Fingerprint authentication is receiving attention lately as one authentication method to identify an individual. A fingerprint depends on the individual, and does not change over time. Therefore fingerprint authentication should have higher reliability than password authentication, which is commonly used today. On the other hand, in the case of fingerprint authentication, it is necessary to prevent the illegal act of pretending to be the actual individual by using a fake finger with a forged fingerprint of the actual individual. As a technology to prevent such illegal acts, Patent Documents 1 and 2 disclose a technology to detect a fake finger based on the color on the surface of a finger onto which light is irradiated. Patent Document 3 discloses a technology to detect a fake finger by irradiating light onto a finger from a location above the finger, and photographing a light transmitting through the finger. Patent Document 4 discloses a technology to detect a fake finger, created by attaching a thin film with a forged fingerprint to the surface of a finger, by irradiating a light onto the finger from the side, and using an obtained diffusion pattern of the light transmitted through the finger for identification.
[Patent Document 1] Patent Publication JP-A-2003-50993
[Patent Document 2] Japanese Patent Publication No. 2637253
[Patent Document 3] Patent Publication JP-A-H9-134419
[Patent Document 4] Patent Publication JP-A-2007-249296
In the case of the technology to detect a fake finger based on the color of the surface of the finger disclosed in Patent Documents 1 and 2, and the technology detect a fake finger by irradiating light onto the finger from an area above the finger disclosed in Patent Document 3, a fake finger created by attaching a transparent thin film with a forged fingerprint to a finger cannot be detected. This is because, according to Patent Documents 1 and 2, it is difficult to distinguish between the color of the surface of the fake finger on which the transparent thin film is attached and that of real skin color. In the case of Patent Document 3, the attenuation factor of the light that transmits through the transparent thin film is low, and it is difficult to distinguish the light that transmitted through the finger and the thin film from the light that transmitted only through the finger.
In the case of the technology to detect a fake finger by irradiating light onto the finger from the side disclosed in Patent Document 4, light may not be irradiated directly onto the thin film attached to the surface of the finger. In this case, the fake finger cannot be detected, just like Patent Document 3. For example, if the finger is pressed against a fingerprint sensor surface, it is possible that a part of the finger could cover an area around the thin film, and the light that is supposed to be irradiated onto the thin film could be blocked by part of the finger. In this case, the light is not irradiated directly onto the thin film, and the same state as Patent Document 3 occurs. As a result, it becomes difficult to distinguish the light that transmitted through the finger and the thin film from the light that transmitted only through the finger.
With the foregoing in view, it is an object of the present invention to provide a fake finger determination apparatus and a fake finger determination method that can improve an accuracy to discern a fake finger created by attaching a transparent (the meaning of “transparent” in this description includes “translucent”) thin film to the surface of the finger.
A fake finger determination apparatus of the present invention includes: a mounting surface that has a mounting area to mount an authentication target that is an object of fingerprint authentication; an imaging unit that is provided on the mounting surface and images the authentication target mounted on the mounting area by way of an image capturing area that defines a range of an image to be captured; and one or a plurality of light sources that allow light to directly enter the authentication target mounted on the mounting area not by way of the image capturing area, wherein a light emitting surface for emitting the light of the light sources to outside is disposed on the same plane as the mounting surface.
A fake finger determination method of the present invention includes steps of: mounting an authentication target that is an object of fingerprint authentication on a mounting surface that has a mounting area to mount the authentication target; allowing light from a light source to directly enter the authentication target mounted on the mounting area, not by way of an image capturing area that is provided on the mounting surface and defines a range of an image to be captured; and imaging the authentication target mounted on the mounting surface by using the imaging unit, by way of the image capturing area, wherein a light emitting surface for emitting the light of the light sources to outside is disposed on the same plane as the mounting surface.
According to the present invention, an accuracy to discern a fake finger created by attaching a transparent thin film to the surface of the finger can be improved.
Preferred embodiments of a fake finger determination apparatus and a fake finger determination method according to the present invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.
