitive to expressions, can detect faces in low light and from different view angles, have anti-spoofing mechanisms and even feature liveness detection to verify that a user is alive. Meanwhile, features such as intent areas - which limit the distance of the camera's capture field - and encrypted templates minimise privacy intrusions and personal data vulnerability.

Most people will encounter facial recognition systems at the airport, where they are used to automate passport checks and reduce wait time at border checkpoints. Travellers simply step into the e-gate, place their passports onto scanners and look into the camera, after which their identity will be verified in seconds.

Besides border control, myriad use cases are emerging for this technology, including but not limited to recording attendance in schools and workplaces, authenticating digital payment in physical stores and verifying user identity to activate virtual application features.

THE TOUCHLESS FUTURE

Health and safety concerns may have spurred more conversations recently over contactless biometric technology, but its many other significant benefits in security, efficiency and versatility evidently have great potential to transform our lives. We are seeing strong demand for them across various sectors as both individuals and organisations search for advanced security solutions to shore up their safeguards against the new vulnerabilities of an increasingly digitalised world.

Complex issues such as safety and convenience have ever-changing parameters of acceptability that require the sort of agility and sophistication that only technology can provide. With its enhanced benefits and expanded potential, it is only a matter of time before contactless biometric technology becomes the new normal's digital security standard. It will change the face of the security ecosystem - regardless of industry - and we are eager to see what the future holds.