Fingerprints are some of the (few) features which are unique to each
individual on this planet, and have been used for decades in order to
identify people, although generally in less-than-ordinary conditions,
as for example in the cases when they had perpetrated some type of
crime. That's the reason why all the people taken into custody by the
police have their fingerprints taken, as there's actually a whole
science dedicated to the study and development of new means of
identification of these seemingly random and barely unnoticeable lines
on our fingers, a science that - in time - has helped quite a lot in
solving lots of crime cases and more.
However, over time, the unique character of fingerprints gave
some people the idea of using them as means of identification and
access, and that's how the concept of fingerprint reader emerged (as
well as the concept of biometric ID cards, but that's a completely
different story and not the subject of this article). It's now quite a
well known fact that these devices have been around for some time now,
although they've been generally used for military purposes, and only
(relatively) recently became available (and affordable) for the
consumer market. Fingerprint (also known as biometric) readers have
become very popular on the consumer electronics' market during the past
few years, and there are lots of devices of this type out there, either
standalone or built-into other products. And today I'll show you one of
the most famous fingerprint readers, namely the one developed by
Microsoft.
But before talking about the product developed by the hardware
engineers from Redmond, let's first see how such a device works, in....
A short wiki look at the fingerprint reader concept
According to Wikipedia (not the most trustworthy of sources, but - in
this case - the entry on this product is quite OK), a “fingerprint
sensor is an electronic device used to capture a digital image of the
fingerprint pattern. The captured image is called a live scan. This
live scan is digitally processed to create a biometric template (a
collection of extracted features) which is stored and used for matching.
Optical fingerprint imaging involves capturing a digital image of the
print using visible light. This type of sensor is, in essence, a
specialized digital camera. The top layer of the sensor, where the
finger is placed, is known as the touch surface. Beneath this layer is
a light-emitting phosphor layer which illuminates the surface of the
finger. The light reflected from the finger passes through the phosphor
layer to an array of solid state pixels (a charge coupled device) which
captures a visual image of the fingerprint.
A scratched or dirty touch surface can cause a bad image of the
fingerprint. The disadvantage of this type of sensor is the fact that
the imaging capabilities are affected by the quality of skin on the
finger. For instance, a dirty or marked finger is difficult to image
properly. Also, it is possible for an individual to erode the outer
layer of skin on the fingertips to the point where the fingerprint is
no longer visible.”
My conclusion? It's nothing more than a dedicated scanner, with
dedicated software that helps in the immediate identification of the
special characteristics of our fingerprints. But that's just me. In any
case, after this little venture into the way this device works, let's
study the....
Design savvy, Microsoft style: The Fingerprint reader look and design features
Microsoft might be good at a lot of things, but aesthetics isn’t one of
them, that's for sure. The device has a very boring look, but hey, it's
2 years old, so guess I shouldn't complain. It's made from plastic,
with a metallic gray finishing and a black backside. The scanner sensor
has red LEDs (which kind of reminded me of the light saber of a
sinister character from Star Wars whose image is often associated to
the company from Redmond), while the plastic glass on which the user
has to place his/her index finger is quite tough, yet very difficult to
clean.
The general feeling I got when looking at this device - at least from
the aesthetic point of view - was of utter dullness (well, except for
the pretty red lights, that is). It's not ugly, but it's not attractive
either. It's something that you wouldn't even notice on a desk if it
weren't for the light. Or perhaps that's what the guys from Microsoft
had in mind when they've designed it?
