The only time we got to see Iris recognition technology in action was in the Mission Impossible and James Bond movies. But you will experience it sooner or later, as you enrol for a government scheme or check in at your office. A company in India has pioneered cutting edge Iris recognition technology and built a range of Iris scanners. In fact, Biomatiques Identification Solutions Pvt. Ltd. is the only Indian company manufacturing these products. With falling prices, Iris recognition scanners will start replacing fingerprint readers, which are not as accurate. In fact, it is not practical to use finger print readers in labour intensive industries – where the workers have worn off their fingerprints.
Iris recognition technology is more accurate than fingerprint readers. The False Rejection Ratio (FRR) for fingerprint technology is 1:10,000. For facial recognition it is 1:1,000. But for iris recognition it is 1:15,00,000.
“While iris recognition is the most accurate biometric technology, the high cost was a barrier to adoption. But with home-grown innovation, Biomatiques has managed to bring down the cost to affordable levels. Our rates are comparable with fingerprint scanners,” said Tamaal Roy CEO, Biomatiques Identification Solutions Pvt Ltd.
Biomatiques has acquired patents for its innovation.
eParakh Iris Recognition scanner
There are very few Iris recognition players in the market. The solution has to pass stringent eye safety tests and be compliant to ISO/IEC 19794-6 standards, for both enrolment and verification. Since the eye is exposed to the infra-red beam the solution must conform to international eye safety levels. These solutions must also be STQC certified by DeitY for the government of India.
“It takes almost one and a half years to pass all the tests. That is why Biomatiques is the first and only player in the Indian market to offer Iris recognition technology solutions; it enjoys a market share of 90 – 95 percent,” informed Roy.
Biomatiques built a prototype in 2012, which went for testing. It acquired the STQC certification for the product in December 2015.
“Out of the 13 companies in the world that manufacture Iris recognition solutions, only two have got certification and comply with international standards. We are the second Indian company to pass the testing, and hence the only Indian manufacturer for Iris recognition products,” said Roy.
APPLICATIONS
Iris recognition as an authentication method has a wide range of applications in government. For instance, the Public Distribution System (PDS), Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT), pension and NREGA schemes could use it for verifying individuals. It could be used in tandem with AADHAR.
And Biomatiques is collaborating with the government to implement its scanners for some of these schemes. It is working with the government of Andhra Pradesh to incorporate this technology for e-PDS. The state also uses biometrics for the pension scheme, eliminating the need for beneficiaries to provide an affidavit to prove that they are alive, every six months.
Likewise, biometrics can also be used in the education and healthcare sectors. Time attendance is an application in government offices.
“We see biometrics used in government in the first phase. And in the second phase, it will be used in insurance and banking,” said Roy.
But Biomatiques has also created prototypes for large brands. For instance, it has signed up with a leading international automobile manufacturer to incorporate Iris technology in the ignition system. Trials are in progress.
PRODUCTS
The range of products, include stand alone and cluster; they provide security solutions for individuals, townships, government departments and from small-medium enterprises to large corporations. The areas of application for the products are: tracking employees’ schedule adherence, basic access control mechanisms in apartments to large corporates, immigration, law enforcement etc.
Biomatiques Identification Solutions Pvt. Ltd. has developed several biometric Iris recognition solutions using its patented hardware and copyrighted Iris Feature Extraction and matching algorithm. It provides comprehensive and customized solutions for its clients who come from diverse fields of business with varying levels of application. They continue to increase their market share by offering an increasingly innovative and latest Iris based products that have along a wide variety of application such as monitoring Time & Attendance, Access Control, Social Security & Healthcare, Law Enforcement and many more.
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