A contactless biometric system using multiple hand features

With the advent of modern computing technology, there is increased reliance on biometrics to provide stronger personal authentication. Among the variety of biometric solutions in the market, hand-based system is the oldest, and perhaps the most successful form of biometric technology. This paper describes a contactless hand-based biometric system by using visible and infrared imagery. An acquisition device is developed to capture both color and infrared hand images. We modify an ordinary web camera to capture the hand vein that normally requires specialized infrared sensor. The design is simple and low-cost. No additional installation of special apparatus is required. The device can capture the epidermal and subcutaneous features from the hand simultaneously. In specific, five features namely hand geometry, palm print, palmar knuckle print, palm vein, and finger vein are acquired from the hand for recognition. Rigorous experiments had been performed to testify the robustness of the system. (c) 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.