NEC Corporation has announced that its fingerprint identification technologies ranked first in the Fingerprint Vendor Technology Evaluation (FpVTE 2012 or FpVTE) conducted by the United States’ National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).
FpVTE 2012 was organized to mimic potential operational requirements, such as application with National ID systems and criminal investigations. Tests were carried out with large-scale fingerprint images collected across a wide range of organizations, such as police departments and government institutions, to conduct accuracy assessments on search, identity confirmation and other tasks. The fingerprint database used in the testing included around 5 million sets of fingerprint data, the largest database in the NIST’s benchmark testing history.
FpVTE testing was conducted primarily to assess the current capabilities of fingerprint matching algorithms using operational datasets containing several million subjects. There were three classes of participation that examined one-to-many identification using various finger combinations from single finger up to ten fingers. Class A used single-index finger capture data and evaluated single index finger (right or left) and two index finger (right and left) identification. Class B used identification flat (IDFlat) captures (4-4-2; left slap, right slap, and two thumbs simultaneously) and evaluated ten-finger, eight-finger (right and left slap), and four-finger (right or left slap) identification. Class C used rolled and plain impression (4-4-1-1; left slap, right slap, left thumb, and right thumb) captures and evaluated ten-finger rolled-to-rolled, ten-finger plain-to-plain, and ten-finger plain-to-rolled identification. Enrollment sets used for one-to-many identification varied in size from 5,000 up to 5,000,000 enrolled subjects.
NEC achieved top ranking in the 10 finger identification tests, producing the best fingerprint matching results among the 18 companies and organizations that took part in the testing, thereby demonstrating the advanced level of its technological capabilities.
In recent years, biometric technologies that use fingerprints, which are characterized by their uniqueness and permanence, have been utilized globally as a highly dependable method for personal authentication. This authentication helps to prevent identity fraud throughout areas such as law enforcement, national IDs, voter management and immigration control. As one of the key technologies for creating a safe and secure society, NEC has engaged in the development of fingerprint biometric technologies for more than four decades.
Systems using these technologies have been introduced in more than 40 countries around the world, such as a national ID system in South Africa and a wide range of AFIS systems for government and city police departments in the United States, including the Western Identification Network (WIN). Furthermore, NEC Corporation also was ranked first in the prior large scale identification study Fingerprint Vendor Technology Evaluation 2003 (FpVTE2003) conducted by NIST.
“NEC is extremely proud of its top ranking in the FpVTE 2012. This is the second consecutive time NEC technology is ranked as the best in large scale ten finger identification tests conducted by NIST. The NIST evaluated vendors’ authentication technologies through blind testing in an objective and accurate way, and with the cooperation and support of the US Department of Homeland Security, Department of Justice, Department of Defense and other government branches. We are delighted that the results of the latest benchmark tests have once again demonstrated the superiority of NEC’s fingerprint authentication technologies,” said Hiroshi Suzuki, General Manager, 2nd Government and Public Solutions Division, NEC Corporation.
“Following these results, NEC will continue to develop and sell products and services, including its Integra-ID and MBIS, which capitalize on its leading biometric authentication technologies and further strengthen its business.”
