Vision-Box shows off new biometric periscope, capable of long distance face and iris capture

Vision-Box has just introduced its new biometric periscope, for the long distance simultaneous capture of face and iris in self-service egates.

Unveiled during aviation security conference, AVSEC 2013, the new periscope, upon detecting the user, automatically adjusts height and illumination to allow simultaneous, full-frontal ICAO compliant iris and face capture and matching. Though it is called a periscope, the user doesn’t actually touch the device. It is to be built into the company’s existing line of biometric egates and it can automatically and unobtrusively detect and capture iris and face biometrics from as far away as 1 metre.

“This new technology has become an integral part our automated border clearance gates, boarding gates and enrolment kiosks, expanding their applicability beyond their use for electronic passports, identity cards or boarding passes, towards the integration with Frequent Traveller Programs,” Miguel Leitmann, Senior Vice President of Vision-Box said.

“Many airlines and airport operators have requested from us this additional feature in our products in order to better address the challenges and requirements of the passenger experience. Vision-Box today is the only company which provides a complete product portfolio to manage the identity management lifecycle at an airport, enabling a true end-to-end chain of trust and a positive traveller experience. This new addition reinforces our leadership and ability to deliver best-of-breed solutions to our customers.”

According to the company, this new ‘periscope’ delivers multimodal and simultaneous enrollment and matching of face and iris, as well as automatic lighting adjustment in the visible and infrared spectrum.

Though in this instance, 1 metre is a significant distance for this kind of ICAO-compliant biometric capture in the airport screening process, long-distance capture is something we’re seeing more of lately, with particular interest from the military.

Reported previously in BiometricUpdate.com, the United States Navy is looking to procure a set of binoculars capable of reading faces from up to 650 feet away. StereoVision Imaging, which has been awarded the contract, has already developed a facial recognition binocular system, called 3DMobileID, which uses a three-dimensional recognition system. This tool is capable of scanning faces a maximum distance of 100 feet away.

Also in BiometricUpdate.com, IDair, which manufactures a fingerprint scanner that can effectively scan fingerprints from as far as six meters away – called the AIRprint — recently saw a significant increase in demand following being listed in 2012′s “best of what’s new” list in Popular Science.

Vision-Box also produces biometric self-service gates for airports, of which notably, the company deployed gates at Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam have now processed over one million passengers.

Article Topics

access control  |  airports  |  biometrics  |  border control  |  ePassports  |  facial recognition  |  iris recognition