Card, mobile credential, payment and security
Western Michigan University has implemented biometric access in its campus dining facility with the addition of MorphoWave readers. The MorphoWave solution has been utilized in a number of campus dining environments in recent years, and enables patrons to gain access by waving their hand through the reader in a touchless fashion.
According to an official university release, Western Michigan's Valley Dining Center (VDC) has introduced the new biometric, touchless entry system for students, faculty and staff. Campus community members can now wave their hand across the turnstile reader instead of swiping their Bronco Card to access their meal plan or Dining Dollars balance.
The university says that the MorphoWave system is considered more sanitary, secure and convenient, as well as a contingency plan for those who may forget or lose their physical Bronco Card. The other key benefit of the biometric access system is that it removes the need to wait in line for the dining cashier to swipe a Bronco Card. After a wave of their hand across the Morphowave reader, the automatic turnstiles will open.
To enroll in the biometric system, participants simply wave their right hand across the MorphoWave reader a few times. The MorphoWave reader then securely encrypts each hand scan into biometric points, rather than saving actual images of each hand.
To streamline the registration process, Western Michigan Dining Services is hosting scheduled enrollment windows in the lobby of the Valley Dining Center.
All enrolled users' hand scans are stored securely in the Morpho system, and cannot be reverse engineered back into fingerprints, and no fingerprints are saved in the system.
Dining hall entry via MorphoWave, and enrollment in the system are both entirely optional. The physical Bronco Card will still be required for students using Guest Passes and for students who have a meal plan but want to use their Dining Dollars.
MorphoWave readers will also be added at a second dining center located in Western Michigan's new student center.
