News and insight into biometric identification and authentication

Biometrics may replace doormen

Tuesday, March 16, 2010

A company is offering a biometric alternative to the standard doorman employed at many of the metropolitan high-rise apartment and condominium complexes across the U.S., according to a Gothamist article.

The company, called Kent Security Services, calls the service a “virtual doorman” in which both face recognition and voice recognition are utilized to determine whether someone entering the building is a resident.


If that person is recognized by the system as a resident of the building, the door is unlocked, if not, they are prompted for voice recognition. If an individual not living there is at the door, Kent staffers intervene via phone to handle the situation. Despite roughly 30,000 doormen contracts expiring in New York in April, doormen union reps are not worried citing that machines are not yet capable of taking the place of all the facets of a doorman’s job.

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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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A facial recognition system developed by California-based biometric technology developer Airborne Biometrics Group (ABG) is seeing use in a number of industries including government, casinos, transportation and corporations, according to a Las Vegas Review-Journal 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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