Iris biometric is one of the famous biometrics method for the identification of human.
There are basically two main techniques for the recognition of iris which are Gabor wavelet-based encoding iris and other is using of correlation filters.
The iris is thin and ring shaped structure and the function of iris is to control the size of pupil inside the eye when light enters the eye. It has been reported that even the twins have no same iris.
The iris pattern is unique and it does not changes all over life. Although the coloration and structure of the iris is genetically linked, the details of the pattern are not. The iris matures during prenatal growth through a process of tight forming and folding of the tissue membrane. The iris recognition mechanism is as follow;
First in the image of an eye, the inner and outer layer of iris is detected. Then the eye lashes and eyelids are excluded and only the iris part is clip out and then it is divided into different blocks and for the quantification of image the block is converted into different feature values like binary codes. The last step is to perform the matching with other binary codes.
Another question arise how the scanners of iris record the identities of individuals. There are basically four steps to record the individual identities. The scanner record the binary records from the iris to the edge of the pupil of an eye and then scanner make different markings on iris and then it form eccentric shapes.
Then all the data which is observed is save on databases and other different scanners are used to relate this data to authenticate the individual uniqueness. Iris biometric patterns are used to find the unexpected application.
The iris biometric is relevant to confirm the documentation of mysterious young Afghan women named as Sharbat Gula. In 1984, she was snapped by Steve. At the request of National geographic, he used Iris biometric pattern and then matched the iris of both photographs by using the algorithms. At the end, the both eyes were matched.
Iris biometric is also used in the televisions and movies. In 2010, the film named as RED show that scene in which Bruce Willis play a character in which he use contact lens for the identification by iris scanner and in this way he enters into the headquarter of CIA. There are different applications of iris biometric pattern.
In Pakistan, iris biometric system is successfully applied to switch the spreading of Afghan migrants. In UAE, the security border mechanism also use iris biometric for the access and everywhere in UAE there are iris biometric systems for the access like in airports, seaports for the entry of individual which identify the individuals.
The question arise why we use iris as a biometric, why not other part of eyes like retina recognition is most reliable? The reason is that because the iris gives reliable and accurate authentication in a seconds.
The advantages of iris are as follow. The iris pattern cannot change throughout the life due to its unique nature, but the size of the pupil change. It cannot easily modified. The iris recognition is a precise way of identifying the individuals.
The iris biometric is non-invasive because there is no use of laser to take the image of iris. The process of scanning the iris is very fast and it just take few seconds for the process. For the computer logins, iris recognition is used as living password.
There are many disadvantages of iris. The recognition of iris is very much expensive than other biometric patterns. Different agencies and governments can afford this recognition process.
The iris of the individual can be harmed by the constant use of iris biometrics because the iris is a delicate part of the eye and it cannot afford infrared light. The eyelids create a problem during the scanning of iris because it blinking continuously which becomes difficult to identify the individuals.
Authors: Saba said , Maryam Malik