Panasonic develops walkthrough iris scanner to hasten ID checks
By Darren Murph 
posted Aug 13th 2007 11:04PM
posted Aug 13th 2007 11:04PM
Snappy retinal scanners have been in the works for some time, and now Panasonic is apparently hoping to hasten those annoying ID checks by enabling security personnel to confirm the true identity of a person walking through in just "two seconds." Additionally, this scanner does not require subjects to "focus on the equipment," packs "multiple two-megapixel cameras," and in case you couldn't guess, is being marketed towards airports and high-security office buildings. No word just yet on when these may be rolled out for public use, but anything (well, almost) that speeds up our traveling is smiled upon by us.[Via TechDigest]
Reminds me of Minority Report...scary.
My thoughts exactly
this is fundamentally wrong. Biometrics should be used to verify identity, not establish it in the absence of other controls. If it is based on an imaging system it can be bypassed and unless this follows the mantra of all other "high tech" security controls, future revisions of it will be backwards compatible and will unavoidably inherit the flaws of their predecessors.
I agree; the subatomic biometrics of superatomic particles coinciding with detrimental x-ray laser coreographics will undoubtedly lead to a supercilious correlation of compounding interests while the government controls compatibility, backwardforth.
I want to see this in my supermarket when walking out the door to pay for my groceries.
Relax - they already do this in England.
Sarcasm?
I'm an addicted user of these types of systems in the UK, where they're installed in customs as IRIS (Gatwick, Heathrow, Manchester and Birmingham).
It's beyond convenient. You walk in, stare in the mirror (there are several different height cameras, but they record your height during enrollment), and in about 3-5 seconds, out pops your receipt, and the gates open. Even without a line, it's several times faster than a live customs agent, and I've never seen anyone fail on it.
As for 'spoofing', the machines are out in the open, and in an area coated with customs agents and cameras. I'm pretty sure if I pulled out an eyeball on a pen somebody might say something.
Enrollment takes about 10 minutes, and is equivalent to a secondary screening interview that you might get at a border anyway.
Here's a PDF link to the brochure:
http://www.ind.homeoffice.gov.uk/6353/11464/IRIS_Pre-enrol_DL_A-W23-02-1.pdf