Wiley Handbook of Science and Technology for Homeland Security, 4 Volume Set

EYE AND IRIS SENSORS

RIDA HAMZA AND RAND WHILLOCK

Honeywell International, Golden Valley, Minnesota

1 BIOMETRICS FOR HUMAN IDENTIFICATION

Biometrics is the study of automated methods for recognizing humans based on intrinsic physical or behavioral traits. In information technology, biometric authentications refer to technologies that measure and analyze physical characteristics in humans for authentication purposes. Examples of physical characteristics used for identification include fingerprints, eye retinas and irises, facial patterns, and hand measurements. The use of biometric indicia for identification purposes requires a particular biometric factor to be unique for each individual, readily measureable, and invariant over time. Although many indicia have been proposed, fingerprints are perhaps the most familiar example of a successful biometric identification scheme. As is well known, no two fingerprints are the same, and they do not change except through injury or surgery. Identification through fingerprints suffers from the significant drawback of requiring physical contact with the person. No method exists for obtaining a fingerprint from a distance, nor does any such method appear likely.

Recently, the iris of the human eye has been used as a biometric indicator for identification. We have witnessed wide-scale deployment of iris technology across many product categories.

The human iris has extremely data-rich physical structures that are unique to each human being. Biomedical ...