Iris Recognition: Introduction & Basic Methodology

Iris Recognition
Introduction & Basic Methodology

Iris recognition may not be on of the wide spread technologies used for
authentication but it has one of the lowest error rates when compared to other
biometric technologies. Irises patterns are individual and do not change with
age. It is also a fact that the iris patterns of the left and right eyes within the
same individual are different from each other. The texture of the iris is made
up of a complex fibrous and elastic tissue sometimes referred to as the
trabecular meshwork. This fine detail of this mesh like structure is established
prior to birth and remains intact throughout the life of the individual.
Iris pattern is of a somewhat regular polar geometry making it easy to develop
a co-ordinate system for feature recognition. A point to be taken into
consideration is the fact that the surface of the iris is mobile since the pupil
expands and contracts. The visible portion of the iris differs based on ethnic
origin and genetic inheritance; in individuals with dark eyes the important
question is how easily the boundaries between pupil and iris may be identified.
The first step would be to capture the image of the iris using a CCD (Charge
Coupled Device) camera. After the image has been captured we use a circular
edge detector to identify and locate the boundary between the white portion
of the eye (Sclera) and the iris and proceed further to distinguish the boundary
between the iris and the pupil [Figure 1].
Sclera
Pupil
Iris
Figure 1 Figure 2
After this we define circular contours of increasing radius so that we have
zones of analysis [Figur2], which remain the same irrespective of pupil resizing
activity. Parts of the iris that are hidden by the eyelids/eyelashes, or corrupted
by reflections from glasses are detected and masked out so the encoding of
the iris is not influenced. One must notice that the pupil is not always central
to the iris. Because the constant movement of the iris multiple images are
Cryptography and Computer Security (CS 265) Page 1 of 7
Author: Mabbu, Sathya Swathi (SJSU# 004243721) & Long Vuong (SJSU#003739074)
Iris Recognition
captured rapidly till a bona fide image is confirmed. The user can observe this
process via a reflected image of the eye present in the CCD camera, which
serves as an aid for the user to focus and stabilize the image.
Now we analyze the zones of analysis [Figure 2] and distinguish feature within
these zones, for this purpose we use 2D Gabor filters which basically provide
information about orientation and spatial frequency of minutiae within the
image sectors. Integro-differential operators of the form given below do these
detection operations,
Max(r, x0, y0) G (r) * r, x0,y0 I(x,y)
ds
r 2r
where contour integration is parameterized for size and location coordinates r,
x0, y0 at a scale of analysis set by G (r) is performed over image data I(x,y).
Then a coordinate system is defined which maps the tissue, this coordinate
system is pseudo polar and compensates automatically for the stretching of
the iris tissue as the pupil dilates. The detailed pattern is encoded into a 256-
byte code by demodulating it with 2D Gabor wavelets, which represent the
texture by phasors in the complex plane. For each element of the iris pattern
the phasor angle is mapped to its respective quadrant where it lies.
Dr. John Daugman developed the iris-scanning algorithm, which is widely used
nowadays. The amazing fact is that the entire process of image capturing,
zoning, analysis and iris code creation is typically completed in less than a
second. The current implementations of the iris scanning approach include
some amount of user interaction in order to properly capture the image, but it
is basically a non-contact approach. It is found that the iris scanning approach
works well with spectacle and contact lens users.
A decision made by a biometric system is generally a genuine or imposter
decision, which can be represented using two statistical distributions, genuine
distribution and imposter distribution. For each type of decision there will be
two possible outcomes i.e., true / false. In that case there are four results,
listed below
1. a genuine person is accepted
2. a genuine person is rejected
Iris Recognition
3. an imposter is rejected
4. an imposter is accepted
Results 1 and 3 are correct whereas 2 and 4 are incorrect. Now we can define
the performance criteria for this system. So we define the False (imposter)
Acceptance Rate (FAR) and False (genuine) Rejection Rate (FRR). In order to
provide a more reliable assessment of the system we can define some more
criteria, the first is the Reliable Operating Curve (ROC) and d. An ROC gives
performance results (FAR and FRR) for the system at various operating points;
d gives the distance between the genuine distribution and imposter
distribution. In other words d measures how well separated the two
distributions are, since recognition errors are caused by their overlap.
If their means are 1 and 2 and their standard deviations are 1 and 2, then
d is defined as
d= 1 - 2
SQRT [(12 + 22)/2]
222,743 comparisons of different iris patterns yielded a mean value 1
=0.089 and
1 =0.042
340 comparisons of sane iris pairs yielded a mean value of 2 =0.456 and 2
=0.018
The value of d is found to be 11.36 for iris recognition, which is much higher
than that reported for any other biometric system.
Till now we have covered the theoretical aspects of the technology behind iris
recognition, now we move on to see a practical implementation. We have
taken the implementation model example of National Instruments (NIDAYS),
Italy.
EXAMPLE OF IMPLEMENTATION
The hardware consists of a standard PC with the Microsoft Windows as OS, the
NI 1411 acquisition board, and an analogic color single chip CCD camera. The
system architecture is structured as shown in Fig.1.

