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Iris Recognition
A Primer on Iris Recognition Technology
How Does Iris Recognition Work?
Where is Iris Recognition Used?
How will Iris Recognition be utilized by the CHILD Project?
What is the System Architecture?
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How Does Iris Recognition Work?
Iris recognition is based on the most mathematically unique biometric - the iris of the eye. The human iris is absolutely unique, even between twins or an individual's right and left eyes. The iris itself is stable throughout a person's life (approximately from the age of one). The physical characteristics of the iris do not change with age. None of the other biometric solutions, including fingerprint, facial recognition, retina scan, and voice recognition provide the level of accuracy, speed, or cost-effectiveness found with iris recognition technology.
Iris recognition biometric technology positively determines the identity of an individual by capturing a high resolution digital photograph of the individual's iris. The unique features contained in the iris are compared against a database and the identity of the individual determined.
The technology is non-intrusive - the individual does not need to touch anything to use the system. Automatic voice prompting, auto focus, plus enrollment and recognition speed make the system easy to use. An individual is detected automatically upon approaching the imager (a digital camera). A glance at the aperture mirror from 3-10" distance allows the camera to capture an iris image, which is digitally processed into a 512 byte IrisCode® record. No PINs, passwords, or cards are required.
Iris recognition technology is strictly "opt in." Subjects agree to enroll and participate, reducing privacy concerns. The user must consciously elect to participate in iris recognition for authentication by presenting their eye to the camera. They also must be within a designated capture zone, which is approximately 3-10 inches away from the camera. The technology cannot work without the explicit cooperation of the end-user. All a person needs to do is look into a camera for a few seconds. A video image is taken of their iris which is non-invasive and inherently safe. Unlike Retina Scan, there are no lasers, strong lights or any kind of harmful beams.
Iris recognition was proven to have the highest biometric accuracy, with no false matches in over two million cross-comparisons, according to Biometric Product Testing Final Report (19 March 2001, Center for Mathematics and Scientific Computing, National Physics Laboratory, U.K.)
For more information, please contact Sean Mullin, President of The Child Project™, at 508-224-1600, extension 303.
Where is Iris Recognition Used?
Because of its reliability and ease of use, Iris recognition technology is gaining popularity across the globe in areas such as public safety, aviation, education and health care.
The technology is now used in many large and small county correctional systems across the United States. Iris scanning enables Sheriff's departments to quickly determine positive identity on an individual inmate and eliminates the possibility of releasing the wrong person due to mistaken identity.
The Charlotte Airport in North Carolina and the Flughafen Frankfort Airport in Germany allow frequent passengers to register their iris scans in an effort to streamline boarding procedures. There is discussion that banks may someday make iris scans a routine part of ATM transactions, and some have begun taking the first steps in testing out these systems.
In addition to the government and transportation markets, iris recognition is playing an emerging role in healthcare. Healthcare solutions based on iris recognition protect access to patient medical records at hospitals in locations such as Washington, D.C., Pennsylvania and Alabama. Also, in Germany, infant nursing stations are equipped with iris recognition to ensure that only parents, doctors and nurses have access to the room that holds newborn children and to avoid potential abductions.
An innovative program in the New Egypt school district of Plumsted, New Jersey was launched in 2003. This program uses iris recognition to secure school buildings and to link parents to their children, making sure that only authorized caregivers can pick children up from school.
The technology was recently introduced by the United Nations in Afghanistan, where iris recognition helps to distribute a one-time grant of human aid to refugees who wish to return to their homeland. Four voluntary repatriation centers in Pakistan are equipped with cameras to process the refugees anonymously and quickly so that they can receive funds, food and travel supplies.
How will Iris Recognition be utilized by The Child Project™?
The Children's Identification and Location Database is a secure nationwide network utilizing remote iris recognition stations that capture the iris and other demographic information and then store the information in a central database located in Phoenix, Arizona and in a back up database in Plymouth, Massachusetts.
The Child Project™ will offer concerned agencies and organizations a low cost iris recognition system to enhance their existing identification programs. The system will enable authorized users access to NMCO's database to both enroll individuals in the program and check them against the nationwide database. Participation is entirely voluntary, just as it is now with fingerprint and photo ID card programs. The iris recognition equipment is portable and simple to use, making it ideal for use at remote locations such as fairs and special events.
System Architecture
The central part of the system is 3-tier application consisting of the Web Server, Application Server and Database (See picture below) providing secure access for the internal and external users.
The core of the Application Server will consist of the Iris Capture and Recognition application with the open API allowing local and remote access for the Iris code processing and validation. Special matching algorithms built in the IrisScan Server will allow the system to validate the selected Iris Code against the database containing all available codes uploaded from the remote locations. The Application Server will contain additional modules responsible for the Iris codes uploads from the remote location, as well as additional business rules and functionality of the system.
Using the Iris Capture and Recognition application, a remote office will be able to generate an Iris code of the child and send it to the central system (through the secured encrypted communication channel). The application will take the selected Iris code and the code against the Central repository of the Iris codes, demographic and other individual information associated with this code.
The system will be based on open standards and protocols in order to be able to easily integrate it into the larger systems like portals or include extra functionality in the system itself. We plan to host the core system functionality in the form of Web Services with the remote applications making SOAP/XML based calls for the Iris code validation.
Learn more about how iris biometric recognition technology works
ftp://ftp.panasonic.com/pub/Panasonic/cctv/White Papers/Iris52005.pdf