In Tokyo, Biometrics-Equipped Condominiums Gain Popularity

Nov. 23, 2005
To fight against crime around buildings, condo managers turn to iris recognitions for access control

Nov. 21--TOKYO -- With crime rising, condominiums incorporating biometric systems able to identify people by scanning their faces, fingerprints or other physical characteristics are getting more numerous and popular.

Biometric technology is being used at atomic power plants, research institutes and other places requiring high security. Now safe condominiums equipped with such technology are attracting those living alone and families consisting of two earners.

Japan General Estate Co. began selling condominiums with common entrances equipped with auto locks and a biometric system to identify the irises of residents in 2004.

The iris of each person differs from that of any other. The pattern is photographed in advance, and a resident can be identified by comparing it with the pattern the resident shows on a screen at an entrance.

The company paid attention to biometric systems early on. In the latter half of the 1990s, it sold condominiums with a system to identify residents using fingerprints, but if the fingers of the person being scanned are very dry, the person cannot be correctly identified. So the company suspended sales of such condominiums.

"Identification is smooth with the iris. If you hold baggage in both hands, you do not have to produce a key. It is very convenient," said Kazuaki Hatsuzawa, an official with the building department.

The company has sold and is selling 38 blocks of condominiums with the biometric system installed in 28 places in Tokyo and Kanagawa prefectures. About 4,200 condominiums have been sold or are up for sale.

Meiwajisyo Co. will introduce a system to identify people via the blood vein patterns on the palms of their hands in a condominium block to be completed in Chigasaki, Kanagawa Prefecture, in March.

An official in charge said the condominium is for double-income families or those living alone. "Sales are targeted at crime-conscious people, and reactions are large," he said.

Daikyo Inc., Orix Real Estate Corp. and other companies are constructing condominium blocks with the biometric system, and the number of these buildings is expected to increase.

As the iris and palm veins are inside people's bodies, forging them is said to be difficult. But the biometric system is not perfect.

Identification is sometimes rejected because of differences between registered iris and vein and those actually shown on the screen of the machine depending on how they are shown. And if precision is lowered, it is possible that other people are wrongly identified.

"Biometric systems are certainly an indispensable future technology," said Haruhisa Nakajima, chief researcher at the Japan Automatic Identification Systems Association.