Iris Recognition
The software is powered by Labview (LABVIEW Prof Dev Sys 6.1) and Labview
RT (LABVIEW Real Time Module 6.1). The image analysis is realized with
IMAQ (IMAQ Vision 6.01) and the data analysis use the SIGNAL PROCESSING
TOOLSET by NI. A private library was developed for the recognition based on
wavelet analysis, neural network and genetic algorithms.
How does this system work?
The image acquisition unit is responsible for the image acquisition and
pre-reduction such as geometrical calibration and photometric
alignment.
The console is used to control the system. It also allows the registration
of new people and users.
The raw images are temporarily stored

in the DataBase Unit (Figs. 3 & 4). It is
linked to the system by SQL
TOOLKIT version 2 by NI.

Iris Recognition
Then, each image is given to the Process and Analysis Unit (P&A Unit)
for the recognition. This is the most important unit that I want to talk
about, the algorithm of iris analysis. It consists of four processes
provided by four subunits:
1. The first subunit splits the colored image in the RGB frames and
tests the morphology of the eyes in the real space.
2. The second subunit transforms the image into a 3D image, where

the third dimension corresponds to a different weight of the eye
with respect to a fixed coordinate frame and with respect to some
characteristic parameters in iridology. (Fig. 5)
3. The third subunit transforms the image in the frequency domain,

where a wavelet analysis is carried out.
4. The last subunit transforms the image into a multidimensional

object, where the dimensions of the space are linked with some
principal parameters of the iris and pupil; then the algorithm
executes the last analysis to recognize a person by using a genetic
pipeline. The result is showed in Fig. 6. This step is the core of
the recognition.

Iris Recognition
After the analysis the data is transported back to the Database, which is
linked with a Dispatcher Information system. This unit automatically
builds a status report about authorizing the right people, people flow,
doors and access to the buildings, so on and so forth. In particular,
statistics, plots of data and events are produced and stored by the
module. In the occurrence of a special event, like an alert, this unit can
automatically reach supervisors and police with email and SMS (Short
Message System) service.
According to a comparison of biometric technologies iris recognition ranks

high in Universality, Uniqueness, Permanence, Performance and
Circumvention but ranks medium in Collectability, low in Acceptability.
REFERENCES:

Iris Recognition
1. Biometrics: Personal Identification in Networked Society; Anil
Jain, Ruud Bolle, Sharath Pankati.
2. Biometrics: Advanced Identity Verification; Julian Ashbourn
3. http://www.ni.com/nidays/


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Iris Recognition

Introduction & Basic Methodology

Cryptography and Computer Security (CS 265) Page 3 of 7

How does this system work?

The raw images are temporarily stored

Cryptography and Computer Security (CS 265) Page 4 of 7

2. The second subunit transforms the image into a 3D image, where

characteristic parameters in iridology. (Fig. 5)

3. The third subunit transforms the image in the frequency domain,

4. The last subunit transforms the image into a multidimensional

Cryptography and Computer Security (CS 265) Page 5 of 7

According to a comparison of biometric technologies iris recognition ranks

Cryptography and Computer Security (CS 265) Page 6 of 7

Cryptography and Computer Security (CS 265) Page 7 of 7

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