INTRODUCTION

The term “biometrics” is derived from the Greek words “bio” (life) and “metrics” (to measure).
Biometrics is the technical term for body measurements and calculations.
Biometrics is the measurement and statistical analysis of people’s unique physical and behavioral characteristics.
Biometrics allows a person to be identified and authenticated based on a set of recognizable and verifiable data, which are unique and specific to them.
Biometrics authentication is the process of comparing data for the person’s characteristics in order to determine resemblance.

CHARACTERISTCS

1. UNIVERSAL
2. UNIQUE
3. INVARIABLE
4. RECORDABLE
5. MEASURABLE

HISTORY OF BIOMETRICS

1858 – First systematic capture of hand images for identification purposes is recorded.
1870 – Bertillon develops anthropometries to identify individuals.
1892 – Galton develops a classification system for fingerprints.
1896 – Henry develops a fingerprint classification system
1903 – NY State Prisons begin using fingerprints.
1960s – Face recognition becomes semi-automated.
1960 – First model of acoustic speech production is created.
1963 – Hughes research paper on fingerprint automation is published.
1974- First commercial hand geometry systems become available.
1976 – First prototype system for speaker recognition is developed.
1986 – Exchange of fingerprint minutiae data standard is published.
1988 – First semi-automated facial recognition system is deployed.
1991 – Face detection is pioneered, making real time face recognition possible.
1992 – Biometric Consortium is established within US Government.
1994 – Palm System is benchmarked.
1996 – Hand geometry is implemented at the Olympic Games.
1996 – NIST begins hosting annual speaker recognition evaluations.
1997 – First commercial, generic biometric interoperability standard is published.
1998- FBI launches COOlS (DNA forensic database).
1999 – FBI’s IAFIS major components become operational.
2001 – Face recognition is used at the Super Bowl in Tampa, Florida.
2002 – ISO/IEC standards committee on biometrics is established.
2004 – First statewide automated palm print databases are deployed in the US.
2008 – U.S. Government begin coordinating biometric database use.
2010 – U.S. national security apparatus utilizes biometrics for terrorist identification.
2011 – Biometric identification used to identify body of Osama bin Laden.

TYPES OF BIOMETRICS

Biometrics Can Be Divided Into Three Main Categories Of Characteristics:
1. BIOLOGICAL
2. MORPHOLOGICAL
3. BEHAVIORAL

DNA MATCHING

The identification of an individual using the analysis of segments from DNA.

EAR

The identification of an individual using the shape of the ear.

EYES – IRIS RECOGNITION & RETINA RECOGNITION

IRIS RECOGNITION- The use of the features found in the iris to identify an individual.
RETINA RECOGNITION- The use of patterns of veins in the back of the eye to accomplish recognition.

FACE RECOGNITION

The analysis of facial features or patterns for the authentication or recognition of an individuals identity.

FINGERPRINT RECOGNITION

The use of the ridges and valleys (minutiae) found on the surface tips of a human finger to identify an individual.

FINGER GEOMETRY RECOGNITION

The use of 3D geometry of the finger to determine identity.

HAND GEOMETRY RECOGNITION

The use of the geometric features of the hand such as the lengths of fingers and the width of the hand to identify an individual.

VEIN RECOGNITION

Vein recognition is a type of biometrics that can be used to identify individuals based on the vein patterns in the human finger or palm.

ODOUR

The use of an individuals odour to determine identity.

SIGNATURE RECOGNITION

The authentication of an individual by the analysis of handwriting style, specifically the signature. Technology is available to check two scanned signatures using advances algorithms.

TYPING RECOGNITION

The use of the unique characteristics of a persons typing for establishing identity.

VOICE / SPEAKER RECOGNITION

There are two major applications of speaker recognition:
Voice – Speaker Verification / Authentication
Voice – Speaker Identification
In forensic applications, it is common to first perform a speaker identification process to create a list of “best matches” and then perform a series of verification processes to determine a conclusive match.
Voice recognition analyzes audio input for specific patterns in speech or sound. Each voice, or common noise, has a recognizable wavelength pattern that can aid in identification of a specific individual.

GAIT

The use of an individuals walking style or gait to determine identity.