Scientists 'unwarp' distorted fingerprints in seconds

Warwick Warp BioLog equipment is already in use on construction sites, where workers have notoriously abraded prints.

(Credit: University of Warwick)

It's long been held that no two fingerprints are exactly alike, rendering the old-fashioned print more reliable than current DNA sampling, which has resulted in false positive identifications.

But what if a fingerprint is warped? When I volunteered to be a mentor recently, I had to get my prints taken, and the process was tedious and full of re-dos because, as I rotated each finger, I tended to slightly smudge the results. (I might have made a good criminal, but I was an annoyed--and inky--mentor.)

Now, the biggest problem with fingerprints--that a good one is hard to find--may have finally been solved, according to new research out of the University of Warwick in the UK.

Most fingerprint techniques identify a handful of features on a print and match the entire set of characteristics against each fingerprint in a database of templates--a laborious, often time-consuming endeavor. Researchers at the University of Warwick took a different approach.

Considering the entire pattern of a print, they would transform its topology into a standard coordinate, thus allowing the "unwarping" of any print distorted by such common real-world issues as smudging and uneven pressure. The clearer digital representation of the print is then mapped onto an "image space" of all other prints in a given database, so instead of comparing one print to every other print in that database, the overlaying of the print against the entire database finds a match, if there is one, in seconds, regardless of whether that database holds a million or a thousand prints.

The unwarping is so effective, it turns out, that it even compares the position of individual sweat pores (there are hundreds) on a print. Previously, the slightest distortion of a print rendered these densely-packed pores unreadable.

The technology has already won over the construction industry, with spinout company Warwick Warp installing its BioLog for security and staff management at six building sites. (Apparently construction workers often have abraded fingerprints due to the nature of their work.)

And the results have already impressed more than the construction industry. In the past week, the technology has been examined by two of the world's most respected technical fingerprint benchmarking tests; the UK's National Physical Laboratory ranked Warwick Warp's fingerprint technology best overall for accuracy, and the National Institute of Standards and Technology in the U.S. ranked it third.

The signature may soon be obsolete. Want to use your credit card, see personal medical files, buy beer when you look underage? Take off your glove, please.

[Mr_7235]

"The signature may soon be obsolete. Want to use your credit card, see personal medical files, buy beer when you look underage? Take off your glove, please."

I think there'd be massive privacy issues associated with giving up a thumb print to your credit card company/doctor/workplace/etc. Also, I have to think that credit card companies and the DMV could already easily serve up a database of customer images to stores, which could all but eliminate the use of fake credit cards and fake IDs at retail. If they don't do that, why would they use something more intrusive like thumbprints?

[biffhenerson]

I cringe when I hear that "no two fingerprints are exactly alike" Perhaps it is impossible to prove as true or false as the test cases are infinite. But there have been court cases where the fingerprints are very similar and virtually identical thus causing the incorrect person to be convicted. What are the odds that two people would have similar fingerprints? Given that, what are the odds that two people would be at or near the crime scene with similar fingerprints? It seems unlikely, but it appears to happen. Thus I would be more comfortable if the biometric devices scanned more than one finger print for a given individual. For further reading reference: http://www.truthinjustice.org/fingerprint-myth.htm

[alegr]

It's been said a thousand times. You can't pull PIN out of a dead man's brain. But you can cut off a dead man's thumb. Or you can make a mold.

You can change PIN easily if you think it's compromised. You can't change your fingerprints.

In other words, fingerprint recognitions works best against the person interests (for criminal conviction). It doesn't work well for authentication.

[Get_Bent]

It has already been done:


Malaysia car thieves steal finger
31 March 2005

Police in Malaysia are hunting for members of a violent gang who chopped off a car owner's finger to get round the vehicle's hi-tech security system.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/4396831.stm