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VeriEye SDK
Iris identification for stand-alone and Web solutions
VeriEye iris identification technology is designed for biometric systems developers and
integrators. The technology includes many proprietary solutions that enable robust iris
enrollment under various conditions and fast iris matching in 1-to-1 and 1-to-many modes.

Available as a software development kit that allows development of stand-alone and Web-based
solutions on Microsoft Windows, Linux, macOS, iOS and Android platforms.

Product Advisor

Download demo application.

Download 30-day SDK Trial.

Download Brochure (PDF).

Features and Capabilities

  Rapid and accurate iris identification, proven by NIST IREX.
 Robust recognition, even with gazing-away eyes or narrowed eyelids.
 Original proprietary algorithm solves the limitations and drawbacks of existing
state-of-the-art algorithms.
 Contact lens detection can prevent spoof with fake iris images.
 Available as multiplatform SDK that supports multiple programming languages.
 Reasonable prices, flexible licensing and free customer support.

Figure 1

Click to zoom

Figure 2

Click to zoom

Figure 3

Click to zoom

Figure 4

Click to zoom

Figure 5

Click to zoom

Neurotechnology began research and development in the field of eye iris biometrics in 1994 and
has released VeriEye iris recognition algorithm in 2008. The original proprietary algorithm
solves the limitations and drawbacks of existing state-of-the-art algorithms. VeriEye implements
advanced iris segmentation, enrollment and matching using robust digital image processing
algorithms:

 Robust iris detection. Irises are detected even when there are obstructions to the image,
visual noise and/or different levels of illumination. Lighting reflections, eyelids and
eyelashes obstructions are eliminated. Images with narrowed eyelids or eyes that are
gazing away are also accepted.
 Automatic interlacing detection and correction results in maximum quality of iris
features templates from moving iris images.
 Gazing-away eyes are correctly detected on images, segmented and transformed as if it
were looking directly into the camera (see Figure 1).
 Correct iris segmentation is obtained even under these conditions:
o Perfect circles fail. VeriEye uses active shape models that more precisely model
the contours of the eye, as iris boundaries are not modeled by perfect circles.
o The centers of the iris inner and outer boundaries are different (see Figure 2).
The iris inner boundary and its center are marked in red, the iris outer boundary
and its center are marked in green.
o Iris boundaries are definitely not circles and even not ellipses (see Figure 3)
and especially in gazing-away iris images.
o Iris boundaries seem to be perfect circles. The recognition quality can still be
improved if boundaries are found more precisely (see Figure 4). Note these slight
imperfections when compared to perfect circular white contours.
o Iris is partially occluded by eyelids. The upper and lower lids are marked in red
and green correspondingly (see Figure 5).
 Iris image quality determination and spoof prevention. The image quality estimation
can be used during iris enrollment to ensure that only the best quality iris template will be
stored into database. Also, cosmetic (decorative) contact lens, which obscure an iris with
some artistic or fake iris texture and/or change iris color, can be detected.
 Reliability. VeriEye algorithm has shown excellent recognition accuracy during the
NIST IREX evaluations, as well as during testing on publicly available datasets.

All presented iris images are taken from CASIA Iris Image Database V2.0 and CASIA Iris Image
Database V3.0 collected by the Chinese Academy of Sciences Institute of Automation (CASIA)
(www.cbsr.ia.ac.cn/english/IrisDatabases.asp).

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8051 | Electronic Projects
Biometrics Technology and its Scope in
Future
Submitted By:
Neha Rastogi
The term Biometrics is a combination of two words- bio i.e. life and metrics i.e.
measurement. It refers to the metrics related to the human characteristics, particularly the
physical and behavioral aspects. The technology is implemented to measure and statistically
analyse people’s biological information mainly for their identification, access control or
surveillance. Every individual is unique and carries a separate identity in the form of traits
like fingerprints, hand geometry, iris recognition, voice, etc.

Biometric verification is gaining a lot of popularity among the public security systems as well as
in the commercial market. In our daily life, we witness the use of biometric in so many places
such as the digital attendance system at offices, security checkpoints at airports, wearable tech
gadgets retrieving our biological information, and even our national ID cards aka Aadhaar cards
are created using biometrics technology. In fact, this national ID program holds the largest
biometric database in the world.

Figure 1: Biometrics Technology

In order to undertake biometric authentication, there are several methods of collecting the data. Each of these methods has
its own importance whether performed separately or combined with other forms of data collection. Interestingly, some
forms of biometric authentication can be performed even without the knowledge of the subject under surveillance.

Following are some of the most commonly used biometrics methods:

• Face Recognition

Figure 2: Face Recognition Technology

This system works by analyzing specific features of the individuals through a digital camera.
These characteristics include information like the distance between eyes, the position of
cheekbones, jaw line, chin, the width of the nose, etc. The data is gathered in the form of
numerical quantities and then combined in a single code which is then used to uniquely identify
each individual.
 • Fingerprint

Fingerprint identification refers to the procedure of comparing the pattern of ridges, furrows and
minutiae points of the fingers. It has been reported that after comparing the database of
fingerprints collected in more than 140 years, no two fingerprints were found to be the same, not
even for the identical twins.

• Hand Geometry Biometrics

Hand geometry readers measure the user’s hands along with many dimensions and that is
compared to the measurements stored in a file. Since this method is not as unique as fingerprints
or other similar methods, it’s not preferred at places with a large population or with high-security
applications. Rather it is suitable to be used alongside other forms of biometrics or for simple
applications like attendance operations.

• Retinal Scan

It’s a biometric technique that analyses unique patterns on an individual’s retina blood vessels. In
this method, a beam of infrared light is cast into the person’s eye when he looks through the
scanner. As the retinal blood vessels readily absorb light, the amount of reflection varies. It is
then digitized and stored in the database.

