How does a Retinal Scan Work?
A person steps in front of a device and focuses on a beam coming from a small opening, while keeping his or her head perfectly still. This process can take anywhere from 10 to 15 seconds. There are disadvantages of retinal scanning. The retina can become diseased (cataracts), which can change its make-up. And because the user needs to be fairly close to the machine and stare at a bright light, many people feel that it is highly intrusive. As for the equipment itself, it is fairly easy to use. Iris Scanning It is the degree of complexity of the iris patterning and the number of minutia points which can be subsequently measured, which gives iris recognition the power and certainty of identification that no other biometric, or indeed any other means of human identification, can match on the face of the Earth today, said Trevor Powell, regional manager at Argus Solutions Limited. Iris scanning offers the highest level of security in the field (aside from DNA), which is why it is often rese
Used almost exclusively in high-end security applications, the retinal scan uses a low-intensity light source and a delicate sensor to scan the pattern of blood vessels at the back of the retina, a pattern unique to each individual. Though it was known as early as the 1930s that each human eyeball had unique characteristics, it was not until 1984 that the first retinal scanner was made available for commercial use. It was produced by EyeDentify, a company formed in 1976, still the primary manufacturer of these devices. During a retinal scan, the user must remove glasses, stare at a specific point, and hold their head still for the 10-15 seconds it takes to complete the scan. A retinal scan is very difficult to fake because no technology exists that allows the forgery of a human retina, and the retina of a deceased person decays too fast to be used to fraudulently bypass a retinal scan. Retinal scanning is part of biometrics, the field of science and engineering which develops ways to u
