The fingerprint on the left was prepared using an older development technique; the image on the right, revealing more ridge detail, is the right half of the same fingerprint and was prepared using the new technique.
(Credit: Akhlesh Lakhtakia/Penn State)
When it comes to evaluating fingerprints, not everyone has the keen eye of Sherlock Holmes. In fact, the human eye has proven to be subjective — and thus not fully reliable — when it comes to determining the mere quality of the print.
So researchers at Penn State are hoping to remove that subjectivity with the merging of three inexpensive computer programs that grade that quality — which can be affected by all sorts of environmental weathering and smudging — on a scale of 0 to 100.
“Humans can’t grade finer than the zero to three scale, but computers can,” Akhlesh Lakhtakia, a professor of engineering science and mechanics at Penn State, said in a school news release. “2.3 percent is worse than 15 percent, but both could be graded as a zero by the naked eye.”
Reporting in the current issue of the journal Forensic Science International, Lakhtakia and his team describe… [Read more]
Related Links:
Microsoft offers up a bounty for finding bugs in beta
Get an Asus 11.6-inch touch-screen laptop for $299.99
School iris-scanned students without telling parents
The iPhone 5S rumor roundup
Readers’ favorite gadgets in June 2013
     |
Post a Comment