One Step Closer to Minority Report-Style Iris Scanning

AOptix and competitors including Retica Systems and Sarnoff Corporation (and its new Iris on the Move product), have long touted their ability to scan a human iris from a distance and even while the person is moving.

The technology is designed to blend the accuracy of iris recognition with the passive interaction of a surveillance camera and now AOptix is claiming to provide this ability at up to 2.5 meters! Here is an excerpt from from their latest press release:

"By using adaptive optics the company is able to correct for a subject’s motion and gain better focus, Phil Tusa [the company’s vice president of biometric programs] says. The system is also able to capture both iris images from a distance of 1.5 to 2.5 meters."

Iris-at-a-distance and iris-on-the-move are emerging sectors in the biometric market; however, Tusa argues that Aoptix has a unique approach to managing operations.

“Our concept is to ask the subject for two seconds to look at the device and open their eyes,” he says. “This will greatly improve matching accuracy results and we’re not going to have bad images.”

Here is an interview with Tusa:

Let me tell you, their stuff works. Over a year ago, I had the opportunity to see this product while it was still in the lab. Technicians then were able to capture and identify my iris at over 2.5 meters. Pretty impressive stuff -- and that was over a year ago!