Handbook of biometrics

Biometric recognition, or simply biometrics, is a rapidly evolving field with applications ranging from accessing one's computer, to gaining entry into a country. Biometric systems rely on the use of physical or behavioral traits, such as fingerprints, face, voice and hand geometry, to establish the identity of an individual. The deployment of large-scale biometric systems in both commercial (e.g., grocery stores, amusement parks, airports) and government (e.g., US-VISIT) applications, increases the public's awareness of this technology. This rapid growth also highlights the challenges associated with designing and deploying biometric systems. Indeed, the problem of biometric recognition is a grand challenge in its own right. The past five years have seen a significant growth in biometric research resulting in the development of innovative sensors, robust and efficient algorithms for feature extraction and matching, enhanced test methodologies and novel applications. These advances have resulted in robust, accurate, secure and cost effective biometric systems.