Recognition Systems Inc. The device scans fingers plus the tops and sides of the hand with a video camera, then converts the data with compression algorithms. Nearly 4,000 of the machines were sold in 1996. They're used at immigration checkpoints at San Francisco International Airport, for access to the Colombian legislature, and to verify the identity of donors at sperm banks. Some vendors think the answer is not at your fingertips, but on the tip of your tongue. Voice verification is already one of the most reliable biometrics, say government researchers at the National Security Agency, which monitors its use in numerous federal computer facilities.
Several states use voice recognition for parolees on home detention.
According to Personal Identification News , a respected industry newsletter, major corporations, including Martin Marietta, GM, and Hertz, are protecting their computer facilities with voice technology. Voice systems also guard private estates from Silicon Valley to Latin America. The machines are so advanced, makers claim, they catch a cold with you. Retinal scans, on the other hand, have proven as accurate or more so than voice verification, hand geometry, and digital fingerprinting in limited federal and state testing. Users place their eyes a few inches from an incandescent light beam that maps the vein patterns of the eyeball's innermost layer.