• Iris Recognition

In this method of biometric identification, mathematical pattern-recognition techniques are used

on the video images of the individual’s irises. It utilises video camera technology with subtle
near-infrared illumination to capture the intricate structures of the iris. Then these patterns are
subject to mathematical and statistical algorithms to encode digital templates for the
identification of the individuals.

• Signature

Signature recognition is a form of behavioural biometric which digitizes the signatures of

individuals for identification and authentication purpose. It is performed in two ways. In the first
one, the signature is taken on paper and then digitized through an optical scanner and then the
signature is analysed through its shape. The second way is to take signatures on tablets which
acquire information in real-time.

• Voice Analysis

It’s the study of speech sounds for purposes like speech recognition. Such studies involve
medical analysis of the voice along with speaker identification. Much like face recognition, it
offers a way to authenticate the identity of the subject without his/her knowledge.

Applications of Biometrics

The applications of biometrics can be divided into three categories - :

 • Commercial: It includes applications like computer network login, e-commerce,
ATM/credit cards, PDA, etc.

• Government: It includes applications such as driver’s license, border control, passports,

nation ID cards, etc.

• Forensic: It encompasses activities like corpse identification, terrorist

identification, identifying missing children, criminal investigation, etc.

The most common applications of biometrics are described in the list below -:

Logical Access Control

It refers to granting access to a computer network either at a workstation or remotely from a

distant location. The conventional methods of getting registered through usernames and
passwords can be easily hacked or manipulated. So, to avoid the growing number of cyber
crimes, the method has been replaced with two modalities namely fingerprint and iris
recognition.

Either these devices are connected to the workstations through USB or the sensor is embedded
into the device itself. The method is quick and there is no fear of data getting stolen or hacked.
Referred as Single Sign On Solutions, totally eliminates the financial expenses of password
resets.

Physical Access Entry

It refers to giving an employee the access to an office building for a secure entry. Earlier, keys and badges were given to
individuals followed by the smart cards. However, these can be easily replicated, lost or stolen. So, in order to resolve such
issues, fingerprint recognition accompanied by hand geometry scanning act as Multimodal Biometric solution. In such
methods, the biometrics is hardwired to an electromagnetic lock strike.

Time and Attendance

Figure 3: Biometric Time and Attendance System in Offices

All kinds of businesses irrespective of the industry, need to keep a track of the employees as to how much time they are
contributing to the organisation so that they are paid accordingly. Following the traditional methods can lead to a lot of
data manipulation. In such a situation, hand geometry along with fingerprint recognition are the most commonly used
methods. Besides, Vein Pattern Recognition and Iris Recognition are also gaining popularity owing to their non-
contactless nature.

Law Enforcement
All the law enforcement agencies across all levels of Federal Government use biometric technology to identify the
suspects. The most traditional method used for this purpose is the Fingerprint Recognition, but nowadays facial and vein
pattern recognition methods are also being used in the market.

The fingerprint of the suspect is taken and run through a massive database known as Automated Fingerprint Identification
System aka AFIS. This system has now been replaced with Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System. It
offers the following advantages -:

• The results from criminal searches can be sent to the concerned law enforcement agency within 24 hours.

• Latent fingerprint images collected from crime scenes are stored into IAFIS databases.

• Highly digitized criminal photographs can be obtained upon request anytime.

• These databases also support remote connectivity in a way that the law enforcement
officers can connect to the required database through a secured Wi-Fi connection.

Surveillance

Figure 4: Surveillance Camera recording activities of the crowd

Surveillance is basically keeping an eye on a large group of people through devices from an established baseline so as to
determine any kind of abnormal behaviour. The most common technique used for this purpose is the facial recognition.
This modality can be easily and secretly deployed through CCTV cameras and it’s largely followed by a lot of places. It
offers a great chance of identifying a suspect or criminal in heavily crowded areas.

The techniques used for surveillance can be either overt where people know that they are being watched or it can be covert
where they have no clue that their activities are being recorded. The latter method usually utilizes facial recognition
technique for authentication and identification of individuals.

Latest Biometric Market Trends

• Smartphones

Figure 5: Fingerprint Recognition in Smartphones

The smartphone market is one of the most potential space for biometrics applications. Right from
unlocking the phone through fingerprint recognition to the use of voice recognition and face
recognition, a smartphone is highly integrated with biometrics. It not only eases the operation but
also increases security and safety of your data.
 • Wearables

Figure 6: Wearable Gadget monitoring the brainwaves of the body

The market for wearable devices is currently witnessing a boom and is highly based on biometrics. Almost all wearables
measure the biological characteristics of the individuals like the sweat, brain activity, and heart rate. Such data is detected
to identify valuable information regarding the health of the person wearing that device.

• E-Commerce

With the rise of e-commerce, people are undoubtedly very happy to avail the facility of online shopping but the online
payment methods are often subject to a lot of threat. So it is being proposed that instead of accessing the user account
through credentials, the use of fingerprints, iris, and facial recognition can go a long way in ensuring a secure login.
Moreover, it will save the store managers from numerous queries every time a customer forgets his/her account.

• Cloud-based Biometrics

Cloud computing is gaining a lot of popularity in the corporate world irrespective of the size and nature of business. This
is because it offers a highly convenient, secure and mass storage space for all the valuable data. However, there is still a
need to ensure security which can be done by deploying biometrics possibilities like smart spaces, access control
applications, ambient intelligent environments.

You may read our Blog and Article section for more topics on electronics engineering, industry, and technology.

