Leveraging over 20 years of expertise in biometric technology, ZKTeco aims to continue to be an innovator in the field of contactless biometrics, launching new biometric technologies in 2022 to address evolving end-user needs in various market and applications.  
 
Access control is a major part of security. Users need access control solutions to meet various requirements – keeping unauthorized people out, managing employees’ attendance, and checking in visitors. While these requirements haven’t changed, what has changed is the authentication technology, which has become more advanced and automated.
 
“We see a migration towards biometrics and contactless technologies increasingly driven by the pandemic and advancements in computer vision which has lowered the threshold for successful adoption of facial recognition. In addition to this, there has been marked interest in the market for contactless fingerprint, palm and iris recognition solutions,” said Paul Yang, Project Solutions Manager at ZKTeco.
 
It is amid these trends that ZKTeco offers a wide range of solutions to meet end users’ contactless needs. These include facial recognition terminals and an array of other touchless technologies. Especially worth mentioning are ZKTeco’s multispectral touchless palm recognition technology and touchless iris recognition technology. 

Multispectral touchless palm recognition technology
 

ZKTeco’s multispectral touchless palm recognition technology is an innovation in the realm of palm recognition, combining visible light, near-infrared light and palm vein recognition all in one.
 
“ZKTeco’s multispectral touchless palm recognition system is a contactless and hygienic biometric recognition technology, thus promoting higher user-level acceptance,” Yang said. “With the combination of visible light recognition, palm vein recognition and near-infrared light technology, it offers several unique advantages for effective human identity verification.”
 
According to Yang, these advantages include the following:

High accuracy

 ZKTeco’s multispectral touchless palm recognition is exceptionally consistent in offering high accuracy with the combination of both visible light recognition and near-infrared light palm recognition, achieving false acceptance rate (FAR) of 0.001 percent when false rejection rate (FRR) is at 1 percent.

High performance

With the help of visible light and near-infrared palm recognition, ZKTeco’s multispectral touchless palm recognition technology can recognize palm prints at the range of 30 to 50 cm. Also, compared with traditional palm recognition, ZKTeco’s solution is an active technique which operates well under dim light (0-100,000 Lux).

Unique palm detection algorithm

ZKTeco’s palm detection algorithm is able to detect palms from the left, right, front and back sides. The algorithm also enables ZKTeco’s palm recognition to have a high detection accuracy towards palm tension and slack. Further, it allows industry-leading quick palm recognition in less than a second (0.5 second), way quicker than any previous palm recognition.

High performance toward various human races

The multispectral touchless palm recognition technology is an all-round upgrade from the previous version, capable of identifying people of different races and skin colors. 

Anti-spoof technology

With the assistance of near-infrared palm recognition technology, the multispectral touchless palm recognition system’s anti-spoof ability has been greatly enhanced. The 3-in-1 combination of palm, palm print and palm vein prevents fraudulent entry.

Touchless iris recognition technology 

ZKTeco also has advanced solutions for touchless iris recognition. The iris is the round colored part that surrounds the pupil of the eye, and each is unique. According to Yang, this is what makes iris recognition the most accurate form of biometric verification, with very low FAR and FRR rates. User authentication takes only one second after enrollment, making this biometric identification system flexible and scalable, well suited for large and small business and office applications.

Long distance, touchless verification

Using near-infrared light technology, ZKTeco’s iris recognition is able to scan eyes in a distance of up to 60cm. Users are not required to stand for a while in front of the device for eye scanning – the iris recognition device automatically identifies them as they walk by.

Anti-spoofing 

With strong anti-spoof capability, ZKTeco’s iris recognition is able to identify and prevent all kinds of spoofs including high-resolution photos, videos and contact lenses with fake iris patterns.

Robust iris detection 

ZKTeco’s unique iris algorithm is able to identify the iris of moving eyes, eyes from a distance, obstructed eyes, unfocused eyes, and eyes with narrowed eyelids. Any obstructions caused by light reflection, eyelids or eyelashes will be automatically eliminated in the image pre-processing stage.

Touchless iris and face hybrid recognition 
 

For those demanding another layer of protection, ZKTeco also offers a touchless iris and face hybrid recognition solution. The unique, patented dual iris and face recognition technology enables automatic face tracking with auto-tilt function towards the iris at as wide as +/-30 degrees. The technology allows proper recognition of people with glasses, contact lenses and make-up.

Applications 

Both multispectral touchless palm recognition and iris recognition technologies have applications in various verticals. “ZKTeco’s touchless biometric solutions are good fits for various situations. They have been widely used in many practical scenarios, including hospitals, educational institutes, factories, construction sites, shopping malls, IT parks, public transportation, banks, business organizations, small-to-medium enterprises, and government organizations,” Yang said.

Conclusion

Access control is now increasingly moving towards contactless technologies. One of the most popular contactless technologies nowadays is facial recognition, which has also become mature and is seeing more competition in the market. Solutions providers offering non-face contactless biometrics, such as iris and palm recognition, can thus increase revenue streams and profit. In this regard, ZKTeco has done quite well, offering their multispectral touchless palm recognition and iris recognition solutions with advanced features and functions.
 
Currently, ZKTeco has started the global deployment of a cloud-based mobile access virtual credential application, which combines traditional RFID technology with the advantages of IoT capability. In 2022, the company plans to further integrate their hardware offerings into the cloud, enabling ZKTeco to roll out solutions that would meet the market’s demand for new, innovative access control technology.