Wednesday, December 28, 2011

Vending Machines Show Two Different Uses for Biometrics

Kraft unveils vending machine that scans people's faces to estimate age (Daily Mail - UK)

Medbox biometrically controlled system provides prescription medicine dispensing (Deleted broken link)

The Kraft example uses biometrics to discern demographic information. The Medbox example uses biometrics to confirm a unique identity.

Discerning demographic information doesn't require the user to have had any prior interaction with the biometric platform. Confirming a unique identity requires the user to enroll their biometrics in a database for later comparison and confirmation.