 Log in or register to post comments

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3.1.3 Iris Biometrics
The iris is a thin, circular structure in the eye, responsible for controlling the diameter and size of the pupil and thus
the amount
of light reaching the retina. The iris forms very early as a unique pattern (different for each eye) and remains
unchanged over
time because it is well protected from the outside environment. Successfully located iris - a complex structure made
of freckles,
3.1 Biometrics Neurotechnology Biometric SDK Iris Biometrics
9
3
furrows, crypts, rings, ridges, corona, arching ligaments, and a zigzag collaret - is extremely suitable for biometric
identification
because of its random variation among different eyes. Usually irises are captured at a distance in near infrared
pectral region
where even seemingly dark and plain irises reveal rich texture. Complexity and richness of iris texture combined with
the
randomness across population makes it possible to use iris recognition identification scenarios.
Neurotechnology began research and development in the field of eye iris biometrics in 1994 and has released
VeriEye [ 228]
iris recognition algorithm in 2008. The original proprietary algorithm solves the limitations and drawbacks of existing
state-of-the-art algorithms. VeriEye [ 228] implements advanced iris segmentation, enrollment and matching using
robust
digital image processing algorithms:
• Robust iris detection. Irises are detected even when there are obstructions to the image, visual noise and/or
different
levels of illumination. Lighting reflections, eyelids and eyelashes obstructions are eliminated. Images with narrowed
eyelids
or eyes that are gazing away are also accepted.
• Automatic interlacing detection and correction results in maximum quality of iris features templates from moving
iris
images.
• Gazing-away eyes are correctly detected on images, segmented and transformed as if it were looking directly into
the
camera.
• Correct iris segmentation is obtained even under these conditions:
• Perfect circles fail. VeriEye [ 228] uses active shape models that more precisely model the contours of the eye, as
iris
boundaries are not modeled by perfect circles.
• The centers of the iris inner and outer boundaries are different. The iris inner boundary and its center are
marked in
red, the iris outer boundary and its center are marked in green.
• Iris boundaries are definitely not circles and even not ellipses and especially in gazing-away iris images.
• Iris boundaries seem to be perfect circles. The recognition quality can still be improved if boundaries are found
more
precisely. Note these slight imperfections when compared to perfect circular white contours.
• Iris is partially occluded by eyelids. The upper and lower lids are marked in red and green correspondingly.
• Reliability. VeriEye [ 228] algorithm has shown excellent recognition accuracy during the NIST IREX evaluations,
as well
as during testing on publicly available datasets.
Neuro

technology’s iris identification technology is designed

Iris recognition
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to navigation Jump to search
 Iris recognition biometric systems apply mathematical pattern-recognition
techniques to images of the irises of an individual's eyes.

Iris recognition is an automated method of biometric identification that uses mathematical

pattern-recognition techniques on video images of one or both of the irises of an individual's
eyes, whose complex patterns are unique, stable, and can be seen from some distance.

Retinal scanning is a different, ocular-based biometric technology that uses the unique patterns
on a person's retina blood vessels and is often confused with iris recognition. Iris recognition
uses video camera technology with subtle near infrared illumination to acquire images of the
detail-rich, intricate structures of the iris which are visible externally. Digital templates encoded
from these patterns by mathematical and statistical algorithms allow the identification of an
individual or someone pretending to be that individual.[1] Databases of enrolled templates are
searched by matcher engines at speeds measured in the millions of templates per second per
(single-core) CPU, and with remarkably low false match rates.

Several hundred million persons in several countries around the world have been enrolled in iris
recognition systems for convenience purposes such as passport-free automated border-crossings
and some national ID programs. A key advantage of iris recognition, besides its speed of
matching and its extreme resistance to false matches, is the stability of the iris as an internal and
protected, yet externally visible organ of the eye.

Contents
 1 History
 2 Visible vs near infrared imaging
 3 Operating principle
 4 Advantages
 5 Shortcomings
 6 Security considerations
 7 Deployed applications
 8 Iris recognition in television and movies
 9 See also
  10 References
 11 Further reading
 12 External links

History
Although John Daugman developed and patented the first actual algorithms to perform iris
recognition, published the first papers about it and gave the first live demonstrations, the concept
behind this invention has a much longer history and today it benefits from many other active
scientific contributors. In a 1953 clinical textbook, F.H. Adler[2] wrote: "In fact, the markings of
the iris are so distinctive that it has been proposed to use photographs as a means of
identification, instead of fingerprints." Adler referred to comments by the British
ophthalmologist J.H. Doggart,[3] who in 1949 had written that: "Just as every human being has
different fingerprints, so does the minute architecture of the iris exhibit variations in every
subject examined. [Its features] represent a series of variable factors whose conceivable
permutations and combinations are almost infinite." Later in the 1980s, two American
ophthalmologists, L. Flom and Aran Safir managed to patent Adler's and Doggart's conjecture
that the iris could serve as a human identifier, but they had no actual algorithm or
implementation to perform it and so their patent remained conjecture. The roots of this
conjecture stretch back even further: in 1892 the Frenchman A. Bertillon had documented
nuances in "Tableau de l'iris humain". Divination of all sorts of things based on iris patterns goes
back to ancient Egypt, to Chaldea in Babylonia, and to ancient Greece, as documented in stone
inscriptions, painted ceramic artefacts, and the writings of Hippocrates. (Iris divination persists
today, as "iridology.")

The core theoretical idea in Daugman's algorithms is that the failure of a test of statistical
independence can be a very strong basis for pattern recognition, if there is sufficiently high
entropy (enough degrees-of-freedom of random variation) among samples from different classes.
In 1994 he patented this basis for iris recognition and its underlying computer vision algorithms
for image processing, feature extraction, and matching, and published them in a paper.[4] These
algorithms became widely licensed through a series of companies: IriScan (a start-up founded by
Flom, Safir, and Daugman), Iridian, Sarnoff, Sensar, LG-Iris, Panasonic, Oki, BI2, IrisGuard,
Unisys, Sagem, Enschede, Securimetrics and L-1, now owned by French company Morpho.

