Posted: 10/3/06
Finger reader helping schools, libraries
By David Heiller
Argus News Editor
Checking out a book at the Caledonia library just got a lot easier.
No need to fish in your wallet for that beat up piece of plastic anymore. You just put your finger on a tiny scanning device called a Universal Finger Id System, or finger identification reader.
Your name and account will pop up on the computer screen for Marla Burns and Eileen Jacobson, and they will check out your books.
The technology, which is going into all Southeastern Libraries Cooperating libraries, is homegrown too: Bob Engen, a 1979 graduate of Caledonia High School, invented it.
His company, Educational Biometric Technology, uses a finger as a means to identify a person. The word biometrics refers to measurements of human characteristics. It is not fingerprinting, but instead works by measuring electrical impulses in the finger.
Two of the main applications are in schools and libraries.
Burns is pleased with the new technology. There is now no need to carry a card or remember PIN numbers. ìThis way itís effortless,î she said.
Larger libraries like the Rochester system will really benefit from it, Burns feels. For example, they have a large Somali population, and many of their names are spelled similarly. This will eliminate identification errors.
It should also cut down on theft of library materials, Burns added, because people will not be able to use someone elseís library card or PIN.
La Crescent High School is one of about 300 schools nationwide that use it for its lunch lines.
It works well there, La Crescent School District assistant food service manager Kari Blum said. ìI like it.î
The school has three scanners in its regular lunch lines, and one at the ala carte line. Students come in, put their finger down, and in less than two seconds it identifies them. Their account comes up showing how much they have. Their order for that meal is then punched in.
Itís very good at tracking information, and workers can look back and correct any mistakes, Blum said.
Itís faster than the old punch card system, Blum added. When the system goes down, names can be entered manually.
Programming the new kids in at the beginning of the school year is time consuming, Blum said. That is done by taking several finger readings of each student. ìOtherwise it seems to work fairly well,î she said.
Occasionally it also will read a finger and identify that student as another student, Blum said, but that doesnít happen often.
How it works
Finger biometrics, as Engen calls the technology, works by taking a series of measurements and quantity of measurements depending on what your finger style is, Engen said. The machine can then ID who you are, and insert that identification into the system the same as if you typed it.
ìItís very simple in understanding how it works. Itís not simple in putting it together,î Engen said with a laugh.
He called it a ìplug and playî system ñ you donít have to program anything. It works on any Windows-based system.
Lunch lines and libraries are the top two users, in that order. But there are others too. One that Engen called awesome is for attendance. It prevents attendance inaccuracy, he said. Students go to a class, put their finger down, and their attendance is taken. No roll call, no student shenanigans, no teacher slip-ups.
Teachers just love that, Engen said.
Another good application is as a bus loader. A student on a field trip or a sporting event puts his finger down on a prompt, it identifies who they are, and they are assigned to that bus. All it takes is a laptop and a finger I.D. reader. ìThe bus driver can quickly see who isnít there yet,î Engen said.
Engen is adding GPS to the loader and unloader. so that the right kids get on the right bus at right location. Everything is documented. ìThatís being built right now. Itís real exciting,î Engen said. a school district in Florida is overseeing the project.
Engen operates Educational Biometric Technology out of his home at 21002 Engen Road in rural Caledonia. He has four independent programmers, and 20 independent sales representatives that work on a commission basis.
He got the idea for the company when he was travelling as an employee of Winnebago Software. Engen said he thought this would be a great thing to jump into, so he left the company and went on his own in 1997.
By the end of that year he had a program in libraries. The initial program still works. The big difference is computer speed, he said.
There is sometimes a bad connotation with fingerprints. Some people are reluctant to be fingerprinted, or to allow their children to be fingerprinted. ìItís not a legitimate fear but itís a fear nonetheless,î Engen said.
He thinks his devices actually protect people from things they are afraid of. Itís safe, you canít lose it, you canít switch with another person. ìYou are the only one that can put your finger down,î Engen said. Itís a form of identification that canít be lost or stolen.
It prevents identity theft, and will not work on a severed finger.
There is also no way to generate a fingerprint from what is stored, because only the measurements of the fingerprint are stored, not the fingerprint image.
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