CANTON – Biometrics, the science of using physical traits to identify individuals, is the topic of a new book by St. Lawrence University Associate Professor of Mathematics, Computer Science and Statistics Michael E. Schuckers.

“Computational Methods in Biometric Authentication” has been published by Springer Science and Business Media publishing. It is, according to publishers, "the first single resource on statistical methods for estimation and comparison of the performance of biometric authentication systems."

The book focuses on six common performance metrics: for each metric, statistical methods are derived for a single system that incorporates confidence intervals, hypothesis tests, sample-size calculations, power calculations and prediction intervals. These methods are also extended to allow for the statistical comparison and evaluation of multiple systems for both independent and paired data.

Support for this work has come from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the U.S. National Science Foundation and the Center for Identification Technology Research.

Schuckers is the director of the Quantitative Resource Center at St. Lawrence.