Goodix’ multi-biometric sensor developers named finalists for European Inventor Award

A pair of researchers with Goodix have been named finalists for the European Inventor Award 2021 for their innovation combining fingerprint and blood flow biometrics for device access control.

The European Patent Office announced that Bo Pi and Yi He have been named as finalists in the ‘Non-EPO countries’ category for their invention, which protects against biometric spoof attacks.

Goodix chose Pi and He to lead its live authentication research and development department back in 2013, when they started working on preventing spoof attacks. Pi is an experienced electrical engineer, and He is a former professor of optoelectronics. They noticed that infrared light could be used to measure heartbeats, and hypothesized that the capability could be used to measure the blood-flow of a finger placed on a biometric sensor. He developed an optical fingerprint sensor module and matching software to capture the dual biometrics, and the two-factor authentication method has been proven useful against spoof attacks, according to the announcement.

“Pi and He’s technology delivered an industry-leading biometric solution. Their invention shows how innovation can help protect our privacy and security,” says EPO President António Campinos, announcing the European Inventor Award 2021 finalists. “For the inventors, protecting their intellectual property with patents helped facilitate cooperation, attract licensing partners and helped their technology gain a foothold in multiple markets.”

The award winners will be announced on June 17 during a digital event.

The integrated sensor technology was granted a European patent in 2018, and the sensors were integrated into smart locks from Yunding Network Technology the same year.

Goodix completed its acquisition of Dream Chip Technologies last year, giving the company a path to serving the automotive market with its fingerprint biometrics.

Article Topics

authentication  |  biometric liveness detection  |  biometrics  |  fingerprint recognition  |  fingerprint sensors  |  Goodix  |  patents  |  research and development  |  spoof detection