How does palm vein biometrics work
The vein patterns in every person's hands are complex and unique to every individual in the world. Because of the complexity of the patterns, the veins contain many distinguishing and immutable features useful for personal identification. Vein patterns are unique: identical twins have different patterns and indeed each hand is different.
An individual's vein pattern image is captured by radiating his/her hand with near-infrared rays. The reflection method illuminates the palm using an infrared ray and captures the light given off by the region after diffusion through the palm. The deoxidised haemoglobin in the blood vessels absorbs the infrared ray, thereby reducing the reflection rate and causing the veins to appear as a black pattern.
This vein pattern is then verified against a stored pattern to authenticate the individual.
The system is not dangerous, as near-infrared is a component of sunlight; there is no more electromagnetic exposure from scanning one's hand than from standing outside in the sun.
Fujitsu, the leading maker of palm vein scanners, has produced a palm vein contactless biometrics system that is already in use at the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi (BTM) in Japan. The Company claims that:
"Fujitsu will continue to develop the promising new technology of contactless palm vein authentication by shrinking the scanner. A future goal Fujitsu is enthusiastically working toward is incorporating the scanner in mobile phones. This is expected to drastically change the way mobile phones are used. The security of handheld electronic devices will become increasingly important as they store more personal information. In all these applications, the key to securing your assets and data will be in the palm of your hand."
Palm vein scanning is very secure because the vein patterns lie under the skin, making it virtually impossible for others to read or copy. Fujitsu reckons that its technology achieves an accuracy of 99.99% for correct rejections (i.e. a false rejection rate of 0.01%) and 99.99992 for correct acceptances (i.e. a false acceptance rate of less than 0.00008%) (as at February, 2005). However, despite these impressive statistics, no system is perfect or infallible and with ingenuity, equipment with enough sophistication, and time, a new 'arrow' can be developed to pierce a new 'shield'.
Elvin Xiu demonstrates this principle in The Goldilocks Game by creating a pair of gloves for Tania Likamolova that can scan the palm vein patterns of those she dances with at the Ball to enable her to overcome the biometric authentication measures built into the smartphones of her antagonists.
Find out how exactly the palm vein scanner features in the book by clicking here.
