UVM using biometrics for gym facilities access

Gym facilities at the University of Vermont are now using biometric finger scanners for students, faculty and staff as alternative to smart cards, in case the latter got lost. So far, the use of biometrics has garnered positive responses from students and faculties.

Nicole Todd, assistant director of campus recreation said: “From what we’ve seen this first week of the semester, the students, faculty and staff have been really excited about the scanners. Aside from the ‘wow’ factor that comes with the new technology, it allows an alternative way to access the facility.”

The biometric finger scanner was installed by Vermont Systems, Inc., in partnership with the developers of biometric scanner, M2SYS.

The university installed finger vein technology that uses near-infrared light through a camera to capture the student’s unique vein patterns. It is a non-intrusive process, which is both painless and harmless.

Timothy Lewis, associate director for campus recreation was at first apprehensive of using finger-vein scanner because there is only one other school in the country that utilizes the same biometrics technology which they could benchmark.

Gauging from the responses of students, staff and faculty, he said he felt more comfortable that the university made the right decision about the project.

Students, faculty and staff who opt to register for biometric scanning will have to wait about two to five minutes to complete the process, after which, they can access services immediately. Once registered, the verification process takes only about two seconds.

The University of Vermont has installed biometric scanners at other locations in the fitness center, as well, including the front desk for equipment checkout, at the pool, and at campus recreation group fitness classes.

Do you think installing a finger vein reader to access gym facilities is a good move for the university?

Article Topics

access control  |  authentication  |  biometric cards  |  biometrics  |  finger vein scanning  |  fingerprint identification systems  |  security