Researchers at Dermalog Identification Systems, a Germany-based biometric technology developer, have developed new technology for fingerprint scanners that would enable them to tell the difference between living and dead tissue, according to a New Scientist article.
The new technique, which aims to curb frauds such as removing someone’s finger to gain access to their biometrically protected systems, utilizes the change in color that occurs with living tissue from displaced blood in the capillaries when the finger is pushed against something, or blanching.
Specifically, the change in color that occurs in the fingers means there is also a change in absorbed light wherein a living finger will absorb the light at different depths when blanched when compared to not blanched and dead tissue has no change at all.
Dermalog officials are hopeful that the new technology will be finding its way into fingerprint systems in the near future and that as the International Standards Organization continues its work on drafting new standards for biometrics that it incorporates liveness detection as well as forgery detection such as knowing when a false finger is being used, another type of technology the researchers have been working on.
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