Japanese computing company Fujitsu Ltd. has filed a number of new patent applications for biometric technology, according to Steve Brachmann in an article for IPWatchdog. While the company also has its hands in computer processing and data transmission, these latest patents indicate that it is “deeply invested in the development of biometric technologies,” Brachmann writes.
One patent application (US Patent Application No. 20140296723) is for a rather novel method of making sure that drivers of motor vehicles don’t fall asleep at the wheel. Wheel-mounted electrodes would monitor and amplify the driver’s heartbeat signals, thereby allowing software to track the driver’s level of alertness via heart rate. Another application (No. 20140294251) is for a patent that aims to improve the use of infrared light irradiation in palm vein authentication by reducing the distortion caused by the reflection of light.
Meanwhile, the a couple of major patents have now been approved. US Patent No. 8855378 is for technology that would use a series of biological images (of a hand or a face, for example) to create a composite image that has completely eliminated image distortion from light reflection. Meanwhile, US Patent No. 8849661 covers speech-to-text voice biometrics technology that both converts voice data to text data but also contextually tags the text data with meta information. That piece of text data can then be dragged by the user to its appropriate application.
As we’ve noted here before, these are boom times for biometrics, with the worldwide market projected to grow significantly over the next several years. Despite having been around in the IT field for a long time, Fujitsu is smart to pivot at least part of its operations into the biometrics domain now; these patents will likely pay dividends down the line.
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October 22. 2014 – Alex Perala
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