Iris Tells More Than Fingerprints

IrisIdent, a biometric identification system developed by Sensar Inc., identifies people by unique variations in the iris, the colored ring of the eye.

The iris is a reliable identifier because it does not change after age 1 1/2 and has more identifying features than fingerprints: some 400 contraction furrows, filaments, freckles, pits, rings, striations and others.

Subjects enroll when they open a bank account, for instance, by standing a few feet from a camera, which takes about a minute to photograph the right iris (the left and right are different). The picture is converted to a digital code and, along with the person’s name and account number, stored in the bank’s central computer or possibly a national database.

When the customer later approaches an ATM or bank kiosk, the hidden camera spots him or her, targets the right iris and zooms in. The camera shoots the iris several times, verifying in seconds that the pupil moves and thus that it is a real eye rather than a photo. The person must look up toward the camera, which works through contact lenses, eyeglasses and sunglasses, except for very dark or reflective ones.

Within two seconds, the computer can compare that iris to up to 250 million data codes, Sensar says. The system rejects transactions by anyone not in the database.

Initially, customers probably would continue to use an ATM card; anyone trying to get into another person’s account, even with the card, would be rejected.

Sensar expects blind people to be able to use the system too after receiving special training.