A configuration of a fake finger apparatus according to the first embodiment will be described first with reference to
The fake finger determination apparatus 1 is an apparatus to determine whether or not an authentication target T, to be an object of the fingerprint authentication, is a fake finger. An authentication target T, that is a finger F on which surface a thin film M is attached, is mounted on the fake finger determination apparatus 1 shown in
As
Each composing element of the fake finger determination apparatus 1, that is the enclosure 10, the transparent plate 20, the light source 30, the imaging device 40 and the controller 50, is basically the same as an enclosure, a transparent plate, a light source, an imaging device and a controller of a conventional fingerprint authentication apparatus. A difference from a conventional fingerprint authentication apparatus, however, is in the arrangement of the light source 30 (including the light emitting surface) and the controller 50 that has a function to determine the authenticity of the authentication target.
The transparent plate 20 and the light source 30 are disposed so that the respective top faces are located on the same plane as the mounting surface. A mounting area P, to mount the authentication target T, is created on the top faces of the transparent plate 20 and the light source 30.
The imaging device 40 is disposed below the transparent plate 20. The image device 40 captures an image from inside the enclosure 10 in the direction of the transparent plate 20. In other words, the imaging device 40 images the authentication target T mounted on the mounting area P by way of the transparent plate 20.
Out of an image captured by the imaging device 40, the portion inside the frame of the transparent plate 20 is an image used for determining the authenticity of the authentication target T mounted on the mounting area P. In other words, the transparent plate 20 defines the determination target area (image capturing area) to determine whether the authentication target T is a fake finger.
The light source 30 is disposed so that the top face (light emitting surface) thereof is located on the same plane as the mounting surface. Thereby the light can be irradiated onto the authentication target T, mounted on the mounting area P, from the bottom of the authentication target. If a thin film M is attached to the surface of a human finger F, the probability that the light will directly enter the thin film M can be increased because of this arrangement. According to this embodiment, the light emitting surface to emit the light of the light source to outside the fake finger determination apparatus is created by the top face of the light source 30.
It is preferable that the light emitting surface of the light source 30 is disposed in a position adjacent to the transparent plate 20. Because as the light emitting surface of the light source 30 becomes closer to the transparent plate 20, the probability that the light will directly enter the thin film M attached to the surface of the human finger F can be increased. The reflected light from the authentication target T however must not be included in the transmitted light image. If the reflected light from the authentication target T is included in the transmitted light image, the brightness value of the transmitted light image increases, and the later mentioned accuracy, to determine a fake finger by the determining unit 51, drops. To prevent inclusion of the reflected light from the authentication target T in the transmitted light image, the light source 30 should be disposed as follows.
The light source 30 is disposed so that the light emitting surface thereof is located in the position where the light can directly enter the authentication target T mounted on the mounting area P, not by way of the transparent plate 20 which is a determination target area. Thereby the imaging device 40 can capture a transmitted light image which includes the light transmitted through the authentication target T mounted on the mounting area P, and does not include the light reflected on the surface of the authentication target T.
The controller 50 controls the entire fake finger determination apparatus 1 by executing various control processings. The controller 50 has a determining unit 51, for example.
The determining unit 51 determines the authenticity of the authentication target T using the brightness value of the image captured by the imaging device 40. In concrete terms, the determining unit 51 determines the authenticity of the authentication target depending on whether the brightness value of a predetermined pixel, included in the transmitted light image captured by the imaging device 40, is within a predetermined range.
For the predetermined pixel, a pixel located in a position somewhat distant from the light source 30 can be set, for example. This is because the light irradiated from the light source 30 onto a finger gradually attenuates inside the finger, and if a pixel close to the light source 30 is set for the predetermined pixel, attenuation of the light is so little that it is difficult to determine the authenticity of the authentication target T. At least one pixel can be set as the predetermined pixel, but it is preferable to set a plurality of pixels with a predetermined interval from a location close to the light source 30 to a location distant from the light source 30. If a plurality of pixels are set, brightness values according to the attenuation state of the light inside the finger can be obtained if the authentication target T is a human finger, and determination accuracy can be further improved.
