Integrated Biometrics (IB) has announced that its strategic partner, Sciometrics LLC, has applied to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and The European Patent Office for new Intellectual Property (IP) that will improve the quality of touchless fingerprinting through mobile devices and expand application of the technology.
Sciometrics already holds a seminal patent for empowering off-the-shelf smartphones to capture high-quality fingerprints. The new IP will be integrated into the Slapshot Touchless SDK product which is offered by IB and based on Sciometrics’ research and development.
One of the pending patents covers several methods for improvement for touchless fingerprints: minimising image resolution error to less than two percent (matching the FBI’s PIV requirement); a “smart” focusing method that ensures the best possible image for each finger: image rendering that captures “Level Three” features (pores and ridge shapes). The implementation of these methods results in touchless fingerprints that strongly resemble contact prints.
An additional pending patent covers the concept of “archived identity” where a fingerprint can be used to memorialise transactions such as credit card applications and SIM card purchases.
“Our partnership with Sciometrics expands IB’s reach as the global leader in mobile fingerprint-scanning devices through the evolving arena of high-resolution, high-quality contactless identity,” said Shawn O’Rourke, CEO of Integrated Biometrics. “IB and Sciometrics will jointly help our customers to define the standards for contactless platforms offering interoperability with legacy databases created with traditional scanners.”
“We have taken a huge step in bridging the gap between contact and touchless fingerprints,” said Mark Walch, CEO of Sciometrics. “The advanced technology contained in the new patent filings will both improve the quality of touchless fingerprinting and open new opportunities for using fingerprints to bundle identity with transactions. Touchless fingerprinting is already a game changer, and the new IP creates a completely new game.”
Since 2016, Sciometrics has been working with the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) through a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) to advance and standardise the algorithms underlying touchless fingerprinting. The new IP will make a direct contribution to this effort by improving the quality of touchless fingerprints, making them structurally closer to legacy fingerprint collections that were principally produced by ink on paper or contact scanners.