The Japanese company Hitachi released news this week announcing it has developed walk-through-style finger vein authentication technology for security gates in large venues.

Convention centers or sports stadiums, etc., where a large number of people congregate, can easily become the target of criminal activity, and greater security is called for to ensure the safety of the facility. In particular, personal identification is critical to preventing suspicious persons from entering a premise, and therefore interest is growing in biometric identification methods which are relatively difficult to forge. Currently, biometric methods such as fingerprint and facial recognition are being used in airport immigration and other places, however, these methods currently require the person stand still for recognition, leading to congestion when a large number of people arrive. Walk-through methods on the other hand, which would provide high throughput, have not been able to provide high verification accuracy.

The company outlines two main features of the technology.

1. The technology can instantly detect the position and orientation of several fingers as a person goes through a gate. 

Previous forms of finger vein authentication required the finger to be placed in a fixed position, thus requiring the individual to standstill. To enable greater flexibility, Hitachi expanded the finger detection space to encompass the whole hand so if fingers are placed in that space, regardless of number, position or orientation, finger vein patterns are detected instantaneously. As a result, the user need not be concerned with the position of the finger, and can quickly pass through a gate.

2. The technology can capture a clear finger vein image in relation to finger position or orientation.

Technology was developed to capture a clear finger vein image by automatically controlling the lighting to illuminate the fingers from optimal positions regardless of the position or orientation of fingers presented. Further, by combining the vein pattern from several fingers, an even higher level of verification accuracy was obtained compared to illuminating just one finger.

The system would require people to pre-register before use and entry into a venue, and the scanner can process approximately 70 people per minute. Hitachi is still working refining the scanner, which could be available to the public in two years.

(Image: Hitachi)

Waste diversion offers a great way to lower your operating costs and connect your facility to your community!

Every year we throw away tons of useful items that go straight into the landfill. This holiday season, challenge your staff to look for new ways that you can minimize the waste that goes in the trash receptacles at your facility.

Ideas to Get the Ball Rolling

After that next big event, donate the signage to a children’s center so that they could be used for art projects.

Big banquet coming up? Cardboard containers could be the basis for great centerpieces and decorations with a just little creativity.

Still printing event posters? Use it for wrapping paper.

Turn pallets into team branded outdoor furniture and auction it off.

Compost all of your food scraps used by the facility, and let surrounding neighborhoods collect and use it for free, where permitted by law.

Facility Must Haves

Sorting trashcans to separate the types of waste.

Staging area to turn trash into treasure and for donation pick-ups.

Training program for your custodial crew to identify recycling/up-cycling opportunities and areas for improvement.

Single stream recycle planning: have specific bins if an event will use a specific product such as styrofoam or polystyrene.

One more thing—don’t forget to recycle your Christmas tree! It can be ground into mulch, and many municipalities offer free drop-off facilities. Please make sure to have all decorations, ornaments, tinsel, lights, and stands removed. Flocked trees cannot usually be recycled.

(photo credit: anthonylibrarian via photopin cc)

Want to get under par? Perhaps some Charlie Parker will help. Maybe smooth out your swing? Try some Sonny Rollins. Really, any jazz will do, because a new study shows that listening to it will improve your golf game.

“The purpose of this study was to determine whether the use of selected genres of music could influence golf putting accuracy over no music, and to determine whether one genre of music elicited superior performances,” the authors wrote in the study. “With the exception of rock music, participants performed significantly better in all musical trials compared to a no music condition. Further jazz resulted in the best performances, and there were no significant differences by gender.”

Twenty-two participants with at least eight years of golf experience took part in the experiment, which consisted of six trials of putting at pre-designated locations around a hole. They listened to different genres of music (or no music) while putting.

“Other research has shown that country music improves batting, rap music improves jump shots, and running is improved by any up-tempo music,” said study co-author Ali Boolani, an assistant professor of physical therapy and physician assistant studies at Clarkson University in New York. “But the benefit of music in fine motor control situations was relatively unknown. Hopefully, this is the first step in answering this question.”

The researchers were unable to clearly explain why jazz helps one with a golf game but they have some ideas.

“Jazz is derived from improvisation, which appears in similar arts such as the theatre,” the authors wrote. “Although speculative, listening to jazz may encourage greater improvisation from the listener. Thus, participants in the present study may have better observed the grain and slope of the green and were more open to creativity in the putt.”

To learn more, please read “The Influence of Musical Genres on Putting Accuracy in Golf: An Exploratory Study” published in the Journal of Athletic Enhancement.

(photo credit: Severin Sadjina via photopin cc)

A lot of food will be eaten this holiday season, and much of it will contain trans fat. Eater beware, though, because high trans fat consumption is linked to a decline in memory in working-age men, according to recent researched unveiled last month at the American Heart Association’s Scientific Sessions 2014.

“Trans fats were most strongly linked to worse memory, in young and middle-aged men, during their working and career-building years,” said Beatrice A. Golomb, M.D., PhD, lead author and professor of medicine at the University of California-San Diego. “From a health standpoint, trans fat consumption has been linked to higher body weight, more aggression, and heart disease. As I tell patients, while trans fats increase the shelf life of foods, they reduce the shelf life of people.”

Golomb and her colleagues studied 1,000 healthy men 20-years-old or older. They had the participants fill out dietary questionnaires, from which they estimated trans fat consumption. The researchers then had the participants take memory tests involving words on cards.

They discovered that men under age 45 who ate more trans fat showed notably the worse performances on the memory tests. This finding remained even after accounting for age, education, ethnicity, and depression. They also discovered that approximately 0.76 fewer words were correctly recalled for each additional gram a day of trans fat consumed.

“Foods have different effects on oxidative stress and cell energy,” Golomb said. “In a previous study, we found chocolate, which is rich in antioxidants and positively impacts cell energy, is linked to better word memory in young to middle-aged adults. In this study, we looked at whether trans fats, which are prooxidant and linked adversely to cell energy, might show the opposite effect. And they did.”

So, for the record, “chocolate…is linked to better word memory.” Duly noted.

(Image: American Heart Association) 

Please welcome our newest members who joined IAVM in August through November—a total of 344 new members. Our network of professionals is growing and we are reaching record numbers. Thank you for being a part of the association!

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