Fujitsu PalmSecure is a biometric authentication solution with palm vein scanning, successfully in use for well over a decade to secure computers, building ATMs, manage stadium entry, building access and more.
Fujitsu has been working on an alternative to the traditional fingerprint biometric system for well over a decade, as this YouTube video from Infoworld published way back in 2007 demonstrates, where the PalmSecure sensor was installed into a computer mouse.
Fast forward to today, and Fujitsu's "world's lightest ultrabook" at 779 grams has the PalmSecure sensor built into the palm rest, and in my test of the device, saw that the PalmSecure scanner worked exactly as advertised.
Yes, it took a little while to figure out the right height to position my palm over the sensor, with an on-screen guide showing you the best way to position your hand, but getting the hang of it was very easy, and it quickly became a second nature way of unlocking the computer.
{loadposition alex08}In addition, Fujitsu has developed PalmSecure systems with hand guides that place your palm in the perfect position for building entry or similar systems that eliminates the hand positioning as an issue.
Indeed, Fujitsu successful in getting its PalmSecure technology in use around the world, and naturally, wants developers, businesses, governments and all appropriate parties to know that PalmSecure is available as a robust biometric alternative or way of augmenting existing security systems and technologies, and obviously has its representatives in Australia able to talk to relevant people in industry to showcase how its technologies work.
A detailed 12-page PDF document from Fujitsu ably explains how the technology works, which you can freely download here.
Fujitsu has also been busy – it extended its biometrics-as-a-platform service to Australia in early February this year, and launched its biometric authentication software later that month locally, too.
So, I was invited to Fujitsu's Australian headquarters in Sydney to learn more about PalmSecure, and saw a presentation on how the technology worked, some videos of the technology in use at ATMs, stadiums, buildings and other locations, and received a live demo of the technology at work.
I filmed the live demo and have that for you to watch below – please note however that I was filming with a phone in one hand while using my other hand get my palm scanned, and while this worked in the hand-guided palm reader, I wasn't sitting at the Fujitsu Ultrabook in the normal way I'd be doing that, and instead standing, so I wasn't judging the height my hand needed to be at correctly and it took me a couple of attempts to unlock the computer.
My video is published immediately below, after which I've found some other videos from Fujitsu that explain how the PalmSecure technology works (with a written description here, and that 12-page PDF here), and examples of it in use around the world, a couple of which I watched during Fujitsu's presentation to me.
So, with Fujitsu making an impressive range of ultrabooks and notebooks with PalmSecurity technology built-in, and with Fujitsu actively promoting and marketing its PalmSecurity technology as a biometric alternative to fingerprints or simple access cards, there will definitely be people reading this article who have either already encountered the technology, already use it, or will in the future!