Sony's new 'mofiria' aims for more accurate biometric ID

Sony today unveiled a new finger vein authentication technology called "mofiria." In comparison to other biometric authentication techniques, vein authentication is more accurate and harder to forge, Sony contended in a statement, explaining that finger veins are different in each person and each finger, and that veins don't change over the years.

The new "mofiria" technology uses a CMOS sensor to "diagonally capture scattered light inside the finger veins, making a plane layout possible." After the vein pattern is extracted from the captured image of the finger vein, data from the pattern is compressed, enabling storage of the biometric identifier on a mobile device or gateway security system, for example. Sony is looking to commercialize the new biometric technology within the 2009 fiscal year.