With various improvements over the years, these algorithms remain today the basis of all
significant public deployments of iris recognition, and they are consistently top performers in
NIST tests (implementations submitted by L-1, MorphoTrust and Morpho, for whom Daugman
serves as Chief Scientist for Iris Recognition). But research on many aspects of this technology
and on alternative methods has exploded, and today there is a rapidly growing academic
literature on optics, photonics, sensors, biology, genetics, ergonomics, interfaces, decision
theory, coding, compression, protocol, security, mathematical and hardware aspects of this
technology.

Most flagship deployments of these algorithms have been at airports, in lieu of passport
presentation, and for security screening using watch-lists. In the early years of this century,
major deployments began at Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport and at ten UK airport terminals
allowing frequent travellers to present their iris instead of their passport, in a programme called
IRIS: Iris Recognition Immigration System. Similar systems exist along the US / Canada border,
and many others. In the United Arab Emirates, all 32 air, land, and seaports deploy these
algorithms to screen all persons entering the UAE requiring a visa. Because a large watch-list
compiled among GCC States is exhaustively searched each time, the number of iris cross-
comparisons climbed to 62 trillion in 10 years. The Government of India is enrolling the iris
codes (as well as fingerprints) of one billion or more residents for national ID and fraud
prevention in entitlements distribution. As of April 2016 the UIDAI (Unique Identification
Authority of India) had enrolled more than 1 billion persons in this biometric programme. Iris is
one of three biometric identification technologies internationally standardised since 2006 by
ICAO for use in e-passports (the other two are fingerprint and face recognition).[5]

Visible vs near infrared imaging

All[citation needed] publicly deployed iris recognition systems acquire images of an iris while being
illuminated by light in the near infrared wavelength band (NIR: 700–900 nm) of the
electromagnetic spectrum. The majority of persons worldwide have "dark brown eyes", the
dominant phenotype of the human population, revealing less visible texture in the VW band but
appearing richly structured, like the cratered surface of the moon, in the NIR band.[citation needed]
(Some examples are shown below) Using the NIR spectrum also enables the blocking of corneal
specular reflections from a bright ambient environment, by allowing only those NIR wavelengths
from the narrow-band illuminator back into the iris camera.[citation needed]

Iris melanin, also known as chromophore, mainly consists of two distinct heterogeneous
macromolecules, called eumelanin (brown–black) and pheomelanin (yellow–reddish),[6][7] whose
absorbance at longer wavelengths in the NIR spectrum is negligible. At shorter wavelengths
within the VW spectrum, however, these chromophores are excited and can yield rich patterns.
Hosseini, et al.[8] provide a comparison between these two imaging modalities. An alternative
feature extraction method to encode VW iris images was also introduced, which may offer an
alternative approach for multi-modal biometric systems.

Visible Near NIR

waveleng infrared imaging
th iris (NIR) extracts
image version structure
 Even
"dark
Visible brown"
light eyes
reveals reveal
rich Pigmenta rich iris
pigmenta tion of texture in
tion the iris is the NIR
details of invisible band, and
an Iris by at longer most
exciting waveleng corneal
melanin, ths in the specular
the main NIR reflection
colouring spectrum s can be
compone blocked.
nt in the
iris.

Operating principle
 A, now obsolete, IriScan model 2100 iris recognition camera.

First the system has to localize the inner and outer boundaries of the iris (pupil and limbus) in an
image of an eye. Further subroutines detect and exclude eyelids, eyelashes, and specular
reflections that often occlude parts of the iris. The set of pixels containing only the iris,
normalized by a rubber-sheet model to compensate for pupil dilation or constriction, is then
analyzed to extract a bit pattern encoding the information needed to compare two iris images.

In the case of Daugman's algorithms, a Gabor wavelet transform is used. The result is a set of
complex numbers that carry local amplitude and phase information about the iris pattern. In
Daugman's algorithms, most amplitude information is discarded, and the 2048 bits representing
an iris pattern consist of phase information (complex sign bits of the Gabor wavelet projections).
Discarding the amplitude information ensures that the template remains largely unaffected by
changes in illumination or camera gain, and contributes to the long-term usability of the
biometric template.

For identification (one-to-many template matching) or verification (one-to-one template

matching),[9] a template created by imaging an iris is compared to stored template(s) in a
database. If the Hamming distance is below the decision threshold, a positive identification has
effectively been made because of the statistical extreme improbability that two different persons
could agree by chance ("collide") in so many bits, given the high entropy of iris templates.

Advantages
The iris of the eye has been described as the ideal part of the human body for biometric
identification for several reasons:

It is an internal organ that is well protected against damage and wear by a highly transparent and
sensitive membrane (the cornea). This distinguishes it from fingerprints, which can be difficult to
recognize after years of certain types of manual labor. The iris is mostly flat, and its geometric
configuration is only controlled by two complementary muscles (the sphincter pupillae and
dilator pupillae) that control the diameter of the pupil. This makes the iris shape far more
predictable than, for instance, that of the face.