For the predetermined range, a range of brightness values which a human finger imaged as the authentication target T could have, for example, can be used. Here it is known that the light transmittance (attenuation factor) in the human skin is confined to within a specific range depending on the wavelength of the light. If light is irradiated onto the surface of the skin and the light that transmits through the skin is imaged, the brightness value of the transmitted light image tends to become smaller as the distance from the light source increases. The brightness value of the transmitted light image of a human finger will now be described with reference to
The brightness value of the transmitted light image in the case of imaging a human finger as the authentication target will be described with reference to
A number of pixels used for determination (hereafter called “pixels for determination”) can be freely set. If a plurality of pixels for determination is set, the determining unit 51 can determine that the authentication target is a human finger when the brightness values of all the pixels for determination are within a predetermined range. It may be determined that the authentication target is a human finger when a number of pixels for determination, having a brightness value which is within a predetermined range, is a predetermined value or more.
A brightness value of a transmitted light image when a fake finger created by attaching a thin film to the surface of a human finger is imaged, on the other hand, is outside the predetermined range. The brightness value of the transmitted light image of a fake finger created by attaching a thin film to the surface of a human finger will be described with reference to
As described above, according to the fake finger determination apparatus 1 of the first embodiment, the authenticity of the authentication target can be determined depending on whether a brightness value of a predetermined pixel included in the transmitted light image captured by the imaging device 40 is within a range of brightness values, which a human finger imaged as the authentication target T, could have.
According to the fake finger determination apparatus 1 of the first embodiment, the light source 30 can be disposed so that the top face thereof is located on the same plane as the mounting surface, and can be disposed in a location so that the light can directly enter the authentication target T, not by way of the transparent plate 20. Thereby light can be irradiated onto the authentication target T mounted on the mounting area P, from the bottom of the authentication target T. If the human finger on which surface a thin film is attached is mounted on the mounting area P, a probability that the top face of the light source 30, which is located on the same plane as the mounting surface, will contact the thin film increases, and as a result, a probability that the light will directly enter the thin film can be increased. Hence the accuracy to discern a fake finger created by attaching a thin film to a surface of a human finger can be improved.
Furthermore the light source 30 is disposed adjacent to the transparent plate 20, thereby a probability that the light will directly enter the thin film attached to the surface of the human finger can be further increased.
According to the above described first embodiment, one light source 30 is disposed on one side of the transparent plate 20 (a determination target area), but the arrangement of the light source is not limited to this. For example, one light source 30 may be disposed on both sides of the transparent plate 20 (determination target area) respectively, as shown in
According to the above described first embodiment, the authenticity of the authentication target is determined using a brightness value of a predetermined pixel included in the transmitted light image captured by the imaging device 40, but the means of obtaining the brightness of the predetermined pixel is not limited to the imaging device 40. For example, instead of the imaging device 40, an illuminance sensor (imaging unit) for detecting brightness of a predetermined pixel may be disposed for each predetermined pixel, and the authenticity of the authentication target may be determined using the brightness of the predetermined pixel detected by this illuminance sensor.
For the wavelength of the light source 30, a wavelength in the 700 nm to 1200 nm range, which is called the “therapeutic window”, may be used. If a wavelength in the 700 nm to 1200 nm range is used, the quantity of light that transmits through the skin can be increased, therefore while determining the authenticity of the authentication target as mentioned above, a skin pattern to be used for fingerprint authentication can be obtained at the same time. In the case of obtaining a skin pattern at the same time, it is preferable that the light sources 30 are arranged as illustrated in
The above mentioned light source 30 of the first embodiment is disposed, so that the top face thereof is located on the same plane as the mounting surface, but the position of the light source 30 is not limited to this. It is required to dispose the light source 30 in a position so that light can be irradiated onto the authentication target T mounted on the mounting area P from the bottom of the authentication target T. As a concrete example, the light source 30 is disposed in a location below the mounting area P, and the light emitting surface, to emit the light of the light source to outside the fake finger determination apparatus, is separately disposed so as to be located on the same plane as the mounting surface. The light emitting surface in this case can be disposed as follows. For example, the light source 30 is surrounded by a shielding wall to create an optical path, this optical path is extended, and the end face of this optical path becomes a light emitting surface.
A second embodiment of the present invention will now be described. According to the fake finger determination apparatus of the second embodiment, the authenticity of the authentication target is determined based on the degree of attenuation of the light, which is calculated using the brightness value of the transmitted light image, and this aspect is different from the fake finger determination apparatus of the first embodiment, which determines the authenticity of the authentication target depending on the brightness value of the transmitted light image.
