Towards mobile authentication using dynamic signature verification: Useful features and performance evaluation

The proliferation of handheld devices such as PDAs and smart phones represents a new scenario for automatic signature verification. Traditionally, research on signature verification has been carried out employing signatures acquired using digitizing tablets or Tablet-PCs. In this paper we study the effects of the mobile acquisition conditions and we analyze the considerations that must be taken in the new handheld scenario. A signature verification system adapted to handheld devices via feature selection is proposed and a systematic comparison with a traditional pen tablet-based system is performed. The system is combined with another based on hidden Markov models using score fusion. Results confirm an increased signature variability in the case of handheld devices.