Development of software to control a unique biometric reader

The Palm Vein Access reader offers unprecedented levels of security without the traditional concerns and problems associated with other biometric technologies. Notably there is no requirement to physically touch the reader making this particularly suitable for healthcare and pharmaceutical applications where hygiene is of paramount importance. To ensure that the reader is truly universal, all of the main industry standard reader interfaces are supported allowing connection to the majority of access control units.

Palm vein recognition technology was developed by Fujitsu to help combat the increasing incidence of financial fraud and forgery, plaguing many financial institutions in Japan, at a cost to the economy of millions of Yen.

With ever increasing demands for accurate biometric identification tools, PalmGarde delivers extraordinarily high standards of accuracy. Boasting a false rejection rate of 0.01% and a false acceptance rate of less than 0.00008%, the PalmSecure sensor offers a highly secure technology.

Aplana Software was contracted by TDSi to develop the software for the PalmGarde reader. TDSi were responsible for commissioning the project, project management, generation of product specifications and final testing of the software.

“The professionalism and knowledge off Aplana’s Specialists is very high. They exceeded my expectations on the project. They were very open and transparent at all stages and offered suggested changes to improve the product as development progressed. The project management was exceptional and they kept us informed of what they were doing at every step of the project!” – Says Mike Sussman, Engineering & Operations Director, TDSi.

“We’ve been impressed about how quickly the team at Aplana began to think about our products and our business not from our point of view but from a user’s perspective. This has been very refreshing. Many companies are reluctant to allow third parties to write software for them because they feel they might loose control or not have the right focus from the third party software house. This just was not an issue with TDSi’s experience with working with Aplana. The Aplana team were always thinking about how the software would be used from the end-users’ point of view which has been very good.” – Adds John Davies, Managing Director, TDSi.

The scanner works on near-infrared light, which is distributed evenly without contact. The palm vein pattern in an individual’s hand is unique just like a fingerprint. The vein pattern is established in the womb and is different between the right and left hands. It is impossible to replicate this information as the veins are inside the body, underneath the epidermis. Unlike most fingerprint biometric technologies TDSi’s PalmGarde product is contactless, and is, therefore, hygienic. Unlike fingerprints, which change during childhood, palm veins are unique between each hand and permanent from birth to death.

PalmGarde improves security, saves money and increases usability and safety, whilst TDSi’s Access System and eXguard software takes away the sharp learning curve on biometrics the whole system is presented in a seamless interface with the biometrics database being handled at either the reader, within eXguard or in a separate network database providing the user with complete peace of mind.