InFocus to launch smartphone with IriTech iris scanner

InFocus will soon release a new Aadhaar authentication-enabled smartphone equipped with an IriTech iris scanner, in India, according to a report by Business Standard.

Priced at under Rs 12,000 (US$178), the device will be made available in early 2017.

Following its STQC (Standardization Testing and Quality Certification) from the Indian government, InFocus said it plans to launch more Aadhaar-enabled devices in the future.

STQC certification authenticates the use of iris recognition devices, designed for biometric authentication purposes as part of the Aadhaar project.

“InFocus smartphone features IriTech’s superior iris image quality assessment and on-board K7 generation algorithm to provide good quality images and avoid false positives while maximising true positive identification rates,” InFocus India country head Sachin Thapar said.

In addition to UIDAI, IriTech works with government agencies in the US, Kenya and Colombia.

InFocus’ smartphone with embedded algorithm conducts an image capture and K7 image generation in less than 2 seconds, and can also capture the iris image under various environments, including under direct sunlight.

“Moreover, the biometric data from the InFocus device gets encrypted by a UIDAI key at the chip level in device, making it impossible for anyone but the Aadhaar server to see the information. Such encryption prevents information leakage of all kinds,” Thapar said, adding that there is significant potential in integrating iris recognition into popular devices like smartphone.

Currently, Samsung is the only smartphone manufacturer to have integrated iris recognition technology with the release of its Delta ID’s ActiveIRIS-embedded Galaxy Tab Iris.

“The InFocus Aadhaar-enabled iris smartphone is a great example of the innovation possible on the Aadhaar platform,” said Nandan Nilekani, former chairman of UIDAI. “The phone is timely as it can be used for applications like opening instant bank accounts with eKYC and as a cashless microATM for merchant payments. This will accelerate JAM (Jan Dhan-Aadhaar-Mobile) implementation.”

Article Topics

Aadhaar  |  biometrics  |  India  |  iris recognition  |  IriTech  |  smartphones