Hand-held biometrics continue to evolve
The Army and Marines plan to make substantial improvements to the way that they gather and process biometric information from hand-held devices.
The U.S. Army and Marines want to leverage capabilities they will obtain through the multiple-award Biometrics Operations and Support Services-Unrestricted contract to substantially improve the way they gather and process biometric identification data in theaters of conflict, reports Defense News.
The military services plan to upgrade more than 4,000 Handheld Interagency Identity Detection Equipment (HIIDE) units that scan fingerprints or irises to identify terrorists and combatants who disguise themselves among the local population.
The HIIDE devices connect to a Defense Department database called the Automated Biometric Information System, which gathers identification data from U.S. and coalition partners. Those devices and other systems will benefit from a planned switch to blade servers that can be easily added, exchanged or upgraded. The blade servers will enhance efforts to collect new and different types of identifying information.
In addition to the blade-server approach, researchers also hope to incorporate palm, DNA and other physiological biometrics to the systems.
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