Iris Recognition

An iris recognition security system links eye-scanning cameras with computers to identify people who have been preauthorized to enter a building. (The iris is the round, pigmented area surrounding the pupil that controls how much light enters the eye.) Once identity has been confirmed, the system allows the authorized individual to enter.

Iris scanners are being used in NIJ-funded projects to:

• Track movements inside a Navy brig and a dozen U.S. jails (also ensuring that the right prisoners are being released). Read an NIJ Journal article about an NIJ-funded project in a Navy brig.
• Secure schools by admitting only those with a matching file on record. Read an NIJ Journal article about an NIJ-funded evaluation of a project in New Egypt, New Jersey.

Evaluating the State-of-the-Art

In partnership with the National Institute of Standards and Technology, NIJ sponsored two “technology potlucks” in 2006. Thirty domestic and international organizations came together to evaluate and test state-of-the-art face and iris recognition technologies at the “Face Recognition Vendor Test” and “Iris Challenge Evaluation.” The vendors brought their refined algorithms or software programs to help scientists determine which algorithms were most effective at matching faces or irises.