News

Army enlists Ultra-Scan to create a new biometric system

December 16, 2002

AMHERST, N.Y. - Ultra-Scan Corp. announced on Dec. 17 that it is building a new, more accurate, biometric identification system for the Department of Defense's U.S. Army Research Labs, according to the company's news release.

Ultra-Scan recently completed a yearlong test of its ultrasonic automatic fingerprint identification system (AFIS) software. The software is able to read difficult prints such as those from elderly people, people with dry skin or those from specific groups, especially children and Asian women, with petite fingers and fine ridge structure.

Ultra-Scan's patented ultrasonic system uses high-frequency sound waves to create a digital image of fingerprints, regardless of finger contaminates like dirt or grease.

The Army contract calls for a system that is more accurate than anything currently on the market. It must be able to read two adjacent fingers in a single pass.

The system must be durable and must have a high, in-field accuracy rate - less than one error per million.

The company's current AFIS system has been tested in health organizations, commercial cargo terminals and an U.S. Army munition facility for worker identification with near 100 percent accuracy.

Ultra-Scan expects the software advances from military applications to carry over its commercial markets like kiosks, ATMs, airports and merchant locations.