Many of the activities in our everyday life depend on an array of cards and passwords that we need to provide to confirm who we are. But lose a card, and your ATM will refuse to give you money. Forget a password, and your own computer may not let you login. Allow your card or passwords to fall into the wrong hands, and what were intended to be security measures can become the tools of fraud or result in loss of privacy. Biometrics — the automated recognition of people via distinctive anatomical and behavioral traits (e.g., fingerprint, face, iris, gait) — has the potential to overcome many of these problems with cards and passwords. Biometrics is not a new idea. Pioneering work by Fauld, Galton, Henry and others in the late 19th century established that fingerprints exhibit a unique pattern that persists over time. This set the stage for the development of Automatic Fingerprint Identification Systems that are now used by the police worldwide. Growing concerns related to terrorist and criminal acts, financial fraud, and privacy loss has resulted in widespread adoption of biometric technology. Fingerprint, face and iris recognition algorithms are now available to secure laptops and mobile phones, confirm identities of people crossing international borders, issue national ID cards, and provide access to secure facilities. Examples of biometric systems deployed in China include face and fingerprint verification system at Lo Wu immigration control point between Hong Kong and mainland China, face verification system for ticket holders at Beijing Olympics, and iris recognition system for coal mine worker safety monitoring. This talk will introduce the origins of biometric recognition, a snapshot of state of the art capabilities, and opportunities and challenges for research in this exciting technology that is permeating our society.

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