| Fingerprints are no longer only skin deep |
Jan. 19, 2007
 Sophisticated, radio frequency-based fingerprint sensor technology may soon be a common aspect of retail environments that use Microsoft's Windows Embedded for Point of Service (WEPOS) operating system. AuthenTec's "TruePrint" fingerprint sensing technology goes beyond simple optical pattern recognition, to penetrate the finger's outer surface, according to the company.
TruePrint accurately detects fingerprint ridges and valleys by means of a semiconductor-based sensor that generates low-level RF signals, according to AuthenTec. The sensor "reads the fingerprint pattern from the live, highly-conductive layer of skin that lies just beneath the skin's dry outer surface layer," the company says. In contrast to conventional optical scanning, this approach is less compromised by skin conditions, such as dry, worn, calloused, dirty, or oily skin. The result is a sensor technology that is "capable of acquiring everyone's fingerprint under virtually any condition," AuthenTec claims.
TruePrint uses RF to "look" beneath the outer surface
AuthenTec expects fingerprint authentication to become a critical aspect of most retail POS environments in the future. A few benefits, according to the company, include:- Saves time versus conventional ID cards and card swiping
- Unlike traditional ID cards, fingers can't be shared, switched, or lost
- Enables per-transaction POS terminal sharing
- Useful for monitoring employee performance metrics
WEPOS, POS for .NET
According to Microsoft, WEPOS (Windows Embedded for Point of Service) is built from Windows XP Embedded, which provides a flexible, robust software platform that can address the basic operating system needs of POS environments and applications. Complementing the WEPOS platform, POS for .NET, the .NET implementation of the Unified POS (UPOS) standard, is intended to allow developers to create a single application that supports POS devices from multiple equipment manufacturers.
Microsoft describes POS for .NET as a class library for use with WEPOS that provides .NET applications with a "simple and consistent interface" through which applications can communicate with and control POS peripheral devices, such as barcode scanners, magnetic card readers, and printers. POS for .NET also encompasses a set of APIs (application programming interfaces) and base classes -- for POS peripheral devices -- that are intended to help retail peripheral vendors develop software components, or service objects, for their devices.
Authentec's TruePrint-based POS for .NET fingerprint biometrics application was showcased at the National Retail Federation Show in New York City last week.
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