BIOMETRIC APIs RAISE MORE QUESTIONS THAN ANSWERS

Abstract

As I/O Software unveils its application programming interface in the biometric market, there is growing concern that interface competition could quell market growth.

The Riverside, Calif.-based software vendor released its Biometric Application Programming Interface (BAPI) on Feb. 12, just three days after Armonk, N.Y.-based IBM Corp. {IBM} released its Advanced Identification Services and Tampa, Fla.-based National Registry Inc. released its Human Authentication Application Programming Interface. There is speculation that Intel {INTC} has a biometric API in the works.

Orem, Utah-based Novell {NOVL} developed another specification, Speaker Verification Application Programming Interface (SVAPI), for voice biometrics.

As I/O Software unveils its application programming interface in the biometric market, there is growing concern that interface competition could quell market growth.

The Riverside, Calif.-based software vendor released its Biometric Application Programming Interface (BAPI) on Feb. 12, just three days after Armonk, N.Y.-based IBM Corp. {IBM} released its Advanced Identification Services and Tampa, Fla.-based National Registry Inc. released its Human Authentication Application Programming Interface. There is speculation that Intel {INTC} has a biometric API in the works.

Orem, Utah-based Novell {NOVL} developed another specification, Speaker Verification Application Programming Interface (SVAPI), for voice biometrics.

Yet the interface isn't a contender of other application programming interfaces, says industry guru Judith Markowitz, president of Evanston, Ill.-based Markowitz Consulting.

"{It} isn't in conflict with any of these," Markowitz says. "All the biometric API {developers} we've talked to are planning to incorporate SVAPI functions into their systems or there is a translation layer that is being developed."

The biometric APIs are designed to standardize the way biometric devices - such as voice verification, fingerprint and retinal scanners - work together.

Increasingly, customers such as banks are adopting voice verification in conjunction with other biometric technologies. Thus, the proliferation of APIs to make all the new products work together. Mixed Excitement Among Vendors The onslaught of APIs is exciting the biometrics industry - but it is not all positive.

The purpose of an API is to simplify application development and make time to market faster. But multiple APIs could cause confusion in the market.

"There's a need for a single API that will make it possible for applications to be implemented soon," says Barry Frankel, president of Princeton, N.J.-based VeriVoice, a voice verification company. "VeriVoice is concerned that multiple APIs may not enhance the market, but rather slow down the market. It's our hope that the various organizations developing APIs can evolve into a single API."

If the battle doesn't last long, biometric APIs could be a good thing. "APIs will grow biometrics from being interesting to being used," Frankel says. (Barry Frankel, VeriVoice, 609/924-3000, http://www.verivoice.com; Judith Markowitz, Markowitz Consulting, 773/769-9243.)