I thought it was a scam. An email from the FBI appeared in my inbox. I was about to delete it, but the email address looked legitimate, and the subject line referenced a CE I had written for this magazine some time ago. Had I inadvertently stumbled upon some top secret eye information? Afraid to open the email and possibly unleash a computer virus that would cost me thousands of Bitcoins to remedy, I searched the sender online. She was a Certified Latent Print Examiner with the FBI’s Programs Research and Standards Unit. Did my fingerprints show up somewhere they weren’t supposed to? I opened the email.

The sender identified herself as a management and program analyst with the FBI’s Criminal Justice Information Services Division. She explained that like fingerprints, the iris of the eye is a unique pattern-based biometric, a measurement of behavioral or physical attributes. Her background in examining fingerprints led to her appointment to the Iris Pilot, and she asked for more information about how the iris develops. (I wasn’t in trouble; the FBI wanted my help!) I sent her my sources for the CE and looked into the information she provided about the Iris Pilot.

According to the FBI Biometric Specifications website, iris patterns are unique, even from one eye to the other and in identical twins. They remain relatively stable over a lifetime and barring illness or injury, can’t be altered or mutilated. Smaller iris cameras and mobile devices provide quick, noncontact images accurately matched through the Next Generation Identification system (NGI). Iris images found on digital devices at crime scenes may be able to be matched through the NGI. This feature has an obvious advantage over identification through retinal scans, which use the unique patterns of blood vessels in the retina.

Here’s how iris identification works: A camera takes a digital image of the eye in ordinary and infrared light. Image processing software isolates the iris at its inner and outer boundaries, eliminating interference from eyelids and lashes. The system then defines about 240 unique points—approximately five times more than fingerprints—to locate and compare key features of the iris. The iris pattern is converted into digital form which generates a unique 512-digit code. The NGI stores the code along with other information about the individual. Iris scans are considered to be the most accurate biometric. Matching is faster than DNA identification and 10 to 20 times more accurate than fingerprint identification!

To learn about how digital technology impacts eyewear dispensing, go to our CE “Taking the Measure of Digital Centration Systems.”

• Linda Conlin
[email protected]
2020mag.com/education