IRIS06 Study enters Data Collection phase

Authenti-Corp is pleased to announce that collection of iris recognition data for the NIJ-TSA Iris Recognition Study 2006 (IRIS06) commenced on 1 May 2006.

The IRIS06 test protocol, informed consent form, privacy protection mechanisms, and recruitment materials were reviewed and approved by the Western Institutional Review Board (WIRB^®), a group of people who perform independent review of research.

Test subjects were recruited to comply with a broad demographic profile based on the 2000 United States Census. They will participate in two visits to Authenti-Corp's Biometrics Test Center separated by about 6 weeks. The test subjects are paid in cash for each visit.

During this first visit, 300 test subjects are being enrolled into several commercial iris recognition products. The products are presented to each test subject in random order. Each test subject is then verified multiple times with each product, again in random order. The test subjects disengage from the product between verification attempts.

During the second visit, which will commence in mid-June, the test subjects will perform multiple identification and verification attempts with each product, again in random order, in both ideal (on-axis) and non-ideal (off-axis) positions relative to the iris recognition camera.

All products are being evaluated within the BioAPI 1.1 (ANSI 358-2002) environment. Online results will indicate the native performance of each product. Enrollment and recognition images from each product are also stored for subsequent offline analysis, where the interoperability of images captured with different products will be evaluated per the international iris image data interchange format standard (ISO/IEC 19794-6).

Additional laboratory experiments are underway to investigate the influence of test subject presentation parameters, such as pose, position, and eye-gaze angles, on the ability of iris recognition technology to acquire and recognize non-ideal iris images.

The IRIS06 final report will be publicly disseminated free of charge. Products will be identified as Product A, Product B, etc. Product providers may or may not choose to publicly identify their product.

The results of the IRIS06 study are expected to help public officials determine whether commercial iris recognition products can be used to improve public safety, security, and quality of life.

Authenti-Corp gratefully acknowledges BioAPI support from the BioFoundry Division of OSS Nokalva for this study.

IRIS06 is funded by a grant co-sponsored by the US National Institute of Justice and the US Transportation Security Agency (Award Number 2005-IJ-CX-K066).