Press Release
NIST Ranks Warwick Warp amongst World Leaders for Fingerprint Accuracy
17 May 2010
Warwick Warp Ltd, a UK-based developer of novel fingerprint recognition technology is pleased to announce that it has achieved the fourth highest rank in an evaluation of fingerprint matching systems conducted by the US government’s National Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST). The National Institute of Standards and Technology's Proprietary Fingerprint Template (PFT) evaluation is an ongoing program to measure the performance of fingerprint matching software by utilising vendor proprietary fingerprint templates. It is relied upon worldwide as the definitive measure of the effectiveness of fingerprint matching performance for specifiers of large scale biometric recognition systems.
This announcement follows on from an earlier success for Warwick Warp three months ago when it announced that it achieved the third place in an a more specialized performance study the matching accuracy on latent prints (low quality such as might be found on criminal databases) also conducted by NIST to which all the world’s leading system providers made submissions. A particular feature of the Warwick Warp system is its ability to deal effectively with low quality prints.
The purpose of the Proprietary Fingerprint Technology (PFT) Test conducted by NIST is to evaluate fingerprint recognition algorithms using vendor-supplied software development kits (SDKs). The NIST PFT test is a rigorous measure of the accuracy of a particular fingerprint recognition algorithm. The results that are obtained from such tests give potential customers throughout the world, typically government departments, objective comparisons of how well commercial products perform against each other for one-to-one matching for a variety of applications.
Andrew Waterfall, CEO of Warwick Warp commented “We are extremely pleased with Warwick Warp’s performance in the NIST PFT test, especially as the results of such a test enable prospective customers to choose the best biometrics solutions for their needs.”
“Test results from NIST are universally accepted as the ‘gold’ standard for biometric SDKs and we are delighted to be ranked fourth globally, particularly as we faced such strong competition from the leading players in the biometrics industry. Warwick Warp has always prided itself on the accuracy of its system but the recognition that the results of the NIST PFT test gives us will stand us in good stead as we ramp up our commercial activity”, stated Dr Li Wang, CTO of Warwick Warp.
Terry Swainbank, Investment Director for Synergis Technologies, part of the Porton Capital group added “We invested in Warwick Warp because we felt that not only does its technology provide market leading accuracy but also can improve the speed of the fingerprint recognition process. We are particularly proud of Warwick Warp’s ability to produce a system that provides outstanding performance and ranks among the world’s best”.
Warwick Warp Ltd, a spinout company from the University of Warwick, has developed a novel fingerprint recognition technology based on the shortcomings of current systems such as their inability to deal with poor quality fingerprints.
Warwick Warp’s algorithms overcome these shortcomings by applying
an adaptive mathematical model to model the ridge structures as well as
allowing for both linear and non-linear deformation in the measurement.
The algorithms are designed to deal effectively with low quality fingerprints
to produce images that can be matched with greater accuracy.
- Ends -
For further information on Synergis Technologies Ltd, please contact:
Dr Dinali de Silva, Associate
Tel: +44 (0) 207 932 0727
Email: dinali.desilva@synergistechnologies.com
Web: www.synergistechnologies.com
For further information on Warwick Warp Ltd. and all other media enquiries,
please contact:
Dr Li Wang
Tel: + 44 (0) 2476 696869
Email: li.wang@warwickwarp.com
Web: www.warwickwarp.com
NOTES TO EDITORS
Synergis Technologies Ltd. is a privately-owned early-stage
investment firm based in London providing seed capital to technology
commercialisation ventures principally originating from the UK’s
leading public sector research establishments and research-focused
universities. Synergis, part of the Porton Capital Group identifies
exciting opportunities underpinned by strong IP from spin-out companies
to drive commercial exploitation and build strong management teams
to execute deliverable market strategies.
Synergis seeks to take these opportunities from the laboratory to the
marketplace with speed and continuity of capital, generating substantial
investment returns by becoming involved very early as a proactive investor
and partner. Synergis has established valuable access to this highly prized
public research base and is dedicated to finding and funding a compelling
pipeline of cutting-edge technologies.