New-Age Mountaineer Access

Mar 1, 2003 12:00 PM

West Virginia University has implemented a pilot project to test biometric hand readers from IR Recognition Systems, Campbell, Calif., for access control in campus residence halls and at a recreation center.

“This innovative electronic security system will make life more secure, convenient and accessible for our students,” WVU president David Hardesty Jr. says.

Diebold Inc., North Canton, Ohio, which previously installed a card system across the Morgantown campus, installed the hand geometry readers.

Students are directed to enter a pre-selected, five-digit PIN and place their hand on the reader. From there, the scanner takes more than 90 measurements of the hand in terms of length, width, thickness and surface area — all in about one second. Successful authentication leads to a door being unlocked (at the residence halls) or a turnstile being activated (at the recreation center).

Currently, participation in the authentication program is voluntary. “We wanted to test this integrated system in one of WVU's smaller residence halls and at the Rec Center before launching it campus-wide,” associate vice president of student affairs Amir Mohammadi says. “We think people will like it.”

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