The iris has a fine texture that—like fingerprints—is determined randomly during embryonic
gestation. Like the fingerprint, it is very hard (if not impossible) to prove that the iris is unique.
However, there are so many factors that go into the formation of these textures (the iris and
fingerprint) that the chance of false matches for either is extremely low. Even genetically
identical individuals (and the left and right eyes of the same individual) have completely
independent iris textures. An iris scan is similar to taking a photograph and can be performed
from about 10 cm to a few meters away. There is no need for the person being identified to touch
any equipment that has recently been touched by a stranger, thereby eliminating an objection that
has been raised in some cultures against fingerprint scanners, where a finger has to touch a
surface, or retinal scanning, where the eye must be brought very close to an eyepiece (like
looking into a microscope).[10]
The commercially deployed iris-recognition algorithm, John Daugman's IrisCode, has an
unprecedented false match rate (better than 10−11 if a Hamming distance threshold of 0.26 is
used, meaning that up to 26% of the bits in two IrisCodes are allowed to disagree due to imaging
noise, reflections, etc., while still declaring them to be a match).[11] While there are some medical
and surgical procedures that can affect the colour and overall shape of the iris, the fine texture
remains remarkably stable over many decades. Some iris identifications have succeeded over a
period of about 30 years.

Iris recognition works with clear contact lenses, eyeglasses, and non-mirrored sunglasses.

Shortcomings
Many commercial iris scanners can be easily fooled by a high quality image of an iris or face in
place of the real thing.[12] The scanners are often tough to adjust and can become bothersome for
multiple people of different heights to use in succession. The accuracy of scanners can be
affected by changes in lighting. Iris scanners are significantly more expensive than some other
forms of biometrics, as well as password and proximity card security systems.

Iris recognition is very difficult to perform at a distance larger than a few meters and if the
person to be identified is not cooperating by holding the head still and looking into the camera.
However, several academic institutions and biometric vendors are developing products that claim
to be able to identify subjects at distances of up to 10 meters ("Standoff Iris" or "Iris at a
Distance" as well as Princeton Identity's "Iris on the Move" for persons walking at speeds up to 1
meter/sec).[10][13]

As with other photographic biometric technologies, iris recognition is susceptible to poor image
quality, with associated failure to enroll rates. As with other identification infrastructure (national
residents databases, ID cards, etc.), civil rights activists have voiced concerns that iris-
recognition technology might help governments to track individuals beyond their will.
Researchers have tricked iris scanners using images generated from digital codes of stored irises.
Criminals could exploit this flaw to steal the identities of others.[14]

The first study on surgical patients involved modern cataract surgery and showed that it can
change iris texture in such a way that iris pattern recognition is no longer feasible or the
probability of falsely rejected subjects is increased.[15]

Security considerations

This section does not cite any sources. Please

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As with most other biometric identification technology, an important consideration is live-tissue
verification. The reliability of any biometric identification depends on ensuring that the signal
acquired and compared has actually been recorded from a live body part of the person to be
identified and is not a manufactured template. Besides a person's physical characteristics, which
includes the eyes, one's voice and handwriting too, are not protected by the Fourth Amendment
even though they are all constantly exposed.[16] Many commercially available iris-recognition
systems are easily fooled by presenting a high-quality photograph of a face instead of a real
face,[citation needed] which makes such devices unsuitable for unsupervised applications, such as
door access-control systems. However, this is not the case with all iris recognition algorithms.
The problem of live-tissue verification is less of a concern in supervised applications (e.g.,
immigration control), where a human operator supervises the process of taking the picture.

Methods that have been suggested[citation needed] to provide some defence against the use of fake
eyes and irises include changing ambient lighting during the identification (switching on a bright
lamp), such that the pupillary reflex can be verified and the iris image be recorded at several
different pupil diameters; analysing the 2D spatial frequency spectrum of the iris image for the
peaks caused by the printer dither patterns found on commercially available fake-iris contact
lenses; analysing the temporal frequency spectrum of the image for the peaks caused by
computer displays.[citation needed]

Other methods include using spectral analysis instead of merely monochromatic cameras to
distinguish iris tissue from other material; observing the characteristic natural movement of an
eyeball (measuring nystagmus, tracking eye while text is read, etc.); testing for retinal
retroreflection (red-eye effect) or for reflections from the eye's four optical surfaces (front and
back of both cornea and lens) to verify their presence, position and shape.[citation needed] Another
proposed[citation needed] method is to use 3D imaging (e.g., stereo cameras) to verify the position
and shape of the iris relative to other eye features.

A 2004 report[citation needed] by the German Federal Office for Information Security noted that none
of the iris-recognition systems commercially available at the time implemented any live-tissue
verification technology. Like any pattern-recognition technology, live-tissue verifiers will have
their own false-reject probability and will therefore further reduce the overall probability that a
legitimate user is accepted by the sensor.

This section possibly contains original research.

Please improve it by verifying the claims made
and adding inline citations. Statements
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Deployed applications
 IrisGuard Inc. UAE enrolment station

 United Arab Emirates IrisGuard's Homeland Security Border Control has been operating an
expellee tracking system in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) since 2003, when the UAE launched
a national border-crossing security initiative. Today, all of the UAE's land, air and sea ports of
entry are equipped with systems. All foreign nationals who need a visit visa to enter the UAE are
now processed through iris cameras installed at all primary and auxiliary immigration inspection
points. To date, the system has apprehended over 330,000 persons re-entering the UAE with
either another name or nationality (which needs a visa), or even fraudulent travel
documents.[17][18]

IrisGuard Inc. First Cash Withdrawal on Iris Enabled ATM

Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan - 2009, IrisGuard deployed the world's first

operational iris enabled Automated Teller Machine(ATM) at Cairo Amman Bank,
where bank customers can seamlessly withdraw cash from ATM's without a bank
card or pin but simply by presenting their eye to the iris recognition camera on the
ATM. Since June 2012, IrisGuard is also providing financial inclusion to UNHCR
registered Syrian refugees in Jordan on ATM's. The system is designed to facilitate
cash-supported interventions that help deliver financial assistance to refugees with
speed and dignity while lowering overhead costs and boosting accountability.[19]

