Instructions

U.are.U SDK - Developer Guide 9
Background
THIS CHAPTER PROVIDES BACKGROUND INFORMATION ON THE BASICS OF FINGERPRINT RECOGNITION
In this chapter, we discuss the basics of fingerprint recognition. This chapter is not intended to be exhaustive, rather
we’re going to give you enough background knowledge to develop your own application more effectively.
For a more detailed overview, we recommend the Handbook of Fingerprint Recognition by D. Maltoni, M. Maio, A.
Jain, and S. Prabhakar, published by Springer, 2nd edition, 2009.
Biometrics
Identifying individuals based on their distinctive anatomical (fingerprint, face, iris, hand geometry) and behavioral
(signature, voice) characteristics is called biometrics. Because biometric identifiers cannot be shared or misplaced,
they intrinsically represent an individual’s identity. Biometrics is quickly becoming an essential component of
effective identification solutions. Recognition of a person by their body, then linking that body to an externally
established “identity”, forms a powerful authentication tool.
Biometric identification helps to reduce fraud, and enhance user convenience. Among the different biometric
identification methods, fingerprint recognition technology has a good balance of qualities including accuracy,
throughput, size and cost of readers, maturity of technology and convenience of use, making it the dominant biometric
technology in commercial applications.
Features of Biometric Technology
Biometric solutions offer many advantages that other technologies cannot provide.
• Uniqueness - Fingerprints from each one of our ten fingers are distinctive, different from one another and from
those of other persons. Even identical twins have different fingerprints.
• Convenience - Users no longer have to remember multiple, long and complex, frequently changing passwords or
carry multiple keys.
• Non-repudiation - Ensures the user is present at the point and time of recognition and later cannot deny having
accessed the system.
• Non-transferable - Cannot be shared, lost, stolen, copied, distributed or forgotten unlike passwords, PINs, and
smart cards.
• Proven - Long history of successful use in identification tasks - the U.S. and other countries have extensive real-
world experience with fingerprint recognition. Fingerprints have been used in forensics for well over a century and
there is a substantial body of scientific studies and real world data supporting the distinctiveness and permanence
of fingerprints.
The Basics of Fingerprint Identification
• The skin on the inside surfaces of our hands, fingers, feet, and toes is “ridged” or covered with concentric raised
patterns. These ridges are called friction ridges and they provide friction making it easier for us to grasp and hold
onto objects and surfaces without slippage. The many differences in the way friction ridges are patterned, broken,
and forked make ridged skin areas, including fingerprints, distinctive.
• The distinctiveness of fingerprints is well established. The underlying biological persistence of fingerprint
characteristics is also a well established fact reported in various fingerprint studies conducted in different
scientific fields over the past century.