12:00a.m. 5 September 2007

Australia Zoo staff have been feeling a bit like Tom Cruise’s Mission Impossible character Ethan Hunt lately.

The Beerwah business is the first in Australia to install the Vision Access security system, which uses the latest biometric, three-dimensional facial recognition technology.

Coast company Taksec Solutions is the Australia and New Zealand distributor of the American-made system, which is reportedly more accurate than fingerprint systems and is currently used by banks in Europe, the Singapore Immigration and Checkpoints Authority and even the US Department of Homeland Security.

Managing director Trevor May has 26 years experience in security and locksmithing and said it is the best and most secure system he has ever seen.

“I first saw this technology in America two years ago and I wanted to get involved straight away,” he said.

“It is quick, accurate and non-invasive in that you don’t need to touch anything.

“Instead a camera takes a live image of someone’s facial structure, calculating 40,000 points of information off the face, including bone and muscle structure.

“An invisible near infra-red light sends a grid pattern out over the face, takes a 3D image and then cross matches that with the database.

“It can identify between identical twins and has very high security applications.”

A full set-up package, including one face reader costs about $12,500, with each subsequent face reader costing about $6500.

Australia Zoo human resources co-ordinator Matt O’Connor said the new system, which was installed at the entrance to one of the business’s main buildings housing accounts, marketing and human resources, two months ago, was working well.

“You stand about a metre away from the camera, we have marked a spot on the floor, align your face in the mirror and then it automatically unlocks the door and you go straight in,” he said.

“It’s great if you have handfuls of stuff or if you’re carrying boxes, because you don’t need your hands to open the door.

“It was definitely a novelty and the staff really enjoy using it.”

Mr O’Connor said security wasn’t the only reason for the installation.

“Certainly we didn’t want access to this area from the general public but we also want to try and link it to a rostering and timekeeping system so when staff log on it automatically activates a timesheet,” he said.

“That is a long way down the track, but that’s something we are hoping to achieve to improve our reporting systems.”

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