 Aadhaar began operation in 2011 in India, whose government is enrolling the iris patterns (and
other biometrics) of more than one billion residents for the Aadhaar scheme for entitlements
distribution, run by the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI).[20] This programme at its
peak was enrolling about one million persons every day, across 36,000 stations operated by 83
agencies. By October 2015, the number of persons enrolled exceeded 926 million, with each
new enrollee being compared to all existing ones for de-duplication checks (hence 926 trillion,
i.e. 926 million-million, iris cross-comparisons per day).[21] Its purpose is to issue residents a
biometrically provable unique entitlement number (Aadhaar) by which benefits may be claimed,
and social inclusion enhanced; thus the slogan of UIDAI is: "To give the poor an identity." Iris
 technology providers must be granted a STQC (Standardisation Testing and Quality Certification)
certificate in order to supply iris scanners for the project. By far, there are providers such as:
IriTech Inc. (dual iris scanner IriMagic 100BK), Cogent (CIS-202), Iris ID (icam TD 100), Iris Guard
(IG-AD-100), etc.[22]
 Police forces across America planned to start using BI2 Technologies' mobile MORIS (Mobile
Offender Recognition and Information System) in 2012. The New York City Police Department
was the first, with a system installed in Manhattan in the fall of 2010.[23]
 Iris recognition technology has been implemented by BioID Technologies SA in Pakistan for
UNHCR repatriation project to control aid distribution for Afghan refugees. Refugees are
repatriated by UNHCR in cooperation with Government of Pakistan, and they are paid for their
travel. To make sure people do not get paid more than once, their irises are scanned, and the
system will detect the refugees on next attempt. The database has more than 1.3 million iris
code templates and around 4000 registrations per day. The one-to-many iris comparison takes
place within 1.5 seconds against 1.3 million iris codes.
 In early 2013, United Nation High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) also installed a new
biometrics identity management system (BIMS) by IriTech Inc. for the refugees in the Malawi
Camp. During the pilot program, which lasted four weeks, more than 17,000 people enrolled
their iris biometric data and had their identities verified. After the successful pilot in Malawi,
Thailand was recently chosen to be the first site of the global roll-out. After 5 months, in June
2015, UNHCR has completed its registration for nearly 110,000 Myanmar refugees in Thailand’s
border camps with the help of the new system.[24]
 At Amsterdam Airport Schiphol, Netherlands, iris recognition has permitted expedited, passport-
free border security passing since 2001 through the Privium program.[25]
 Canadian Air Transport Security Authority's Restricted Area Identity Card (RAIC) program is the
world's first dual-biometric program deployed around major Canadian airports for staff and
aircrews to access the restricted areas using separate channels from passengers.[26][27]
 In a number of Canadian airports, as part of the NEXUS program that facilitates entry into the US
and Canada for pre-approved, low-risk travellers.[citation needed]
 In several Canadian airports, as part of the CANPASS Air program that facilitates entry into
Canada for pre-approved, low-risk air travelers.[28]

A U.S. Marine Corps Sergeant uses an iris scanner to positively identify a

member of the Baghdadi city council prior to a meeting with local tribal leaders,
sheiks, community leaders and U.S. service members.

 UK's Iris Recognition Immigration System, which started operating in 2004 but which was closed
to new registrations in 2011 and which has been phased out in 2012 and 2013.[29][30][31]
  Used in 2002 to verify the recognition of the "Afghan Girl" (Sharbat Gula) by National
Geographic photographer Steve McCurry.[32]
 Since at least 2011, Google uses iris scanners to control access to their datacentres.[33]
 In 2010, Leon, Mexico, deployed iris scanners in public spaces, that can identify up to fifty
people at once.[34]
 On May 10, 2011, Hoyos Group demonstrated a device called EyeLock using iris-recognition as
an alternative to passwords to log people into password-protected Web sites and applications,
like Facebook or eBay.[35]
 Princeton Identity has been developing an "Iris on the Move" system and set of products,
primarily for U.S. Government clients, capable of identifying 30 people per minute.[13] Most
recently, they have specialized in a product where drivers can be identified without needing to
leave their vehicle.[36]
 M2SYS Technology has deployed their RightPatient™ biometric patient identification system
using iris recognition at 11 Novant Health hospitals in the Charlotte and Winston-Salem markets.
The RightPatient™ iris biometric patient identification system is designed to capture both the
face and the iris pattern of patients and uniquely link them to their electronic medical record.[37]
 In March 2015, India’s Andhra Pradesh state has launched an iris-based identity management
solution developed by IriTech for enhancing pension distribution system. The Chief Minister N.
Chandrababu Naidu demonstrated IriShield USB MK2120U device during a launching event of
Andhra Pradesh state's iris scanning facility for pension distribution. "The state's decision to use
iris technology as a primary method to issue Aadhaar verified DBT (Direct Benefit Transfer) will
address concerns of total inclusiveness of its residence as well as providing a more accurate and
a hygiene solution," says Binod E. Mathai, Director of Biometronic Technology.[38]
 On May 28, 2015, Fujitsu released ARROWS NX F-04G the first smartphone with iris scanner.[39]
 On mid 2015, the Kenya Ministry of Education, Science and Technology in order to provide an
accurate attendance tracking for all students in classes (roll-call) or school buses (getting on/off
tracking) has implemented iris biometric system. The solution includes IriTech’s IriShield camera
connecting to a low cost Android phone or tablet via USB cable. Iris matching is done on-board
of IriShield whose internal gallery can hold up to 500 identities (expandable to 5,000 identities)
which is more than enough for most of the schools. The local matching capability is a particular
advantage in the school-bus scenario because it does not require wireless/3G communication
between the biometric terminal in the bus and a back-end server.
 At the end of 2015, Microsoft launched two Lumia phones (Lumia 950 and Lumia 950 XL)
featuring iris scanning as a way to authenticate the user.
 May 1st 2017, first iris enabled humanitarian blockchain system in the world deployed in Azraq
Refugee camp in Jordan by IrisGuard. More than 10,000 Syrian refugees use only their eyes
without any token to pay for their food on WFP Building Blocks (a Private Ethereum Blockchain
on AWS) to redeem their assistance. Project expanded to 100,000 refugees in January 2018.
 March 2018, World Food Program (WFP) started to deploy iris recognition in its food
distribution system for the first time in Uganda. The country is hosting approximately 1.4 million
refugees and asylum-seekers. It is one of the countries with the highest number of refugees in
the world. IriTech's iris scanner BK 2121U is being used to deliver the right food to the right
refugees, making sure that they get the food assistance they are entitled to. WFP plans to scale
up the system to 180 food distribution sites across Uganda by the end of the year.[40]

