Feature Company

Interview with Chuck Wilson, Deputy General Manager, Hitachi Security Solutions Group, Hitachi America, Ltd.

August 2008

FB

Can you please provide our readers with a brief background of the company?

Hitachi

Hitachi America, Ltd. (HAL) markets and manufactures a broad range of electronics, computer systems and products, semiconductors, consumer electronics, and provides industrial equipment and services throughout North America. HAL is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Hitachi, Ltd., an $85 billion dollar company with more than three hundred forty thousand employees around the world.

Established in 1959, Hitachi has been a presence in the U.S. for almost five decades. Today, HAL has four thousand four hundred employees in nine divisions and twelve subsidiaries across the Americas. The Hitachi Security Solutions Group (HSS) is part of Hitachi America, Ltd. – Information Division. It serves as a separate initiative within Hitachi America Ltd., to provide a broad portfolio of security technology solutions in selected market sectors.

It assists organizations in integrating new technologies such as smart cards, radio frequency identification (RFID) and vein pattern biometrics into their business processes as customized solutions. As a systems integrator HSS provides project management / quality assurance, system design, software development, consulting and professional support services.

FB

Can you review your biometric product line?

Hitachi

In North America, Hitachi supports three key finger vein products: (1) the VeinGuard physical access terminal shown to the reader’s right, (2) the H1 logical access reader shown on the left, and (3) an embedded module, shown below, for support of ATMs, kiosks, turnstiles and other devices requiring an embedded biometric solution.

FB

What would you say are the key advantages of vein pattern recognition over other biometric techniques?

Hitachi

Vein pattern recognition offers an array of advantages over other biometric modalities, especially in the area of people considerations, including the following:

• Ease of feature extraction – Veins provide large, robust, relatively stable and hidden (to the naked eye) biometric features.
• Spoof resistance – Vein patterns are not easily observed, damaged, obscured or changed. They do not exhibit latency properties, and they are quite difficult to replicate. This makes them highly resistant to spoofing.
• High accuracy – Vein patterns have very low false acceptance levels (< .0001%) and low false reject levels (< .01%). Further, less than 0.1% of most populations are incapable of enrolling. Vein pattern biometrics can differentiate between identical twins; that claim is shared only by iris and retina recognition and fingerprint modalities.
• Environmental freedom – Vein patterns are much less susceptible to many external factors in the way that fingerprinting, facial recognition, or iris scanning can be.
• User friendliness – Vein pattern technology can be privacy enhancing; it is fast (< 2 seconds), user intuitive regarding the placement of one’s finger or hand, hygienic, and is generally bereft of cultural bias and criminal stigmas.
• Small footprint – VPR sensors are quite compact and are now approaching the size of the smallest fingerprint readers, and they are continuing to rapidly downsize, increasing portability for use with mobile devices.

FB

Hitachi dominates the Japanese market with its finger vein products. How are these deployments going?

Hitachi

The deployments throughout Japan have gone very well. As of April 2007, 75% of Japanese bank branches have successfully implemented Hitachi’s finger vein technology, representing over 26,548 ATMs nationwide. In addition, Hitachi has deployed over 60,000 logical access finger vein systems and over 20,000 physical access systems in Japan. The Hitachi finger vein technology is now taking root globally.

FB

What are the key applications that vein pattern technology can address?

Hitachi

Most people associate biometrics with security applications such as physical and logical access. Indeed, physical access to buildings, laboratories, data centers, and other secure facilities is a highly visible, traditional application for biometric technology, and it remains so for Hitachi’s finger vein systems. Moreover, logical access to commercial and corporate networks, personal computers, financial accounts (e.g., ATMs) and other virtual systems is a strong and rapidly growing application. Hitachi continues to exhibit success in this promising sector. However, there are a growing number of other applications including workforce management, such as time and attendance – a significant headache for many businesses, and one which biometrics can solve with efficiency and convenience. Another key application is membership, whereby a member of a given organization needs to verify his identity to access the benefits of membership. Finger vein technology can determine if an individual is already part of a database, such as someone seeking a social service benefit, driver’s license, or national ID. Finally, finger vein pattern recognition can be extremely useful in accountability applications whereby one needs to authenticate an identity, such things as boarding a commercial aircraft, ship, bus or train; maintaining a chain of evidence; or signing for a classified document. While these broad categories are by no means the only appropriate applications for vein pattern recognition technology, they are the primary ones in use today.

FB

What are some of the challenges you face with vein pattern technology?

Hitachi

Like all biometric technologies, vein pattern recognition has its challenges. The most prominent challenge is that relatively few people are aware of the technology and its capabilities. Finger vein technology is often confused with the fingerprint modality. Although they both focus on the same body part, the two technologies could not be more different. Finger vein pattern technology is closed view, spoofing resistant, hygienic, and privacy-enhancing.

FB

In terms of new product development, what can we expect to see from Hitachi in the near future?

Hitachi

Hitachi’s first commercial systems were deployed in 2004. In 2005, a grip-type finger vein authentication technology was developed, enabling a door to be opened simply by gripping the handle. In 2006, Hitachi announced its logical access product; and in 2008, the VeinGuard physical access product was launched in North America. Since then, Hitachi has been working to develop an even more compact system to extend market applications.

Another implementation was demonstrated at the 2007 Tokyo Motor Show, where the driver presents his finger to the reader embedded on a steering wheel to start the car’s engine.

Hitachi continues to improve and refine its vein pattern technology. Each year it introduces new form factors for its readers and addresses new applications. Hitachi expects to remain one of the key leaders of this exciting technology well into the future.

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