A new biometric solution, which started from an undergraduate student’s idea to develop a simple and secure method for biometric recognition of pet animals gained recognition as an international standard. This creative technology is expected to revolutionize the pet care industry.
A multi-biometric recognition and registration system for companion animals, jointly proposed by Pireco, the student-led venture company, and the Korea Internet and Security Agency (KISA) has recently been adopted as an international standard project. Through this project, they will develop a new pet identification system based on iris and nose pattern analysis, thus will lead the international standardization of biometric identification for companion animals.
Pireco is a student-led venture company, founded by a group of UNIST students in 2018. l Image Credit: Kyoungchae Kim
Pireco has participated as part of the Korean delegation at the meeting of ITU-T Study Group 17 (SG17), hosted by the ITU-T (International Telecommunication Union – Telecommunication Standardization Sector), which ran from March 17 to 26, 2020. During the course of the event, they proposed a new standard project, which was later approved for development.
A multi-biometric recognition and registration system for companion animals, jointly proposed by Pireco and KISA. l Image Credit: Pireco
Accordingly, Pireco and the KISA Gangwon Regional Information Security Service Center will work closely together to establish standards for the guidelines for △ Constructing a database management system for companion animals, △ Multiple biometric recognition mechanisms, △ Performance test evaluation systems, △ Data privacy policy for pet owners.
“No technology that recognizes pet animals via biometric information is yet available commercially on the global market,” says Tae-Heon Kim, the CEO of Pireco. “And thus, many companies are currently developing technology sporadically, which will have a significant impact on the establishment of international standards.”
The Companion Animal Registration System, which was launched by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs in 2014, imposes a duty on all pet owners to register their pets with the appropriate local government, using internal and external wireless identification devices and registration identification tags. On top of this, Pireco aims to add iris and nose pattern recognition apparatus through the official registration procedures.
Constructing a database management system for managing biometric data on pets is drawing considerable attention, as it can be used in various ways to expand the market surrounding companion animals. The established databases will be the basis for providing various customized services, including healthcare and insurance plans for pet animals. It is also expected that the development of such service will naturally induce registration of pets, and thus increase the participation rate in the registration system.
Founded by a group of UNIST students in 2018, Pireco currently works on the development of a biometric identification system for pet animals based on iris and nose pattern recognition. l Image Credit: Kyoungchae Kim
Founded by a group of UNIST students in 2018, Pireco is working on the development of a biometric identification system for pet animals based on iris and nose pattern recognition. Recently, they have succeeded in developing a function, capable of registering and authenticating animal information by automatically detecting their iris and nose patterns, using a smartphone camera. Thus, they have released a beta version of this since December 2019.
“Once standards are enacted, pets can be safely and conveniently registered and managed in both South Korea and abroad,” says Tae-Heon Kim, the CEO of Pireco. “Through this, we hope to lead the international standardization of biometric identification for pets.”
