Biometric Systems: The Rubber Meets the Road [Point of View]

The field of biometrics uses physiological or behavioral characteristics to automatically recognize a person. Commonly fielded biometric systems include hand geometry, face, fingerprints, iris, and voice. The majority of biometric applications that are deployed are for situations where users are incentivized to work cooperatively with the system and in controlled environments. Examples are establishing identity for access to a building, crossing an international border, and logging onto a personal computer.