Fingerprint Recognition

[EddyB]

Hi all,

Has anyone used any fingerprint recognition hardware in conjunction with FM? If so I would love to hear from you. I have a client who is interested in finding records in FM by fingerprint match.

Any ideas anyone?

Many thanks

Ed

Version: v6.x

Platform: Windows 2000

[stanley]

Eddy:

I did a bunch of reasearch on this for a client over the past summer; I didn't come up with any clear answers, because it all depends on the hardware you're using & what sort of data it passes on. In the end, you can think of a biometric reader pretty much the same way you'd think of a barcode scanner. Just another way to input data. Having said that, you've got to ensure that you can attach an "Enter" or something to the end of the input string, to bump you out of a Pause in a script...

-Stanley

[EddyB]

Hi Stanley,

Thanks for your reply. The only problem I can see is that a barcode scanner actually enters a code relating to the barcode such as ISBN1234567. You can perform a find using a barcode scanner as this will perform the find on the code in a standard field.

With fingerprints, from what I have read, it will just scan as an image, therefore would need to be entered into a container field, this way I cannot perform the find. Do you know of any hardware that will convert the fingerprint image into a text/numerical format rather than just storing it as an image?

Cheers

Ed.

[stanley]

Eddy:

That's what I meant when I said you'll have to figure out hardware first. Many "fingerprint" scanners do not scan the fingerprint at all, but build up a numerical sequence based on resistance/capacitance in the finger, or based on patterns in the print itself. An example of this is the inexpensive (around $150 US) USB scanner made by Sony, but often marketed under different brands... I can't recall the model number or anything, as it didn't meet the physical requirements of the job I was on...

Many of the units do their own verification & have their own methodologies. It can be a tricky business, and biometrics in general is still very much a developing industry, which is why I ended up recommending to the client in question that they skip biometrics & use an identity card - barcode or magstripe - instead.

Nevertheless, if you can track down a fingerprint scanner that passes numeric (rather than imaged) data, you can use it just as you would a barcode scanner. That's the route I would recommend, as there is really no way in FileMaker to do fingerprint matching via a container field...

-Stanley

[EddyB]

Hi Stanley,

Sorry, I understand what you are saying now. So do the majority of biometric scanners pass data as opposed to an image? If so then I think I may be OK.

I knew there was no way of doing this via a container so was hoping that information passed from the scanner was in fact numeric data rather than images.

Also I am very interested in your mention of magstripe identity cards. Obviously I understand what these are but could you elaborate on the hardware/software required to create these and the hardware required to be attached to the PC for the card to be swiped for recognition.

Thanks again

Ed.

[EddyB]

OK, ignore the part about reading the magstrips, I've got this covered (the solution is to be used in a kiosk, I have just found a company in the UK who provide kiosks with the strip reader built-in - bonus!), just need info on creating the magstrip cards if possible.

Just to elaborate a little, I may be providing a college (a previous client) with a solution which will be delivered around the campus via kiosks. Students need to be able to login and view details of their courses, timetables, exam results etc etc. It will be a nightmare for the admin staff if they have to keep reminding students of their passwords, therefore I need something to replace the passwords. Barcoded ID cards was my first thought but then I thought of fingerprint recognition, not even students could lose their fingers whereas they could easily lose ID cards, this is the same for magstrip cards as well i Know, but I like this idea, eventually it will be up to the college though. I haven't got the contract yet but I'd like to be armed with as much info as possible for when the questions come flying at me!

Cheers

Ed

[stanley]

Ed:

There was a Biometrics trade show here in New York City last year, which I attended - it was all very interesting. It was run by Biometritech (biometritech.com) where you can find loads of pointers toward all the big players & latest news.

The client I was dealing with was also a school and had the same rationale (about students not being able to lose their fingers, which is actually not 100% true) but then I saw one of their IDs, and there was a barcode on it. I discovered the students needed the ID to enter the school, and that sealed it for me - barcoding is just so much less expensive that the two budgets I produced were on different planets.

If I remember right from my university days, the two things that you kept a closest watch on (after cigarettes and lighter) were your ID card and your room key...

-Stanley

[Joe King]

Check out Productive Computing. They have a biometrics plug-in which I understnad work with several different scanners...

thanks,

Joe