Fujitsu, one of the world's leading suppliers of hard disk drives and computer peripherals and a market leader in document management scanners, has won the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) Innovation Award for the network security category, one of the most popular ones, with its ‘contactless' PalmVein authentication device. In order to be considered for the final round, the innovation had to represent a breakthrough from traditional ideas or methods in its field, and be more than a simple improvement on existing technologies. Usefulness of the innovation was also a key selection criteria.
The awards attracted approximately 750 applications for the 12 categories that included biotech-medical, energy and power, wireless, and transportation. After an initial screening by a Wall Street Journal editor, the judging panel - made up of industry experts from industry and research organizations as well as academia - reviewed 104 semi finalists to select the winners.
Fujitsu's PalmVein device captures an individual's palm image with near-infrared rays. The flowing deoxidized hemoglobin in the palm vein absorbs these rays, thereby reducing the reflection rate and causing the veins to appear as a black pattern. This vein pattern is then verified against the pre-registered pattern to authenticate the individual. As each individual's palm vein pattern is unique, even in the case of identical twins, and since the veins are internal in the body, assuming false identity through forgery is extremely difficult, thereby enabling an extremely high level of security.
In addition to providing outstanding security, Fujitsu's PalmVein sensory technology is extremely user-friendly, creating a touch-free, hygienic solution necessary for public use where the user simply places the palm of the hand above the reader. With this decide Fujitsu is working to gain an edge over competing biometric identification products. PalmVein measures just 7 x 7 x 2.7 cm, weighs less than 90 grams and comes with a USB 2.0 interface.
Fujitsu's PalmVein was first deployed last year and can now be found in banks, universities and in a condominium complex in Japan.
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