The Eye

The eye was not commonly used to identify people. The eye color of a criminal is usually noted for descriptions. However, it was never used as a mainidentifying feature.
Currently, the identification of people through eyes is considered more promising than the fingerprint. The iris, for instance, has 266 characteristics, while fingerprints only have 40.

Current Uses of the Eye in Biometrics:

Retina Scanning

The retina is the back of the eye that reacts to light and helps interpret it before the brain receives it.Each retina has a unique vein pattern for every human being, including identical twins. Though it is genetic,it does develop some random patterns. It can be destroyed only by serious injuries. A person looks into a small green light, and the camera senses the veins' absorbing andreflecting properties. The problem is that people are uncomfortable having a camera look at their veins in their eye.Eye-Dentify uses this method and it is currently available. Retina scanning was alsoin the new movie "Entrapment."

Iris Scanning

This type of biometrics is considered the most promising. The iris is the colored part of the eye and its patterns are created by connective tissues. Every human being has a different iris since there are 266 characteristics. A camera scans the eye. It excludes obstructions such as the eyelids, eyeglasses, even contactlenses. After the iris is scanned, an algorithim(wavelet analysis) turns it into a code called "IrisCode," based off the mapping of the iris bya coordinate system. This IrisCode is compared withother codes in a database. IriScan and Sensar are two vendors of iris scanners.

The Basics of Biometrics-/28062