Biometrics: iris

Iris / Iris

Everything you want to know and more about iris recognition by its inventor, John Daugman:
Tout ce que vous voulez savoir, et bien plus, sur la reconnaissance de l'iris par son inventeur, John Daugman:

John Daugman's homepage

Another excellent documented website from Jan Ernst:
Un autre site très bien documenté, de Jan Ernst:

The Iris Recognition Homepage (by Jan Ernst)

Les francophones consulteront la thèse de Christel-Loïc TISSE:

"Contribution à la vérification biométrique de personnes par reconnaissance de l’iris"

Iris recognition has got its famous case with the afghan woman on the National Geographic cover who has been identified thanks to her green eyes.
Voici le cas bien connu de l'Afghane aux yeux verts dont l'identité a été confirmée grâce à la reconnaissance de l'iris.

Iris recognition uses iris images captured in the near infrared bandwidth. The iris color is not used, this is rather the iris structure which is recognized.
La reconnaissance de l'iris nécessite de capturer une image dans le proche infrarouge (invisible). La couleur de l'iris n'est pas utilisée, c'est plutôt son relief qui est reconnu.

An "iriscode" is extracted from the iris, once it has been localized
Un "iriscode est extrait de l'iris, une fois qu'il a été localisé

Heterochromia iridium (differing iris colors) and heterochromia iridis (a variety of color within a single iris) are relatively rare in humans and result from increased or decreased pigmentation of the iris. Most cases are the result of an alteration in the expression of the EYCL3 gene (which codes for brown/blue eye color) and EYCL1 (which codes for green/blue eye color), among other genes within the cells of the entire iris or even a particular section. Other potential causes include trauma around the time of birth or later in life, congenital pigmented nevi or even medications such as those used in the treatment of glaucoma.
David Bowie's eyes are in fact of the same color - his pupils are of a different size because one is permanently dilated after a fight with a schoolfriend. It doesn't help for iris recognition, sure.

Myths

Previous links already give most answers, but I give here some details about some specific questions.
Les liens précédents répondent à la plupart des questions que vous pourriez vous posez, mais dans certains cas, j'ai voulu apporter ma contribution.

Iris recognition is extremely accurate (and much more better than fingerprints).
La reconnaissance par iris est très précise (et bien mieux que les empreintes).

Twins have identical biometric traits (identical fingerprints, irises...). This is the same for clones.
Les jumeaux sont identiques: mêmes empreintes digitales, même iris... C'est pareil pour les clones.

Biometric systems are able to detect diseases.
On peut détecter des maladies avec les systèmes biométriques.

Iris or retina identification uses a (dangerous) laser.
L'identification de l'iris ou de la retine utilise un (dangeureux) laser.

Iris recognition uses the color of the eyes, and cannot work with africans having very dark eyes.
La reconnaissance de l'iris utilise la couleur des yeux, et ne marche pas avec les africains ayant les yeux très sombres.

Some common medical errors concerning iris
Quelques erreurs medicales courantes concernant l'iris

Commercial products:

L-1 (Iridain, Iriscan, Sensar)

L-1 (formerly Iridian, Iriscan, Sensar)

Sell the Daugman's algorithm, see licensees below for cameras.
Voir les licenciés ci-dessous, vend essentiellement l'algorithme de Daugman.

LG

LG Iris technology division

(was Iridian license up to 2004)

OKI

(Iridian license)
(sep 2005) Irispass-M

(2006 Nov) OKI Introduces Japan's First Iris Recognition for Camera-Equipped Mobile Phones, PDA. Nikkei Electronics Asia.

Panasonic

(Iridian license)

Securimetrics

(Iridian license)

Irisguard

IrisGuard

(Iridian license)

Iritech

(+ facial recognition)

Senex Technologies

Evermedia

Smart Sensors

Smart Sensors Ltd. (UK) + Univ. of Bath, launched at Biometrics 2004.

Jiris

(2005) Jiris (Korea) EIAP 2000 / EIAP 3000

(2006 Mar) JIRIS JPC1000 (proto). Product showed May 2006.

xVista

(2006 May) xVista. (UK) + University of Sussex: should use a camera phone to capture and process the iris.

Sarnoff

(2005) Sarnoff "Iris on the move". : IOM can identify up to 20 subjects per minute, and subjects can walk through a recognition portal at normal walking pace..

Qritek

(2006) Qritek iris biometric access control module.

(2006) Iribio: mouse with an iris camera (IRIS 2030N).

Beijing Eyesight

Beijing eyesight Information Technology (www.hongmoshibie.cn).

Rehoboth Tech

(2007 Jun) Rehoboth Tech unveils the Irikon Flash Memory.

Aoptix

(2007 Sep) Aoptix unveils an adaptative optics system to acquire an iris at a distance of 2 meters.

Eyelock (Hoyos)

Hoyos Eyelock Hbox, HCam, Eyeswipe, Eyeswipe Mini, Eyeswipe Nano, Eyelock

(2011) Eyelock USB Iris scanner

(2014) Eyelock Myris scanner

BI2 Technologies

(2010) BI2 Technologies MORIS is an iPhone add-on to acquire irises and fingerprints.

Delta ID

(2015) Delta ID: iris recognition system for mobile consumers. (Hello Salil!).

(2017 Jan) Delta ID introduces iris scanning technology for in-car biometrics at CES 2017 with Gentex

(2017 Jan) Delta ID is sold to Fingerprint Cards (~$100M)

Princeton Identity

(2016 Sep) Princeton Identity: iris recognition system for mobile consumers. A spin-off from SRI (SRI Identity).

Gentex

(2020 Jan) Gentex. Since 2017, Gentex shows at the CES iris recognition for cars in the rearview interior mirror.

Distribution:

Byometric Systems (Germany) Iridian license, LG, Panasonic, OKI... systems

武汉虹识技术有限公司 Wuhan Hongzhi Technology

(2017 Sep) On September 17, Wuhan Hongzhi Technology Co., Ltd. (Hongzhi Technology) announced that after seven years of technical research and investment of tens of millions of yuan, it has successfully designed and streamed the iris biometric dry core ASIC chip "QX8001".
Likely the first ASIC for iris recognition.