Visionics biometrics technology in demand after World Trade
Center attack
Sherri Cruz
Star Tribune
Published Nov 21 2001
Joseph Atick was only 15 when he wrote a physics textbook.
The book received rave reviews and landed him -- at the age
of 16 -- in graduate school at Stanford University.
He went on to study the human brain and later co-developed
software that modeled the brain's method of recognizing faces.
But these days he doesn't compute mathematical algorithms.
Instead he is an entrepreneur in the field of biometrics, which
uses biological or behavioral traits to identify people.
Atickhas pushed his company, Minnetonka-based Visionics
Corp., to the forefront of the biometrics industry.
The company's face-recognition system uses a camera to
"grab" photos of people's faces. The images then are compared
to photos in a "bad guy" database. If there is a match, an alarm
goes off.
Atick is a passionate type, one who considers most scientists
boring but speaks earnestly about the works of Chilean poet
Pablo Neruda. He expresses a similar passion for Visionics. He
doesn't just fancy conquering the market, he views Visionics as
the good guy, a company working to make the world a safer
place.
But critics -- namely, the American Civil Liberties Union
(ACLU) -- see Visionics and other biometrics companies as
villains stripping away civil liberties. The ACLU says the
software isn't 100 percent accurate, the database is easy to
manipulate and the technology could lead to further privacy
constrictions.
"It's clever," said Minnesota ACLU executive director, Charles
Samuelson. "They are really smart guys." But the security
system is "a little '1984'ish," a reference to George Orwell's
novel about a society ruled by Big Brother who censors
behavior and thoughts.
Visionic's biometric security products are already used at Las
Vegas casinos -- checking casino customers against a database
of card cheats -- and at 118 Immigration and Naturalization
Service locations, where authorities use Visionics' fingerprint
scanning to process work permits and citizenship applicants.
They're even in use in Tampa Bay, Fla., where cameras look
for suspected criminals.
Recent demand
Demand for Visionics' recognition technology didn't really
kick in until after Sept. 11. Atick expects its face-recognition
system revenue to grow 250 percent to 350 percent in the last
half of 2002.
As an industry, biometric sales are expected to grow from
$523.9 million in 2001 to $1.9 billion in 2005, according to the
International Biometric Group, a research organization base
in New York City. Facial-recognition scanning is expected to
be the fastest growing area within biometrics, and about 16
companies are vying for a piece of the market.
Viisage Technology Inc., based in Massachusetts, is Visionics'
chief competition. Viisage has reported a net profit for eight
consecutive quarters, while Visionics still is posting a net loss,
ending fiscal 2001 with a loss of $5.8 million on revenue of
$30.5 million. In its fourth quarter, ended Sept. 30, Visionics
revenue fell from a year earlier.
Viisage offers nearly the same product line as Visionics but uses
a different technology. Visionics' technology has a slight edge
over Viisage's, according to the International Biometric
Group, because it's better at picking up a change in an
expression, such as a smile or a frown.
Viisage beat Visionics to the U.S. airport market with its
face-recognition system. But last week Visionics climbed back
on top, landing two contracts for its face-recognition system
with two major airports and becoming a leading contender to
outfit other airports in security wear. The contracts are worth
about $200,000 each.
Post-Sept. 11, Visionics' stock has doubled from about $6 in
June to $12 today. Also in the company's favor, Congress
swiftly moved an airline safety bill that President Bush is due to
sign into law today. And it appears the public doesn't mind
swapping privacy for more safety.
Wants them all
Visionics' goal is to link all U.S. airports -- about 439 -- with
its face-recognition system, said Barry Fisher, Visionics vice
president of sales, marketing and business development. It is
first targeting the top 20 U.S. airports. The system costs about
$8,000 to $10,000 per camera, depending on the number of
checkpoints.
After that there is an annual maintenance fee of about 15
percent of the original purchase price.
Security companies such as ADT resell Visionics' products.
Visionics' own sales staff markets its fingerprint-scanning
products.
Hennepin County will soon begin using Visionics'
mobile-fingerprinting technology. The system allows officers
to record a suspect's fingerprints and photos in the field, using a
hand-held device. The photos and prints then are transmitted
from the squad car laptop a database for comparison.
Right now the public sector is the greatest consumer of
biometrics, but Visionics is aiming to change that. Last week,
Fisher demonstrated its wares to area businesses.
How it works
Visionics' face-recognition product works like this: A camera
is set up in crowded areas or key entry points, catching about 10
faces per second. Each face is assigned an identity according to
the triangular portion of the face that starts above the
eyebrows and points down to the chin. The software considers
data on about 88 facial points such as eye position, which
remains the same for life, Fisher said. Even changes in outward
appearance -- by shaving or growing a mustache or a beard or
even plastic surgery -- won't change how a person appears to
Visionics.
The only known way to beat the technology -- other than
wearing a mask, walking backward or ducking -- is to wear
sunglasses.
The product has at least one advantage over other biometric
methods, such as iris screening, where the person has to peer
into a camera. "This is passive," he said. But it could be argued
that iris screening is more accurate.
On a recent trip to Minnesota from Washington, D.C., Atick
said he was randomly selected at the airport to be searched.
The screener went through every bit of his luggage. "I actually
felt good that they were actually doing something," he said. But
it's a random process and there's room for profiling. Visionics
technology is objective, he said.
Privacy concerns
The key to privacy, however, is "no match, no record," Fisher
said. In other words, if you're not a "bad guy", your image is
discarded.
But the ACLU contends that technology is not the cure-all.
"New technology is supposed to do everything except brush your
teeth," Samuelson said.
"It never, ever works as it's advertised," Samuelson said, calling
that the nature of software and technology. Even if the
software was 100 percent accurate, he said, it's still flawed.
Another concern is the database, he said. For starters, how do
you decide who makes the "bad guy" list and how do you define
a "bad guy"? How can the database be manipulated? What if a
"good guy" slips in the database accidentally?
Essentially, Visionics' products give the company and the users
of the technology way too much power and way too much
discretion, Samuelson said.
The ACLU advocates other security means such as stronger
cockpit doors, tougher screening, sky marshals, better training
and career paths for airport employees.
Samuelson said that currently, "The jobs don't pay very well
and they're dead-end jobs." In addition, airlines already are
relatively safe, he said.
Busy times ahead
To beat its critics and competition, Atick understands he has to
spend a lot of time answering questions. In the past several
weeks, Atick has been interviewed by almost every major
media outlet and doesn't seem to tire of repeating himself. He
works 18 hours a day, every day to keep up.
Last week, Atick reported Visionics' fourth-quarter results and
gave his Minnetonka staff a pep talk. He told his staff, "The
road ahead is exciting and challenging." He also said there are
opportunities for career advancement. "One of my
philosophies is to create opportunities for everyone," he said.
But if there were any lingering doubts as to the direction and
the speed of the biometrics industry, the outcome at the Senate
hearing on biometrics last week says it all. Atick, who was one
of the presenters, said the Senate's reception to biometrics was
"phenomenal."
"I've never heard them advocating to me what we've been
advocating to them," he said. "They've taken a very positive
attitude toward biometrics."
Now, it's just a question of which company is the better
marketer.
-- Sherri Cruz is at scruz@startribune.com .
© Copyright 2001 Star Tribune. All rights reserved. |
