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Iris Recognition To Take Off

Posted by timothy on from the not-the-cute-iris-I-know dept.

An anonymous reader writes "Looks like iris recognition is about to explode. Turns out, a major patent held by iris recognition leader Iridian is expiring, and that's leading a stampede of start-ups and VCs into this space."

11 of 229 comments (clear)

  1. You've gotta admit... by PornMaster · · Score: 3, Insightful

    It's not often that you read about a company's patent expiring being likely to benefit it financially. Quite interesting.

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    1. Re:You've gotta admit... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

      It just proves that patents stifle creativity.

    2. Re:You've gotta admit... by Ismilar · · Score: 4, Insightful

      "Companies will not invest in the necessary R&D without some guarantee of exclusivity for some period of time."

      Umm... did you even read article, or even the Slashdot blurb? The entire thing is /about/ companies being set to invest money in iris scanning technology and research due to the patent being removed. These companies would have done so long ago had there been no patent.

      The article even suggests that the reason that iris scanners aren't as common as fingerprint or other scanners could be because of the patents that the single company holds.

    3. Re:You've gotta admit... by (negative+video) · · Score: 4, Insightful
      The entire thing is /about/ companies being set to invest money in iris scanning technology and research due to the patent being removed. These companies would have done so long ago had there been no patent.
      They're wrong. This is about the new opportunities for feeding at the Homeland Security trough, which by pure coincidence happens to be at about the time the patent expires.
    4. Re:You've gotta admit... by iminplaya · · Score: 4, Insightful

      You neglect to recognize the fact that the technology would never have been developed without the patent.

      That's a load of bull. If somebody needs an iris scanner, they will make one...with or without the damn patent. That's something that the IP drones won't ever admit....That something just might arise from necessity...not always exclusivity. It has been proven once again that IP law promotes speculation.

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  2. Iris Recognition by Jeet81 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I believe iris recognition takes some time to verfiy the identity of the person as the person has to stand close to a certain point and then the scanner would scan the eye. So this will take more time than pulling your card out and swipping it and walking through the doors. Therefore this tech will only be used in high security area and most of them I guess are already using it.

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  3. Don't forget... by MarkByers · · Score: 4, Insightful

    1. You can change your password but you can't change your iris.

    2. If you are threatened with violence, you can tell the attacker your password, but would you want to give them your eye?

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    1. Re:Don't forget... by PWatson · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Well, the same concerns could be raised for any sort of biometric security. Hopefully, technologies will become widespread that make stealing somebody's eyes , fingers, DNA, etc useless. For example, some fingerprint readers can tell if the finger is alive or not.

      Of course, in some situations, the very issue you mentioned is a boon to the system. For example, let's say that the CDC's Smallpox virus is protected by either a iris scanner or a password. If a scientist is faced with giving up a password or an eye, he'll probably be more likely to give up the password. Thus, if everything else is equal, the eye-based security is better.

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    2. Re:Don't forget... by timeOday · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Exactly. Why go to all this trouble of reading irises and fingerprints? You could accomplish the same thing by tatooing users' passwords to their foreheads. Biometrics are just like normal passwords, but easier to steal and harder to change.

  4. Re:Patents and innovation by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    If patents lasted as long as copyright, we wouldn't be discussing this.

  5. Re:Patents and innovation by Have+Blue · · Score: 3, Insightful

    You don't know anything about the patent in question. How much did Iridian sink into developing it? How much have they made back from it? How much would they have made back if this flood of copycats came immediately after they announced their discovery?