The US Army has ordered a high speed biometric capture technology for iris identification. The new system, contracted from Sarnoff Corporation, uses that company's patented Iris on the Move technology.
Current iris scanning technology requires that users stop and put their eyes to a special device. This makes covert sampling much more difficult.
"Current biometric ID systems take too long to identify people in high traffic areas and cause long lines to form at checkpoints," said Dr. Don Newsome, President and CEO of Sarnoff Corporation. "This is inconvenient and poses a security risk. The IOM technology makes it easy to set up iris scanning checkpoints that are as reliable as other biometric-based options but quick enough to keep lines moving rapidly."
Sci-fi buffs are familiar with what this kind of technology feels like to the ordinary user in a shopping mall; Steven Spielberg brought iris scanning to life in his 2002 movie version of Philip K. Dick's Minority Report.
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