BioAPI

The BioAPI specification enables such systems to be produced by the integration of modules from multiple independent vendors.

It gives flexibility in the provision of modules, avoids vendor lock-in, provides a degree of future-proofing as the best available biometrics technologies change.

They can also be modules that provide support for image processing of biometric data, feature extraction (a form of compression that is specific to a given biometric technology and allows direct matching of the compressed formats – for example, the relative distances on the face of eyes, nose, mouth, or the number of ridges between identifiable ridge endings or ridge bifurcations).

Applications can be concerned with personal identification (for example for credit cards), or with more specific areas such as identity card verification, checks for duplicate enrollment, passports, or physical access control in a commercial environment or for airport employees or merchant seamen wishing to go on-shore at their arrival port.

Whilst today a system is commonly built using a single device for a single application, it is likely that in the long term many such applications will interact (securely, and via a network) with a common set of trusted devices (with various security policies and certificates).

It is also expected that future biometrics applications will use multiple biometric modalities (for example, fingerprint, iris, and face), both to improve the accuracy of identification and to cope with people that are missing a finger, or have disability problems that prevent use of iris or face recognition.