JAMES KING-HOLMES / SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY JAMES KING-HOLMES / SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY
Iris scanning. Computer screen image of the iris of an eye being scanned as part of a computer rec- ognition program. Each person's iris is as indivi- dual as their fingerprint, but has more detail. The iris is scanned as the person stands about 20 centimetres in front of a video camera for a few seconds. A computer converts certain iris features into a 256-byte code (shown inset). It divides the iris into 8 concentric circles (marked in white) so that landmarks can be recognised even when they are compressed when the pupil is dilated. The iris is compared against a database of irises in under 3 seconds. This IriScan system was developed by Dr John Daugman of Cambridge University, Britain.
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