Ocular Biometrics: Simultaneous Capture and Analysis of the Retina and Iris

Ocular biometric identification technologies include retina and iris pattern recognition. Public perception has long equated retinal identification with ocular biometrics despite very few practical solutions being demonstrated. More recently the iris has received considerable attention. Iris biometric systems are commercially available and research is expanding. Interest in multimodal biometric systems is increasing as a means to improve on the performance of unimodal systems. The retina and iris are potentially two well-balanced biometrics comprising uncorrelated complementary information. Moreover, the fixed anatomical proximity of the retina and iris suggest that the two biometrics may be simultaneously captured by a single device. This chapter outlines novel retina and iris technologies and describes their integration into a single biometric solution. A brief anatomical context is provided and technical challenges associated with retina and iris capture are detailed. Retina and iris recognition solutions are discussed and preliminary results are provided. A device for the simultaneous capture of retina and iris biometrics is described.