Iris recognition in television and movies

  I Origins (2014), a Hollywood film by writer-director Mike Cahill and winner of the Alfred Sloan
Award for best exposition of technology (2014 Sundance Film Festival), uses iris recognition for
its core plot. Culminating in India with the UIDAI project to encode and enroll the iris patterns of
one billion or more Indian residents by the end of 2015, the film is described as a "science fiction
love story incorporating spiritualism and reincarnation", seeking to reconcile science with
religious spirit-world beliefs.
 Steven Spielberg's 2002 science fiction film Minority Report depicts a society in which what
appears to be a form of iris recognition has become daily practice. The principal character
undergoes an eye transplant in order to change his identity but continues to use his original
eyes to gain access to restricted locations.[41]
 In The Island (2005), a clone character played by Ewan McGregor uses his eye to gain access
through a security door in the home of his DNA donor.
 The Simpsons Movie (2007) features a scene that illustrates the difficulty of image acquisition in
iris recognition.[42]
 The TV series Numb3rs, features a scene where a robber gets into the CalSci facility by cracking
the code assigned to a specific iris.
 NCIS uses an iris scanner in the garage, where forensic vehicle investigations are carried out and
evidence is stored. There is another scanner at the entrance to MTAC. The sequence of Leroy
Jethro Gibbs being verified is shown in the title sequence. The imagery for this sequence has
been "enhanced" using special effects. Iris recognition systems do not use the laser like beams
shown in the sequence and the light that they do use is near-infrared and nearly invisible.
 The 2010 film RED includes a scene where Bruce Willis' character uses a contact lens to pass an
iris scan and gain access to CIA headquarters.

See also
 Biometric technology in access control
 Iris Recognition Immigration System
 Eye vein verification
 Finger Vein recognition
 Fingerprint recognition
 Iris Challenge Evaluation
 Samsung Galaxy S8

