Iris Recognition An Option For Airport Security, Company Says

A California company says it can offer an alternative to TSA's "enhanced" pat down searches and body scanners which have come under fire for what many say is their intrusiveness. AOptix Technologies suggests the use of iris recognition to authenticate passengers and secure air travel. With an alternative approach to pat-downs and full body scans, AOptix says it has a system that will reduce wait time and help relax the anxiety associated with the security screening process.

AOptix Iris Scanner

“The travelling public is telling us that they would prefer a quick, accurate, and non-invasive biometric authentication process as an alternative to full body scans or pat-downs,” says Joseph Pritikin, Director of Product Marketing at AOptix. “By securely processing registered travelers with minimal effort, our hope is that the TSA can spend more time on passengers who are unknown, and thereby pose a greater threat.”

The notion of a registered traveler is not new to domestic travel. Willing individuals register their biographic information, submit to a background check, and are enrolled with a biometric identifier that can be used at a later date to verify their identity as they are expedited through the typical security screening process.

The first major push into registered traveler programs relied on last-generation biometric systems that were very difficult to use and error prone. In contrast, AOptix says its iris recognition system is fast, effortless, and highly accurate. Operating at a distance of about six feet, the InSight can capture a very high quality picture of an iris in less than 2 seconds. Travelers of all heights simply sit or stand in the large .75 cubic meter capture zone, look at the device, and open their eyes. With InSight, ease-of-use comes with no compromises: Iris recognition is now accepted as the most accurate of all biometric modalities.

Taking merely 5% of the time for typical full body scan or manual pat-down, an InSight-based solution that conclusively authenticates travelers at security screening checkpoints could improve the overall level of security with minimal impact on traveler wait times and frustration.

AOptix says it currently has several immigration and border control trials in place where iris recognition is being used for identifying and authenticating travelers in the US, UK, Europe, and Middle East. Performance results from these trials, demonstrating the InSight system’s unheralded performance with international, non-acclimated traveler populations, is available on the company’s website or by request.

FMI: www.aoptix.com