Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
gait analysis;
•
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typing analysis (e.g. on a computer keyboard);
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analysis of human brain reactions.
The authors believe that the biometric analysis of the hand deserves particular at-
tention, as examples show how often our identity is analysed based on the shape and
characteristic features of our hands. We most often encounter this type of analysis
during security checks at airports of many countries where we are requested to place
our fingers (or the whole hand) on a scanner which takes a photograph of our hand
and records its characteristic features in the database of the personal identification
system. In addition, our photograph, also taken during routine passport checks at
airports, is attached to this recorded image of the hand or a single finger.
The human hand is characterised by many features of an individual nature,
which include:
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hand shape;
•
finger spans;
•
sizes of areas between individual hand bones;
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finger lengths;
•
relative locations of finger bones;
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metacarpus bone shape;
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metacarpus bone lengths;
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relative locations of metacarpus bones;
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wrist bone shape;
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wrist bone sizes;
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relative wrist bone locations;
•
relative hand bone locations (finger, metacarpus, wrist bones);
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thicknesses of bones.
The image of a healthy hand is shown in Figures 6.1 and 6.2 which present the
bones of the right hand - of the fingers, the metacarpus and the wrist.
Fig. 6.1.
The healthy hand structure - view of right hand bones from behind