The difference of the fake finger determination apparatus of the second embodiment from the above mentioned fake finger determination apparatus of the first embodiment lies in the function of the determining unit 51 of the controller 50. The other configuration is the same as that of the fake finger determination apparatus of the first embodiment, therefore each composing element is denoted with the same reference symbol for which description is omitted. In this section, the difference from the first embodiment will be mainly described.
The determining unit 51 calculates an attenuation factor to indicate a degree of attenuation of the light, using the brightness values of a plurality of predetermined pixels included in the transmitted light image captured by the imaging device 40, and determines the authenticity of the authentication target T depending on whether the attenuation factor is within a predetermined range.
For the plurality of predetermined pixels, pixels can be set at a predetermined interval, from a location close to the light source 30 to a position distant from the light source 30, for example. A number of the predetermined pixels can be set to an efficient value considering the calculation according to the attenuation factor and the calculation time of the attenuation factor.
For the predetermined range, a range of the attenuation factors which a human finger, imaged as the authentication target, could have, can be used.
The determining unit 51 can calculate the attenuation factor as follows. For example, the determination unit 51 obtains the brightness values at point A, point B and point C shown in
The determining unit 51 may determine a coefficient a of the following Expression 1, and calculate the coefficient a as the attenuation factor. Here x of Expression 1 is a distance from the light source, f(x) is a function to indicate a brightness value of a pixel of which distance from the light source is x, and a is an attenuation factor.
f(x)=exp(−ax) Expression 1
By determining the authenticity of the authentication object T using the attenuation factor, an imaging device with an automatic sensitivity control function can be used for the imaging device 40. If the automatic sensitivity control function is included, however, the brightness value of the image is corrected according to the sensitivity, and the brightness value changes from the original value. Therefore this function cannot be used for the fake finger determination apparatus 1 of the first embodiment, which determines the authenticity of the authentication target within the range of the brightness values.
Whereas in the fake finger determination apparatus 1 of the second embodiment, the authenticity of the authentication target is determined using an attenuation factor which is not changed by the automatic sensitivity control function. Therefore even if the brightness values are corrected by the automatic sensitivity control function, the authenticity determination result of the authentication target is not affected. Therefore the fake finger determination apparatus 1 of the second embodiment can not only have the above mentioned effects of the first embodiment, but can also be applied to an imaging device having the automatic sensitivity control function.
According to the above mentioned fake finger determination apparatus 1 of the first embodiment, the light source 30 is disposed outside the determination target area, which is defined by the transparent plate 20 (see
According to the fake finger determination apparatus of the third embodiment, the light source 30 is disposed in a position surrounded by the determination target area, and the authentication target T is imaged a plurality of times while shifting the mounting position of the authentication target T each time. Thereby it becomes possible to allow the light source 30 to enter the thin film M at least once during imaging, and illegal acts using thin film M matching with the size of the determination target area can be prevented.
The difference of the configuration of the fake finger determination apparatus of the third embodiment from the above mentioned fake finger determination apparatus of the first embodiment is that the transparent plate is divided into two, and the light source is disposed between the transparent plates, and a combining unit 52 is added to the controller 50. The other configuration is the same as that of the fake finger determination apparatus of the first embodiment, therefore each composing element is denoted with the same reference symbol for which description is omitted. In this section, the difference from the first embodiment will be mainly described.
The configuration of the fake finger determination apparatus according to the third embodiment will now be described with reference to
The fake finger determination apparatus 1 has two transparent plates 20a and 20b, and three light sources 30a, 30b and 30c. The light sources 30a, 30b and 30c are disposed between the transparent plates 20a and 20b. In other words, the light sources 30a, 30b and 30c are interposed in the determination target area which is formed connecting the two transparent plates 20a and 20b. A number of transparent plates and a number of light sources can be freely set.
The transparent plates 20a and 20b and the light sources 30a, 30b and 30c are disposed so that the top faces thereof are located on the same plane as the mounting surface. A mounting area P, to mount the authentication target T, is created on the top faces of the transparent plates 20a and 20b and the light sources 30a, 30b and 30c.
