WE'VE use it when doing over-the-counter transactions at banks, at the airport immigration gates, at certain office access, and that's about it, but according to technology vendor NEC, the biometric authentication technology has promising outlook.
The Japanese company, recently organised a tour of its Customer Experience Centre to show how the technology will be able to benefit users as well as businesses.
The company sees the use of biometric authentication technology, such as fingerprint recognition, facial recognition, iris recognition, will go beyond what we normally see, into areas like e-commerce, city/building surveillance, access control, etc.
Biometrics refers to processes used to authenticate, recognise and identify people based on their physical traits and organisations can match an individual's identifiers to their biometric template already stored in the database.
The market size for this sector, according to IMARC Group, reached a value of US$ 27.97 billion in 2021, and is expected to reach US$ 74.42 billion by 2027, exhibiting at a CAGR of 17.5 per cent during 2022-2027.
Malaysian adoption
According to NEC Malaysia managing director, Chong Kai Wooi, the adoption of the biometric authentication technology in Malaysia is increasing.
"We are seeing unprecedented opportunities for businesses to improve efficiencies and growth and for people to maximise their potential. However, it has also propelled security to the top of priority lists for organisations tasked with ensuring that real and digital services are accessed safely, with minimal risk of identity theft, fraud, or security breach. Our world leading technologies in biometrics enable organisations to develop new services and people-friendly applications for fast and accurate identification and verification that meets the need for convenience as well as safety and security," he said.
In this space, NEC offers biometric authentication technology for identity verification and urban infrastructure surveillance to organisations across sectors. It also delivers multi-modal biometrics that combine multiple authentication technologies, including face, iris, and voice recognition, as well as finger, palm print and ear acoustic authentication to best match specific client needs and usage scenarios. These multi-modal technologies are supplemented with Artificial Intelligence (AI) and data analytics to enhance situational awareness and facilitate effective real-time or post-event action for organisations.
"Fast, accurate and secure biometrics technology is also necessary towards meeting Malaysia's National Digital ID aspirations in driving efficiencies in administrative services and providing greater security and convenience for all Malaysians," said Chong.
While telecommunication technology is the bulk of NEC's business today, Chong said biometric technology solutions are contributing one-third to the company's business globally.
Tech showcase
Among the technologies showcased at NEC's Customer Experience Centre are biometrics, facial recognition and AI that drive social values like safety and security as well as Internet of Things (IoT) and Big Data Analytics that can improve operational efficiencies and productivity for businesses across industries as well as public services.
The centre displays various prototypes of solutions including civil ID and digital ID management solutions with biometrics and AI that provide people with a secure proof of identity to help them access public and private services fairly and conveniently.
For access control and security, NEC offers the NEC eGate, which is an access control solution powered by NEC's advanced biometrics technology. The bi-directional control gate offers the highest level of security and can be used for border control at immigration checkpoints.
It can be equipped with multi-biometrics capabilities such as face, fingerprint, or iris recognition. These biometric capabilities empower authorities to detect people with fraudulent or fake passports at point of authentication. Immigration officers can also detect watchlisted individuals as the system can receive data feeds from law enforcement agencies to verify the identity of suspects.
NEC said its Smart Facility solutions come with facial recognition technology and AI analytics for security measures that allow offices and public buildings to identify faces of individual who have digitally registered at the building.
This warrants seamless access to the building and its facilities while removing the hassle of queuing. It also detects unidentified visitors in the building and sends alerts to security immediately.
Smart retail
NEC believes that smart retail will be the upcoming trend in the retail industry. In this space, the company showcased how the NEC's Smart Retail Store concept contributes to the unmanned retail store trend powered by IoT and sensor technology. This concept can be used by retailers to offer consenting customers a touchless, automated, and personalised shopping experience – enabling them to redefine convenience for their shoppers and stay ahead of the competition.
At the Customer Experience Centre, visitors can see how biometric technology is used for commerce.
For example, customers' facial data can be captured by cameras upon entering a store, which allows retailers to potentially identify them as a registered profile. Once recognised, customers can then take any items they wish to purchase off the shelf. Every item taken off the shelf will be detected by the sensors, deducted from the store's inventory, and recorded in the payment kiosk.
It also comes with an electronic price label feature that enables retailers to automatically adjust prices of their products across outlets – resulting in cost and time saving, more efficient management of their operations and greater flexibility with their pricing strategy.
This solution can also be used for warehouse inventory management.
Chong said this innovation in self-service takes inspiration from vending machines but with an added feature – biometrics authentication that enables better security. Cashless payment can be activated through biometrics authentication coupled with pin codes received via SMS upon registration.
It comes with Demand Forecasting analytics that study daily transaction data and offer businesses analysis and insights to improve management of inventories and capture market demands effectively.
This innovation also applies to Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) and makes the process of withdrawing money contactless, while making transactions more secure and safe for users.
River monitoring
NEC also simulates a River Monitoring System that uses IoT sensors to monitor water pollution and levels in rivers, dams, or reservoirs. Coupled with AI and Machine Learning technologies, the IoT sensors can make predictions on water quality or level and take preventive measures to ensure that the water is not contaminated and remains sufficient.
These technologies can be applied to the manufacturing sector, to assist in improving production yield, predicting equipment failure, monitoring equipment utilisation, equipment condition and production flow, predicting maintenance, and monitoring and tracking assets as well as inventories.