Iris Scanning. Maybe the Perfect Identification System

xVista and the University of Sussex have just announced that, after a six year partnership, the team of researchers have come up with an iris scanning and verification technology which has required £1.8 million, informs Gizmodo.


A unique algorithm has been developed in order to capture and process iris data, and, in the same time, operate on low power computing devices such as a camera equipped mobile phone. "A standard, 256 Mb mobile phone memory card will be able to hold over 250,000 separate iris templates and from a database of 1,000,000 irises, it will take less than one second for it to verify an individual iris. Each human iris is unique," it is said on xVista web site.

More precisely, the system is said to offer one of the most accurate and secure methods of checking an individual's identity available to date. Consequently, the scanner analyzes and maps the iris in order to find and 'remember' individual characteristics, and then the information is being registered into a central database, which can be further used anytime in order to verify the user's identity.

The xVista system is said to have a wide range of applications, as the technology platform can be easily integrated into any identification device. Of course, the targeted market sectors are security, mobile telecoms, banking and finance applications. You must remember that the chance of two irises matching is approximately 1 in 7 billion.

Furthermore, it is said on xVista web site that in Government trials conducted last year, Iris scanning was found to be the most accurate form of biometric security with a success rate of 96%, as fingerprint scans had a success rate of 81%, and facial recognition only 69 %.