References
1. Zetter, Kim (2012-07-25). "Reverse-Engineered Irises Look So Real, They Fool Eye-Scanners".
Wired Magazine. Retrieved 25 July 2012.
2. Adler, F.H., Physiology of the Eye (Chapter VI, page 143), Mosby (1953)
3. Doggart, J.H., Ocular Signs in Slit-Lamp Microscopy, Kimpton (1949), page 27
4. Daugman, J., "High confidence visual recognition of persons by a test of statistical
independence", IEEE Transactions on Pattern Analysis and Machine Intelligence, 15 (11), pp
1148-1161 (1993)
5. "ICAO Document 9303: Machine Readable Travel Documents, Part 9: Deployment of Biometric
Identification and Electronic Storage of Data in eMRTDs, 7th edition" (PDF). 2015.
6. Liu Y, Simon JD (February 2005). "Metal-ion interactions and the structural organization of Sepia
eumelanin". Pigment Cell Res. 18 (1): 42–8. doi:10.1111/j.1600-0749.2004.00197.x.
PMID 15649151.
7. Meredith P, Sarna T (December 2006). "The physical and chemical properties of eumelanin".
Pigment Cell Res. 19 (6): 572–94. doi:10.1111/j.1600-0749.2006.00345.x. PMID 17083485.
8. Hosseini, M.S.; Araabi, B.N.; Soltanian-Zadeh, H. (April 2010). "Pigment Melanin: Pattern for Iris
Recognition". IEEE Trans Instrum Meas. 59 (4): 792–804. arXiv:0911.5462.
doi:10.1109/TIM.2009.2037996.
9. HRSID Iris Recognition | "rapid and reliable searches in both 1 to 1 (verification) and 1 to many
(identification)"
10. Martin, Zach (2011-03-23). "Biometric Trends: Will emerging modalities and mobile applications
bring mass adoption?". SecureIDNews. Retrieved 2013-07-14.
11. "Probing the uniqueness and randomness of IrisCodes: Results from 200 billion iris pair
comparisons." Proceedings of the IEEE, vol. 94 (11), 2006, pp. 1927-1935.
12. "Hacker Finds a Simple Way to Fool IRIS Biometric Security Systems". thehackernews.com. 2015-
03-06. Retrieved 2017-03-17.
13. Whittaker, Zack (2018-09-29). "Princeton Identity debuts a new walkthrough biometric scanner".
TechCrunch. Retrieved 2019-03-29.
14. "Iris scanners 'can be tricked'". BBC News. 2012-07-26.
15. R. Roizenblatt, P. Schor et al. Iris recognition as a biometric method after cataract surgery.
Biomed Eng Online. 2004; 3: 2
16. Hashemi, Soheil; Tann, Hokchhay; Buttafuoco, Francesco; Reda, Sherief (March 2018).
Approximate Computing for Biometric Security Systems: A Case Study on Iris Scanning. 2018
Design, Automation & Test in Europe Conference & Exhibition (DATE). IEEE.
doi:10.23919/date.2018.8342029. ISBN 9783981926309.
17. "European Business Review - Identification in the Twinkle of the Eye, Oct 7, 2008"
18. "Behin IRIS (Automated IRIS-Based Identification System)"
19. "UNHCR Innovation | Biometric Cash Assistance". innovation.unhcr.org. Retrieved 2016-11-03.
20. https://portal.uidai.gov.in/
21. "Aadhaar - Unique Identification". portal.uidai.gov.in. Retrieved 2015-11-02.
22. "STQC Certificate granted suppliers" (PDF).
23. "Police to begin iPhone iris scans amid privacy concerns". Reuters. 2011-07-20.
24. "Biometric Identity Management System". UNHCR. Retrieved 2015-11-02.
25. "Iris scans at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol". Amsterdam Airport Schiphol. Retrieved 2013-07-14.
26. "Restricted area identity card". Archived from the original on May 14, 2012.
27. "Backgrounder". Canadian Air Transport Security Authority (CATSA).
28. CANPASS Air
29. "IRIS". Archived from the original on May 1, 2008.
30. "Manchester Airport eye scanners scrapped over delays". Manchester Evening News.
31. Wesley Johnson (16 February 2012). "Airport eye scanners to be reviewed". The Press
Association, printed in The Independent.
32. Daugman, John. "How the Afghan Girl was Identified by Her Iris Patterns". University of
Cambridge. Retrieved 2013-07-14.
33. "Google data center security". 2011-04-13. Retrieved 2013-07-14.
34. Saylor, Michael (2012). The Mobile Wave: How Mobile Intelligence Will Change Everything.
Perseus Books/Vanguard Press. p. 98. ISBN 978-1593157203.
35. Whitney, Lance (2011-05-12). "Iris recognition gadget eliminates passwords". CNET. Retrieved
2011-05-12.
 36. "SRI International Sarnoff launches iris biometric vehicle access control system". Biometric
Update. 2013-04-10. Retrieved 2013-07-15.
37. "Novant's new iris scan connects patients to records". Archived from the original on April 7,
2014.
38. "Indian state selects iris based identity management solution by IriTech". BiometricUpdate.
2015-03-11. Retrieved 2015-11-02.
39. "Fujitsu Releases ARROWS NX F-04G - Fujitsu Global".
40. "These changes show that WFP loves us". World Food Programme Insight. 2018-03-19. Retrieved
2018-07-19.
41. Dolmetsch, Chris (2011-02-01). "'Minority Report' May Come to Real World With Iris
Recognition". Bloomberg L.P. Retrieved 2013-07-14.
42. Daugman, John. "Iris Recognition and "The Simpsons Movie"". University of Cambridge.
Retrieved 2013-07-15.

Further reading
 WO 8605018 Leonard Flom, Aran Safir: Iris recognition system. 28 August 1986; also: US
4641349 issued 2/3/1987.
 US 5291560 John Daugman: Biometric personal identification system based on iris analysis. 1
March 1994
 Daugman, John (January 2004). "How iris recognition works" (PDF). IEEE Transactions on Circuits
and Systems for Video Technology. 14 (1): 21–30. CiteSeerX 10.1.1.590.2630.
doi:10.1109/TCSVT.2003.818350.
 Daugman, John (2003). "The importance of being random: statistical principles of iris
recognition" (PDF). Pattern Recognition. 36 (2): 279–291. CiteSeerX 10.1.1.115.1707.
doi:10.1016/S0031-3203(02)00030-4.
 Daugman, John (June 2005). "Results from 200 billion iris cross-comparisons". Technical Report
UCAM-CL-TR-635.
 Zhaofeng He; Tieniu Tan; Zhenan Sun; Xianchao Qiu (15 July 2008). "Towards Accurate and Fast
Iris Segmentation for Iris Biometrics". IEEE Trans Pattern Anal Mach Intell. 31 (9): 1670–84.
doi:10.1109/TPAMI.2008.183. PMID 19574626.
 Zhaofeng He; Tieniu Tan; Zhenan Sun; Xianchao Qiu (June 2008). "Boosting Ordinal Features for
Accurate and Fast Iris Recognition". Proc. of the 26th IEEE Computer Society Conference on
Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition (CVPR'08). pp. 1–8.
 Kaushik Roy; Prabir Bhattacharya (2008). Iris Recognition: A Machine Learning Approach. VDM
Verlag Dr. Müller. ISBN 978-3-639-08259-3.
 K. Roy; P. Bhattacharya (2009). "Variational level set method and game theory applied for
nonideal iris recognition". 16th IEEE International Conference on Image Processing (ICIP'09).
pp. 2721–4. ISBN 978-1-4244-5653-6.

External links

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 Home page of IrisCode inventor John Daugman

 ISO/IEC 19794-6:2011 International standard for iris images
 NIST Iris Challenge Evaluation – a contest for competing iris-recognition algorithms
 NIST IREX – a program for various NIST activities supporting interoperable iris biometrics,
including comparison of 19 state-of-the-art iris recognition algorithms from 10 providers
 Iris recognition test results, analysis
 Iris recognition algorithm reidentifies Sharbat Gula – Afghan National Geographic cover girl in
1985 – two decades later
 Bath University Iris Image Database
 John G. Daugman's original patent at USPTO
 First large-scale deployments
 Project Iris an Open Source iris recognition system

Categories:

 Applications of computer vision

 Biometrics
 English inventions
 University of Cambridge Computer Laboratory
 Eye

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