How Computers Read Biometrics

Today’s biometric systems are divided into two parts. The first part is often referred to as an enrollment module. During this phase the characteristic (such as fingerprint or voice) is converted into binary form, since computers can only understand 0’s and 1’s. The computer then uses an algorithm to save a template for the user. This template will then be used in the next phase, or the identification module. During the identification module the computer scans the characteristic used during the enrollment process. It then converts the new characteristic into binary and compares it to the enrollment template (Xi & Lu, 2009 p. 1).