Global ID claims 2 patents for vein biometrics systems, ramps up production capacity

Biometrics startup Global ID has been awarded a pair of patents for finger-vein authentication systems and methods for enterprise access control. One describes the storage of reference templates on user-held devices, and the second a centralized system for using finger veins to unlock a desktop.

Swiss-based Global ID‘s first patent, US2023094432, describes storing vein biometrics on the chip of an “electronic identity object,” and then matched with a verification terminal, avoiding a centralized database. The match would be carried out over an encrypted symmetric data link, and would add layer of security and assurance to ID credentials, without introducing the risk of creating a large store of sensitive personal information.

The second patent, US2023084042, is much the same but with a biometric server performing the match as a way for an organization to implement secure access control on a desktop  computer.

CEO Lambert Sonna says the Global ID intends to create 100 jobs by 2030 in an interview with Innosuisse, which supported the development of its vein-scanning technology.

Production capacity for the miniaturized VenoScanner, development of which was supported by the Idiap Research Institute, EPFL LASEC and HES-SO Valais university, is up to 1,000 units per month.

Sonna is reportedly now working on expanding the range of applications for vein biometrics, including with palm scanning at a distance.

When last heard from, in October, Global ID said it had created management software to provision and monitor the company’s products (including its VenoScanner) distributed throughout an enterprise.

In June, the company announced that its VenoScanner was in production. The devices are small and look like booth giveaways at a conference. Sonna says miniaturization was the biggest challenge the company faced in product development.

Article Topics

biometric authentication  |  biometrics  |  finger vein  |  Global ID  |  Idiap  |  patents  |  research and development  |  vein biometrics