The iris recognition technology developed by Mobbeel lets you identify the users of any system with a mobile device using only its camera. There is no need for other hardware or additional sensors, just the built-in camera.
Iris recognition is one of the most reliable biometric methods. Its virtually impossible to find two exactly equal iris, so this offers a really high level of security
As said before, iris recognition is the process of recognising a person by analysing the random pattern of the iris. Typically, this kind of recognition requires the use of infrared light to illuminate the iris and facilitate the acquisition of the iris pattern without any noise.
In general, this is how the recognition works. The first step is to capture the picture, then the eye is isolated and the inner and outer edges of the iris are located using complex image processing algorithms. In addition, noise removal processes are triggered for eyelids, eyelashes and reflection so the system will ignore them. Once the iris is located and isolated it is encoded using mathematical algorithms resulting in a code that contains the unique characteristics of the iris. Although two pictures at different times will not be exactly equal, the process is able to validate whether the iris belongs to the person.
As shown in the diagram, iris recognition is classified among biometric technologies that make use of the physiological characteristics of an individual.
Mobbeel has focused its efforts in the development of this technology, thinking specifically of current mobile devices and the opportunities their features bring.
With our technology, iris pattern acquisition does not need a special sensor or infrared light in the mobile device, it just uses the built-in camera. Most current smart-phones have cameras with enough resolution and sufficient technical specifications to allow for this.
The technology has been specially designed to be able to perform the whole recognition process, from the initial capture of the eye, passing through the acquisition of the biometric iris pattern and later identification of the individual. The technology is capable of processing all the information, taking into account that the samples might be very different. The samples may have been taken in a non-controlled environment by the mobile device's built in camera, where the environmental conditions (no special light, different places and distances to the eye, etc) may have had a major impact on the outcome.
The technology also works with a client/server architecture, where the client (mobile device) is used just as a capture device and the server received, through a secure channel, the sample is taken by the client and performs the recognition process.
One of the most important things about this kind of technology, from the user's point of view, is privacy. In this system, biometric templates are built up and stored with user's biometric information, so they can be compared in the recognition process. It is essential that those templates are kept 100% safe, either in the mobile or in the server.
Nevertheless, there is always a risk for those user's credentials to be compromised (the mobile phone is lost or stolen, a security failure in the server side..). Mobbeel never stores the biometric templates obtained from users. This is possible thanks to our biometric encryption techniques.
Biometric encryption can be defined, basically, as a process that uses a PIN, a password or a cryptographic key along with biometric data in a way that neither of them (biometric data or password/key) can be retreived from a sample stored. It means that with some algorithms the original key can be regenerated from a new biometric template without having to store the initial biometric template of the user. The two biometric templates do not have to be exactly the same. Using these techniques biometrics and their intrinsic variability can be effectively combined with cryptography and its absolute need for accuracy.
Mobbeel iris recognition technology can be integrated with others systems or third-party applications using its API (Application Programming Interface)
If you want to know more about our technologies, APIs or user case studies you can contact us here or by email to info (at) mobbeel (dot) com
