News and insight into biometric identification and authentication

NEC facial biometrics takes first place

Thursday, January 21, 2010

NEC Corp., a developer of new technologies including biometric and other security technology, has announced they received first place in the Still-Face Dataset of the Multiple Biometric Grand Challenge for their face recognition technology. The challenge was carried out by the National Institute of Standards and Technology, commissioned by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and included testing of the technology in anticipated real-world scenarios such as compressed images and images taken in poor lighting.


Due to the variety of government agencies supporting the challenge outside of Homeland Security, including the Department of Justice, the FBI and the Department of Defense, NEC is elated by the award both for their own business as well as the market for facial recognition in general.

NEC’s winning technology posted a false acceptance rate of 2.1%, a false rejection rate of .1% and operates by utilizing a number of personal facial characteristics from different lighting and viewpoints. [end] 

Luxand announced release of a free, downloadable version of its Blink! facial recognition software. The software provides as a biometric-based login service Windows 7 and Windows Vista operating systems via a user’s regular webcam. In addition to authenticating the individual accessing the computer, Blink! also takes and records a still image of each person trying to access the computer to help prevent unauthorized access, and touts the ability to correctly recognize stored faces despite poor lighting conditions or basic changes in a user’s look such as glasses or hair cuts.  

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The Security Industry Association (SIA), a member-based group that advocates on behalf of the security industry in the U.S., has publicly opposed a Bill in Alaska that restricts biometric technology in the state, according to a Security Info Watch article.

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Skeletal scanning technology developed at Wright State University could hold potential as a new biometric mode particularly effective in weeding out people of interest from crowds, according to an Ubergizmo article.

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Animetrics has announced the release of a new facial recognition authentication service available on certain mobile phones.

The service, called FaceR CredentialME, is available on devices using the Android, Windows Mobile and RIM operating systems on the Sprint 3G or 4G networks and was launched in conjunction with Troy Security Solutions, a mobile products and solutions provider.

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Bright Way College in Jankipuram in India has implemented a system developed by biometrics developer GI Biometric Solutions in hopes of better protecting its students from being sent home with people that are not supposed to be picking up the children, such as kidnappers, according to a Times of India article.

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U.S. soldiers stationed in Afghanistan are depending on various biometric devices and the enrollment of Afghani citizens into their databases to better tell civilians from militants and other criminals in the area, according to a CJTF-101 article.

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