All Those in Favor Say, "Eye!"

DerKlempner writes "Space.com is spotlighting a newer, cheaper type of eye-scanning device called the Authenticam. Developed by Iridian Technologies, the Authenticam, instead of scanning the subject's retina, scans the iris of the person it's trying to identify. What makes it most interesting is its price: approximately $300. So, how long before you'll need a password AND an 'eye exam' to log into your school's computer?"

Re:laser surgery

[Steve B]

I got laser surgery (on my eyes, not my hemorrhoids).

That gave me a mental image I really didn't need of an alternate biometrics technology.
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Not Retinal, _iris_

[erpbridge]

Apparently, you didn't read the article, or even the summary. It's an IRIS scanner, not retina scanner.

[e-mail] aint my address.

Re:laser surgery

[po_boy]

did you say rectal scan?

All your events [openschedule.org] are belong to us.

Re:laser surgery

[scorbett]

can you have laser surgery and make your eyes look like someone else's?

No. Retinal scanners work by examining the pattern of blood vessels in the back of your eye. Like a fingerprint, everyone has a unique retinal pattern, even identical twins have unique retinal patterns. Iris scanners use visible and infrared light to examine the characteristics of the human iris.

Neither of these technologies can be fooled or tricked by things like laser eye surgery, contact lenses, or even dilation of the pupil during changing lighting conditions.

Anybody see the movie "Charlie's Angels" last year? There's a scene where Drew Barrymore defeats a retinal scanner by wearing special contact lenses. I was the only one in the theater who groaned out loud, I guess these technologies are not yet widely understood (which is somewhat surprising, considering that the concept of retinal scanners has been around since the 1930's).

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Re:laser surgery

[scorbett]

Neither retinal patterns nor fingerprints are provably unique.

Yes, of course, nothing is 100% effective, I wasn't trying to imply that it was. However, the likelihood of two people having identical iris/retina patterns is somewhere around 0.000005% or less, so they are, as you put it, "unique enough". Besides, it's a hell of a lot more reliable than signatures, which are easily forged yet legally binding.

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Re:laser surgery

[tbannist]

Neither retinal patterns nor fingerprints are provably unique. It is conventional wisdom that they are effectively unique. For most intents and purposes fingerprints and retina patterns are "unique enough". Just don't get silly on me. There is a limited area for the pattern to develop and thus there is a big but finite domain space for retinal(and fingerprint) patterns. Therefore, they must repeat eventually.

laser surgery

[po_boy]

I got laser surgery (on my eyes, not my hemorrhoids). I wonder if that fools these things and makes them not recognize you anymore. Anyone know?

While I'm at it, can you have laser surgery and make your eyes look like someone else's?

All your events [openschedule.org] are belong to us.

Re:How does it tell if you are a living being...

[SuiteSisterMary]

Rather than pointing out all the holes in a given scheme, perhaps you could try pointing them out, and offering possible solutions. Or perhaps offering alternatives that don't suffer the same problems.

Not very long, indeed!

[grammar nazi]

With, such a low priced retinal scanner, it will not be very long time, indeed, until we _see_ retinal scanners all over the place.

How does it tell if you are a living being...

[human bean]

or a glass eyeball? Or an organic, freshly removed eyeball? Or an eyeball still firmly attached to it's eyesocket, which is in turn attached to a head, which in turn is being aimed at by a gun?

Retina scanners are not fooled by dead eyeballs because the various fluid pressures involved cause the retina to look a certain way. Does the iris change signifigantly after removal? Don't know, but I am sure we will find out, just after sombody is fool enough to use one of these things to lock up something valuable.

When are folks going to get it through their mental filters? You have to be able to give away value (or access to...) as a last resort to avoid violence or coersion. To do otherwise is a safety hazard, and should be viewed as irresponsible.

Do you have to take your contacts out to have this item work? Glasses on or off? Folks with glass eyes? Cataracts? Blind people?

Not to mention the question of whether the iris pattern is truly exclusive. It is one thing to say it is, but has anybody done any serious sized studies (n>100,000)?

Plus, the iris of a person's eye is visible from the outside of their body. Can a good photo portrait be used to fake a key? Doubt it, but it might be possible.