According to the fake finger determination apparatus 1 of the third embodiment, the mounting area P is created on two different locations on the mounting surface. One is a first mounting area P1 illustrated in
It is preferable that the positional shift between the first mounting area P1 and the second mounting area P2 is set so as to match with the distance between the transparent plates 20a and 20b. Then when the images are combined as described later, an area which cannot be imaged between the transparent plates 20a and 20b can be interpolated by two images, and a combined image without any lost data can be generated.
The imaging device 40 captures images from inside the enclosure 10 in the directions toward the transparent plates 20a and 20b. In other words, the imaging device 40 images the authentication target T mounted on the first mounting area P1 and the second mounting area P2 by way of the transparent plates 20a and 20b. Out of the transmitted light images captured by the imaging device 40, the portions in the respective frames of the transparent plates 20a and 20b are images used for determining the authenticity of the authentication target T disposed on the first mounting area P1 and the second mounting area P2. In other words, the transparent plates 20a and 20b define the determination target area to determine whether the authentication target T is a fake finger.
It is preferable to set the imaging interval of the imaging device 40 to a time at least sufficient to change the mounting position of the authentication target T and a time that makes it difficult to replace the thin film M.
The combining unit 52 combines a plurality of transmitted light images captured by the imaging device 40. This will be described in concrete terms with reference to
If the similarity between the patterns is lower than a predetermined threshold, the combining unit 52 outputs an input error, and prompts for re-input of the authentication target T. If illegal acts of replacing a thin film M to match the transparent plate are performed each time the mounting position of the authentication target T is changed and imaged, similarity between the patterns becomes low, therefore the authentication target T can be rejected as an input error.
The determining unit 51 determines the authenticity of the authentication target using the brightness value of the image combined by the combining unit 52. For the method of determining the authenticity of the authentication target, various methods described in the first embodiment and the second embodiment can be used.
For example, the determining unit 51 can determine the authenticity of the authentication target depending on whether the brightness value of the predetermined pixel included in the combining image combined by the combining unit 52 is within a predetermined range.
The determining unit 51 can also determine the authenticity of the authentication target by calculating the attenuation factor to indicate a degree of authentication of light using the brightness values of a plurality of predetermined pixels included in the combined image combined by the combining unit 52, and determining whether this attenuation factor is within a predetermined range.
As described above, according to the fake finger determination apparatus 1 of the third embodiment, the light sources 30 are disposed in the determination target area, and the authentication target T can be imaged a plurality of times while shifting the mounting position thereof. Therefore even if a fake finger on which a thin film M, matching the size of the determination target area, is attached is used, the light of the light sources 30 can enter the thin film M with certainty. As a result, illegal acts using a thin film M matching the size of the determination target area can be prevented.
Each embodiment mentioned above is merely an example, and does not negate various modifications and the use of technologies not explicitly stated in an embodiment. In other words, the present invention can be modified in various forms within the scope not departing from the true spirit of the invention.
For example, in each embodiment mentioned above, the determination target area is defined by a transparent plate, but the means of defining the determination target area is not limited to a transparent plate. Any other means can be used as long as the means can define an image to be used for determining the authenticity of the authentication target mounted on the mounting area.
The fake finger determination apparatus according to each embodiment mentioned above has each composing element illustrated in
This application declares a priority based on Japanese Patent Application No. 2009-245298 applied on Oct. 26, 2009, and includes the entire disclosure thereof.
Although the present invention has been described with reference to the embodiments, the present invention is not limited to the embodiments. The configuration and details of a present invention can be modified in numerous ways by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the invention.
The fake finger determination apparatus and the fake finger determination method according to the present invention are suitable for improving accuracy to discern a fake finger created by attaching a transparent film to the surface of a finger.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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2009-245298 | Oct 2009 | JP | national |
The present application is a Continuation application of Ser. No. 13/503,991 filed on Apr. 25, 2012, which is a National Stage of International Application No. PCT/JP2010/066721 filed on Sep. 27, 2010, which claims priority from Japanese Patent Application No. 2009-245298, filed on Oct. 26, 2009, the contents of all of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety. The present invention relates to a fake finger determination apparatus and a fake finger determination method.
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