Biometix joins with UNSW Canberra on synthetic biometric testing data

Canberra, Australia-based biometric and data analysis consultant Biometix, which was spun off from BixeLab in 2020, and UNSW Canberra will collaborate on a synthetic biometric data project to improve tests for biometric technology, like those performed by BixeLab, backed with government funding.

A press release by UNSW Canberra says the partnership aims to produce synthetic biometric data for analysis within biometric standardized testing routines. The university says biometric testing using real-life examples limits the field due to being difficult, expensive, and creating concerns over privacy and consent with involved subjects. But synthetic biometric data would reduce costs, complexity, and remove privacy concerns, thus enabling more secure and fair biometric solutions, it claims.

BixeLab provides independent, standardized biometrics tests, and is the only lab in the Southern Hemisphere accredited by NIST and FIDO.

The funding for the project will come from Innovation Connections, an Australian government grant program which helps businesses understand their research needs, connect with the research sector, and fund collaborative research projects.

“The benefits of working with Biometix is the possibility to complete and publish industry relevant research in the field of emerging generative algorithms,” says Timothy Lynar, senior lecturer at UNSW Canberra.

Dr. Ted Dunstone, managing director of Biometix, says that as complete digital identity checks grow in popularity compared to paper-based 100-point checks, it will be more critical to ensure that the biometric identification process is thoroughly tested.

“If successful, a tool for producing synthetic data in a way that allows for accurate testing will be game changing. We will be able to undertake more accurate assessments that will be cost efficient,” Dunstone comments.

Biometix is a frequent collaborator with the Biometrics Institute, which was founded by Dunstone, and has released research on COVID-19 vaccine passport development and appeared in a recent European Association for Biometrics workshop for face image quality.

Article Topics

Australia  |  Biometix  |  biometric testing  |  biometrics  |  biometrics research  |  BixeLab  |  digital identity  |  funding  |  synthetic data