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NIST Study Advances Use of Iris Images as a Long-Term Form of Identification


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A traveler uses an iris recognition camera to speed her travel across the American-Canadian border.

NIST researchers evaluated data from millions of images taken over a decade from the iris-based NEXUS program to gauge iris stability.

Credit: Canadian Border Services Agency

U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) biometric researchers studying iris stability have determined that no consistent change occurs in the distinguishing texture of irises for at least a decade.

The study comes after recent research questioned the stability and uniqueness of the iris for biometrics.

NIST researchers examined large population studies, one involving the iris-based NEXUS program used at the U.S.-Canadian border, and found no evidence of a widespread aging effect.

A NIST computer model estimates that iris recognition of average people will typically be usable for decades after the initial enrollment. NIST researchers also reanalyzed the images from the research that questioned the use of iris biometrics, and their results did not indicate that the iris texture itself was changing.

Another research team has demonstrated that pupil dilation was the primary cause of false rejection rates. When NIST researchers accounted for the dilation effect, they did not observe a change in the texture or aging effect. Certain iris cameras normalize dilation by using shielding or by varying the illumination.

From NIST Tech Beat
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Abstracts Copyright © 2013 Information Inc., Bethesda, Maryland, USA


 

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