Finger Geometry, 3D

Synonym

3D hand biometrics

Definition

Biometrics based on 3D finger geometry exploit discriminatory information provided by the 3D structure of the hand, and more specifically the fingers, as captured by a 3D sensor. The advantages of current 3D finger biometrics over traditional 2D hand geometry authentication techniques are improved accuracy, the ability to work in contact free mode, and the ability to combine with 3D face recognition using the same sensor.

Introduction

The motivation behind 3D finger geometry biometrics is the same as with 3D face recognition. The 3D geometry of the hand as captured by a 3D sensor offers additional discriminatory information while being invariant to variations such as illumination or pigment of the skin, compared with an image captured with a plain 2D camera. The current accuracy and resolution of 3D sensors are not adequate for capturing fine details on the surface of the fingers such as skin wrinkles over the knuckles, but is sufficient to...