University of California, Irvine Pilots Amazon One Biometric Dining Access
The University of California at Irvine recently conducted a trial of Amazon One, a contactless biometric system utilizing palm vein recognition for identity verification, in its campus dining facilities. Wayne Fields, UC Irvine’s Assistant Director for Student Affairs IT, was inspired to explore this technology after witnessing its implementation at a Whole Foods store.
The pilot program aimed to modernize campus access by providing a faster, more secure method for students to access dining halls without needing to present a card or phone. The university’s existing partnership with Amazon Web Services (AWS) facilitated the acquisition of necessary hardware for the trial.
During the summer pilot, students showed significant enthusiasm for the Amazon One system, which offered a quick, secure, and hygienic alternative to traditional ID cards. The contactless palm vein technology proved particularly appealing as campuses look to move beyond mobile credentials.
The trial yielded valuable insights for both UC Irvine and Amazon. The lessons learned from the pilot prompted Amazon to shift its strategy from a proprietary hardware-based model to a more flexible software platform. This new approach will support a range of compatible devices from various vendors and enable self-enrollment, a crucial feature for efficiently onboarding the university’s 9,000 new students annually.
Fields noted that the biometric project aligns with the university’s broader institutional goals, including sustainability and the adoption of cloud-based solutions. As part of the University of California’s sustainability initiative, UC Irvine is transitioning from on-premises servers to cloud-based infrastructure.
The success of the pilot was particularly notable among students, who were eager to adopt the new technology. However, Fields observed a digital divide between students and faculty/staff, with the latter group being more resistant to adopting biometric authentication.
“I think that folks should keep their eye on the cloud-based technologies and where they’re evolving,” Fields said. “That’s really where we need to get to.”
The Amazon One pilot at UC Irvine represents a significant step in the integration of biometric technology in campus access control, potentially paving the way for broader adoption in educational institutions.
