Biometrics, Iris-Scan

 

What is the intended use of this technology?

Iris-scanning is mainly used for authentication and identification purposes.

What are some costs/drawbacks of this technology?

The Iris-scan may be difficult to sell because is is not legally binding and there is already a legally-binding signature system already used in tens of millions of digital transactions. There is also the fact that there is a learning process for the user. The enrollee must hold still in a certain spot even if momentarily which could make it difficult to identify a non-cooperative sujbect. The eye needs a certain degree of lighting to allow the camera to capture the iris and unusual lighting might affect the ability of the camera to acquire its subject. In conclusion, as with anything you should always have a back up plan in place in case it becomes inoperable which could be difficult if employees are using this for access and didn't bring along a company id or other appropriate identification.

What are some practical applications of this technology?

The iris-scan is used successfully in fields of e-commerce, network access, time and attendance, ATMs, corrections, banking, and medical record access. Additional examples of a few of the above would be tracking prisoner movement, authenticating onlin purchases, employee access to secure areas, etc.

What (if any) technologies are competing with this one for dominance?

Other Biometric technologies would be competing with the iris-scan; especially the signature system.

As for competing iris-scanning products/companies, Iridian leads the world in research, development and marketing of authentication technologies based on iris recognition. Iridian is holder of exclusive US and international patents on the core concepts and technologies behind iris recognition.

Has this technology become widespread? Why or why not?

The iris-scanning technology is growing because it is accurate, reliable, easy to use, and flexible. It is quickly being established as a premier authentication technology.

How will this technolgy affect you as a web professional?

At some point I could be using it or another biometric for some type of internet purchasing and authentication processing.

As a web professional, I should keep up-to-date with all biometric technologies, how they work, legalities of them, etc.

What are the accessibility issues?

One accessibility issue could be the fact that it could be hard to get a scan on a non-cooperating subject. It may be easier to use an iris-scan on a person with a disability or an elderly person that might have problems signing their names. On the other hand of that, there could be problems with it on a person that just had an eye injury in which they lost one or both of their eyes (I'm not just talking about blindness but more so actually losing an eye as I have a brother who lost an eye from a rubber-band injury).

http://www.iris-scan.com/
http://www.eyeticket.com/
http://www.iridiantech.com/

 

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