Biometric Sensor and Device, Overview

Synonyms

Biometric sensors; Biometric devices

Definition

A biometric sensor is a transducer that converts a biometric treat (fingerprint, voice, face, etc.) of a person into an electrical signal. Generally, the sensor reads or measures pressure, temperature, light, speed, electrical capacity, or other kinds of energies. Different technologies can be applied to achieve this conversion using common digital cameras or more sophisticated combinations or networks of sensors.

It is important to highlight that the output signal of a sensor or device is only a representation of the real-world biometrics. Hence, if B is a biometrics of a real world and s is the transfer function of a sensor or a device, the output signal is B^′ = s(B) and B^′ ≠ B.

A biometric device is a system which a biometric sensor is embedded in. Communication, processing, and memory modules are usually added to provide additional functionalities that the biometric sensor cannot if standalone.

Interchanging the terms sensor...