Innovatrics Tops NIST ELFT with Best Rank-1 Accuracy for Fast and Reliable Latent Fingerprint Identification

Innovatrics’ latest submission to the NIST ELFT benchmark confirms its latent fingerprint identification algorithm is the most accurate in the world for FNIR at rank ≤1, outperforming all competition.

Being well ranked in the rank-1 category is particularly important because it makes the lives of examiners easier and reduces time spent on manual comparison by quickly identifying the correct match.

_{NIST ELFT Innovatrics Nutrition Report as of December, 2024}

In the FBI Provided Solved dataset #1, a dataset consisting of 516 operational probes collected from a particular type of crime, Innovatrics reached the top position, with a rank-1 hit rate of 98.2%.

In the DoD Dataset #1 — the most recent and largest dataset with 5,259 probes  collected operationally by the United States Department of Defense — Innovatrics was also ranked as the most accurate algorithm in both rank and search with threshold, further strengthening its position as a leading provider of cutting-edge biometric solutions.

The Search with threshold category measures the balance between two errors, FNIR and FPIR, where non-matching candidates are filtered out automatically based on similarity score. A higher threshold likely corresponds with fewer subjects for manual review, which saves the operator time. This is also NIST’s preferred accuracy metric because operating costs tend to grow with these two errors.

“Our latest achievement in the NIST ELFT evaluation underscores Innovatrics’ unwavering commitment to excellence in biometrics. In a world where secure and reliable identification is more critical than ever, our cutting-edge solutions empower businesses, governments and law enforcement to meet the highest standards of accuracy and efficiency, ensuring trust and safety across global applications.” – Matus Kapusta, Head of ABIS Business Unit, Innovatrics.

This achievement highlights the exceptional quality of Innovatrics algorithms, especially given that they currently outperform industry leaders and well-established competitors.

July 2024 Results

Innovatrics’ latest submission to the NIST ELFT benchmark confirms its latent fingerprint algorithm is the most accurate in the world, outperforming all competition in rank-based search. Furthermore, Innovatrics has also scored exceptionally well in the so-called “lights-out” searches. 

Innovatrics reached the top with a rank-5 hit rate of 97.5% in FBI – Provided Solved dataset #1, surpassing the competition. This can be seen in the chart from the NIST ELFT Innovatrics nutrition report as of July 16th 2024. Additionally, Innovatrics was evaluated as the most accurate algorithm in rank-based search over the newly added and largest DoD dataset #1, further emphasizing the company’s position as a leading provider of biometric solutions.

Innovatrics has also achieved a further improvement in the so-called “lights-out” searches, a category where a threshold is used to filter out non-matching candidates. A higher threshold likely corresponds with fewer subjects for manual review, which saves the operator some time. Innovatrics is top-ranked with over 91% Rank-100 Hit Rate at FPIR = 1%, it means that accuracy remains very high even if 99% of false matches are automatically eliminated.

The term “lights-out” for AFIS has been around for many years and is generally understood to mean “no human intervention is involved”. A lights-out search in the NIST ELFT framework refers to an automated fingerprint examination process, where a computer system autonomously compares a latent fingerprint against a large database without human intervention during the initial stages of analysis. “Lights-out” searches use a threshold to filter out more than 90% of non-matching candidates. A higher threshold likely corresponds with fewer subjects for manual review, which enables the operator to clear the backlog faster. This is also NIST’s preferred accuracy metric because operating costs grow with the rate of these two errors. 

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December 2023 Results

Innovatrics’ latest submission to the NIST ELFT benchmark confirms its latent fingerprint algorithm is the most accurate in the world, outperforming all competition in rank-based search.

Innovatrics has the most accurate algorithm with a rank-1 hit rate of 93.3%, further strengthening its position as a leading provider of cutting-edge biometric solutions. According to the NIST ELFT Innovatrics nutrition report, Innovatrics is also top ranked in accuracy across all categories.

Hit rate is the most important metric derived from FNIR (false negative identification rate). The resulting value is the percentage of times that the correct subject appears at or above a rank in the candidate list. This is nowadays the most widely used method by forensic laboratories across the world where the results are reviewed manually.

“For law enforcement purposes, ours is now the most accurate algorithm for latent fingerprint matching,” explains Matus Kapusta, ABIS Business Unit Director at Innovatrics.

Latent fingerprints are those left on a crime scene, and the accuracy of the algorithm is crucial for correctly identifying suspects. Unlike other biometric algorithms, there are only a handful of companies submitting algorithms to the ELFT benchmarks – and Innovatrics has consistently ranked among the top ones.

September 2023 Results

In the mode of work most used by law enforcement and forensic labs, Innovatrics outperformed all the competition in identifying latent fingerprints as measured by the NIST ELFT test

Innovatrics reached the top with a rank-5 hit rate of 95.1%, surpassing the competition as seen in the chart from the NIST ELFT nutrition report below and further strengthening its position as a leading provider of cutting-edge biometric solutions.

“Our deep focus on the criminal investigation aspects of our ABIS is reflected in the improvements. The upcoming version of ABIS is expected to be released in January 2024. Not only is it full of features that help law enforcement work more effectively, but it also yields better results in a shorter time,” explains Matus Kapusta, ABIS Business Unit Director at Innovatrics.

Innovatrics has scored exceptionally well in the so-called “lights-out” searches, a category where a threshold is used to filter out more than 90% of non-matching candidates. A higher threshold likely corresponds with fewer subjects for manual review, which saves the operator some time. With a hit rate of 82.4%, Innovatrics is ranked 2^nd in a category where the Rank-100 Hit Rate was measured at FPIR = 10%. This is also NIST’s preferred accuracy metric because operating costs grow with the rate of these two errors. 

All the results are from the official NIST ELFT report. Values and plots used in this report are derived from searching the 285 probes from the dataset entitled FBI-Provided Solved Dataset #1, where feature data was available but not provided (i.e., “lights-out” search), with ≈ 1 600 000 distractor subjects in the enrollment database.

Several countries on different continents have already opted for Innovatrics ABIS for their law enforcement, from Guinea in Africa to Southeast Asia to several states in Brazil.