Tencent is extending its palm biometric technology to devices without specialized palm reading hardware.
Its new Palm X product uses standard RGB cameras in smartphones and computers to capture and compare visible palmprint patterns.
Tencent says organizations will be able to add the capability to mobile applications and online services through mobile SDKs and backend APIs.
Palm X uses visible surface patterns from the hand rather than the vascular structure beneath the skin.
Like contactless fingerprint recognition, it uses a standard camera to capture external biometric features that software converts into a representation for comparison.
“With Palm X, we are introducing a palmprint-based option that is compatible with standard RGB cameras, making palm verification easier to integrate into existing digital services while giving users a more intentional way to verify their identity,” says Sine, director of Palm X Product at Tencent Cloud.
Tencent’s established PalmAI systems combine two modalities with dedicated equipment that captures the palmprint and infrared imaging to map subdermal palm-vein patterns.
This dual-modal system supports the Bupa Hong Kong clinic check-in service. Tencent also used infrared cameras to capture palmprints and vein patterns in an earlier contactless payment system.
But Palm X removes the infrared modality and dedicated capture equipment from the process.
It supports 1:1 verification against a specified user and small-scale 1:N searches within an enrolled group.
The product also includes liveness detection intended to identify presentation attacks involving photos and screen replays.
Palm X joins a growing group of products designed to capture palm biometrics through devices people already use.
Boom ID and Innovatrics recently combined contactless palm recognition and liveness detection for transaction authorization through standard mobile cameras.
Handwave’s recent agreement with Visa connects payment cards with palm credentials for use across European markets, and the use of standard RGB cameras could reduce the hardware required to add palm verification.
Tencent’s current Palm X API documentation says access is limited to individual developers for noncommercial use and is not intended for production environments.
Article Topics
biometric verification | contactless biometrics | palm biometrics | palm prints | Tencent
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