Syracuse University has added a new option for students entering campus dining facilities in the form of biometric hand scanners. The new entry option is now available to any students on meal plans that want to enroll and use the biometric reader to get through the line quicker and in a contactless manner.

According to the Syracuse University dining website, the "fast lane hand scanners" are intended for students on unlimited or block meal plans. Eligible students can register their hand on campus during business hours to take advantage of the biometric offering.

University officials say the primary goal of the biometric hand readers is to facilitate a quicker, contactless entrance into campus dining facilities, as well as decrease wear and tear on SUID cards, increasing the cards lifespan.

Keeping with best practices, the biometric implementation at Syracuse will not collect student biometrics. The system will instead use a mathematical representation of each student's hand scan -- not a picture of the hand itself -- as the means of encrypting and safeguarding student information.

In using a mathematical representation of each person’s biometric data, it is impossible to reverse engineer that data into the original hand scan.

The new hand scanners are now available for use in each of Syracuse's five dining centers.

The solution at Syracuse is similar to other biometric dining initiatives at universities across the country. For more information on some other notable biometric implementations, check out some of our recent coverage:

U. of Rhode Island, CBORD deliver touchless biometrics for dining access

Princeton Identity eyes campus space with touchless face, iris biometrics

Dartmouth considers biometric dining solution

Virginia Tech installs MorphoWave touchless biometric readers

St. Thomas deploys biometric readers for dining hall entry