Case study of the acquisition of contactless fingerprints in a real police setting

Biometric recognition systems integrated into mobile devices have gained acceptance during recent years. Developments in fingerprint acquisition technology have resulted in touchless mobile devices that acquire high quality fingerprints. While authorities are particular interested on mobile solutions, they have databases containing fingerprint data mainly acquired using contact-based devices. Therefore, they are interested in the accuracy of cross-sensor fingerprint recognition. We present a case study of a comprehensive matching comparison on real fingerprint data acquired by national police officers. The objective of this study is: (i) to analyse the feasibility when comparing data acquired using a typical contact-based fingerprint device against data acquired using a new contactless device, and (ii) the feedback of the end user (i.e. national police officers) regarding the acquisition process. Obtained results are promising and the current prototype shows its feasibility for operational police use. The end users expressed their satisfaction with the developed prototype and they suggested extra functionalities towards a practical solution for police officers.