Biometric technology is increasingly becoming ingrained in people’s daily lives worldwide. Many of us use biometric authentication regularly due to mobile device integration. Medicine, finance, marketing research, and various other industries that require personal identity will all benefit from biometric trends in the present and the future.
A lot of biometric services are now being developed and tested. These biometric technologies will be widespread eventually. In the modern era, on one hand, fingers, hands, eyes, and a face is everyone’s secure identity which could be treated as open biometric information.
On the other hand, this open biometric data is only the tip of the iceberg. Experiments on every potential trait are underway, from monitoring heart rate to implanting chips under the skin to inspecting ophthalmic veins; the list goes on.
Integrated simplicity is going to be the key to biometric identity and security in the future. The simplest technique to provide a high level of protection is to improve modern methods. You can, for example, scan a 3D image of a fingerprint and examine every detail.
Biometric technologies are evolving rapidly, and it is exciting to predict what they will look like in a few years. Companies in this niche are on the thrust to enable innovations and prevail in what the future looks like. Certainly, Suprema Inc is already enabling a future where access control and security are merged as one, with everything being controlled by cameras and AI.
Under the visionary leadership of Shreyans Vasa, Country Manager for the India region, the company develops and manufactures reliable industry-leading products by combining renowned biometric algorithms with superior engineering.
In an interview with Insights Success, Shreyans shared valuable facts highlighting the significance of Suprema’s services and solutions empowering reliability in the modern industry.
Shreyans, please enlighten our readers about Suprema and its position as a leading company in the modern industry.
Suprema is one of the world’s top providers of access control, time and attendance management and biometric security solutions. We offer an extensive portfolio of security devices, including biometric access control systems such as face and fingerprint recognition, mobile authentication systems and web-based access control and HR management. With a worldwide sales network spanning over 140 countries, Suprema ranks among the top 50 security manufacturers and has the number one market share in biometric access control in the EMEA region.
What was your inspiration behind venturing into the field of biometric services?
In the early 2000s, fingerprint recognition technology was the leading biometric solution. This technology requires complex algorithms for image processing, as well as custom hardware and software. Suprema had the competitiveness of the researchers fit for the task, so we developed our own fingerprint recognition algorithm. Based on this algorithm, Suprema took first place in the Asia of 2002 Fingerprint Verification Competition, and in 2004, we ranked first in the world.
What are the USPs that make Suprema stand out as a leading biometric solution-providing company?
Facial recognition, for example, has become the gold standard for contactless identity verification, which is something that has become very important during the ongoing pandemic. Suprema’s FaceStation F2 is capable of authenticating users extremely quickly as they walk past—when installed at a checkpoint with touchless turnstiles, visitors can pass through very quickly with zero physical contact required. FaceStation F2 works well within various ambient lighting conditions, from Pitch dark to Broad daylight (~65k lux) conditions, making it an ideal choice against the competition.
And for those who require very high levels of security, it is possible to store biometric information on physical RFID cards or digital mobile access cards. This means you can set up an access point to require all three types of identity verification: fingerprint, facial recognition and a swipe of an RFID or mobile access card. This makes it virtually impossible for anyone to spoof their identity and gain unauthorized access.
Cyber-security and Personal-data protection are two major aspects where Suprema clearly stands out against the competition. Suprema hardware is robust against different kinds of cyber-attacks and has already passed VAPT tests. Similarly, Suprema BioStar2 Access Control and Time Attendance platform has been certified with global standards like ISO 27001 and ISO 27701.
What are the immersive benefits of the services and solutions that Suprema provides to its clients?
Suprema offers access control solutions suitable for every space, from the smallest office to the largest complexes. We offer a wide range of access terminals that accept every authentication option available, including RFID, PIN numbers, biometric options including facial and fingerprint recognition, and contactless mobile access using Bluetooth or QR codes.
Our BioStar 2 web-based security platform lets access control administrators manage every terminal and user, along with time and attendance, visitors, and more. And in large, highly secured spaces, this is all backed by our CoreStation intelligent door controller, which is capable of linking multiple biometric terminals across a large area and efficiently servicing a vast number of people.
What were the initial challenges after venturing into the biometric field, and what are the challenges now?
Our first biometric access control terminal was BioStation, which launched in 2006. There were many global innovations in the mobile phone industry during this time, including improvements in LCD screens, multimedia, Wi-Fi communication, and more. Suprema further developed upon these new technologies and adapted them into BioStation, which revolutionized the access control industry with its color LCD display, fingerprint recognition, and more technologies, including the design itself. It was a big hit!
Fast-forward to 2021, and our highest-rated technology is now Suprema’s facial recognition and mobile access solutions. Facial recognition has long had a reputation for having a “one-race bias”, meaning that any facial recognition system would typically only be able to recognize people of the same ethnicity as its developer since that is what the AI is trained to “see”. Suprema worked tirelessly to overcome this limitation, and now we are proud to say that our industry leading FaceStation F2 biometric terminal is capable of recognizing people of any ethnicity, in any lighting conditions, a factor that has helped us to lead the biometric security market in the global market.
With face recognition, we are also looking at a big move in the mobile access area. Suprema spun off the MOCA inc. as affiliates in 2019 to grow its mobile access business, and MOCA has successfully made a quantum leap in the mobile access area. Suprema is always trying to give customers more valuable solutions and services, and we are constantly facing the challenges when trying to make this kind of effort work in the market.
Being an experienced leader, share with us your opinion on how biometric technology is being deployed currently, and what advancements can we expect in the future?
Suprema ranks first in global market-share in the field of biometric readers, largely thanks to our top-of-the-line visual recognition systems. We believe that visual recognition technology will soon spill over into the security industry, with surveillance cameras featuring built-in AI capable of efficiently alerting people when it identifies smoke, intrusions, weapons and other suspicious or dangerous activities. Essentially, we envision a future where access control and security are merged as one, with everything being controlled by cameras and AI.
This means that Suprema will have to change its business model to take advantage of this market opportunity. Over the past 20 years, we’ve focused on access control and developed everything in-house. But now, we are now looking to make partnerships that can help us build synergies. We aim to develop our visual recognition algorithms to not only recognize faces, but also, for example, weapons, suspicious body movements or smoke. This requires crossing into a technology sector we do not yet have much experience with; the right partnerships will make all the difference.
What would be your advice to the aspirants who are willing to venture into the field of biometric services?
In a world that is increasingly placing more and more emphasis on both personal and corporate security, biometrics are definitely here to stay. However, if misused, such data can be used for ill purposes.
As such, it’s important for new entrepreneurs to consider how best to respect and secure the privacy and rights of those who—consensually or unwittingly—give up their biometric identifying information. Suprema envisions a future where security and human rights can continue to coexist harmoniously.
An Exemplary Leadership
Shreyans Vasa is the Country Manager at Suprema India. He has extensive experience with a wide range of access control and security technology, including biometric devices, CCTV surveillance, fire alarm detection and suppression and building management system and intrusion security, as well as related technology such as time/attendance systems telecom, and other industrial solutions.
He joined the Suprema India team in 2020, following a decade-long career in team management. Shreyans has a Bachelor of Technology degree in Instrumentation and Control Engineering and a Mini MBA in Business Administration, Management and Operations.
