After Seiko Epson and 'the British academic firm', Futronic Technology, a provider of fingerprint recognition software and hardware products, has announced its latest innovation - a technology named Live Finger Detection (LFD), which can detect live human fingers and reject non-live(fake) fingers. Futronic's technology differentiates the reflected signal of live human fingers from that of other material.

More precisely, LFD is an active sensing technology that can detect live human fingers but reject non-live (fake) fingers accurately. When a finger is put on Futronic optical fingerprint scanner, a special generator inside the scanner sends a signal to the finger. This signal goes beyond the human skin surface to hit the inner layer which is then reflected to a sensor inside the scanner. Pretty complicated process, isn't it?

And the reflected signal from live human fingers is very unique, compared to that from other material. As a result, Futronic optical fingerprint scanner only captures the fingerprint of live fingers and rejects fake fingers made from other material. Fake fingers made from silicone, rubber, play-doh, etc, cannot get access through Futronic optical fingerprint scanner.

Warwick Warp, the upper mentioned British company, which is financed by Oxford Early Investments (OEI) and gathers PhD students and academic staff, has one purpose: to create its first prototype of a fingerprint identification technology.

"The firm said its "unique patented algorithms are designed to reduce error rates significantly by correcting the linear and elastic deformation caused by the uneven pressure of the finger on the imaging surface". The algorithms can also cope with "third-level feature models incorporating sweat pore extraction and shading and lighting variation"," reported Electronics Weekly.

Seiko Epson's paper-thin fingerprint sensor, on the other hand, measures 0.2 millimeters in thickness and, when you press your finger against it, the sensor reads fingerprint patterns based on the faint electric current emanating from your fingertip confirming your access to that particular item.

LFD is now available in following Futronic products:

FS80 USB2.0 Fingerprint Scanner
FS82 USB2.0 Fingerprint Smart Card Reader
FS21M Fin'Lock - Fingerprint Access Control System
FinLogon Personal Edition(PE) for MS Windows
FinLogon Enterprise Edition(EE) for Active Directory
Fingerprint Recognition Software Development Kit(SDK) for MS Windows