Biometric Scanning

Making Your Office More Secure With Retina Scanning Technology

Retina scanning is a form of security where people are identified by a scan that analyses the blood vessels at the back of the eye. Retina scan security usually involves a low-intensity light source and optical coupler, which can read the blood vessels with accuracy.

Retina scanning is one of the most accurate biometric security measures available, because the retina patterns are difficult to fake and even the retinas of a dead person will change soon after they have died. Retina scans prove identity in a way which few other security measures can.

How Does Retina Scanning work?

Retina scan technology involves the use of a small green light to record the retina patterns of a person and ensure they match up with the retina patterns of those people who are allowed access. This green light contains a low-intensity light source. The user needs to keep their head still and keep their eyes focused on the green light for about ten seconds. If they wear glasses, they must remove these before focusing on the light. During this time, the retina scanner will read the patterns of the retina2.

How Does Retina Scanning Differ From Iris Scanning?

A retina scanner is similar to an iris scanner, in that they both use the eyes as a form of identification for security purposes. However, retina scanning looks at the patterns of the retina for identity purposes and iris scanning looks at the iris for identification (that is the visible colored part of the eye). There is also a difference in the way the iris or retina is read. In retina scanning, a green light reads the blood vessels at the back of the eye. In iris scanning, a video image is taken of the eye to produce a record. A camera affirms the identity of the person.

Benefits of Retina Scanning in Office Security

Retina scanners for security have many benefits that have been widely used by top-end security places. As yet, they have not been widely used in offices or places that do not require a high level of security. However, there are some benefits to using retina scan security in an office environment. Here are some of them:

Retina scans are very difficult to fake.

Retina scans provide a unique way of identifying people.

Retina scans eliminate the need for identification cards or other portable identification methods that may be stolen, lost or given to other people.

Retina scans provide a high level of security.

A dead person cannot be used to obtain access to a place through their retina (unlike fingerprint scanning).

Retinal scans use infrared light to survey the unique pattern of blood vessels of the retina, which is the nerve tissue that lines the back of the eye.

The first company to exploit the idea, developed in the 1950s, was Eydentify, founded by Robert Hill in 1976. Hill was an electrical engineer who happened on the idea of using retinal scans as a form of identification when he was helping his father, an ophthalmologist, detect eye disease through photographs.

There is little chance that retinal patterns can be replicated or forged. Retinal scans are therefore considered to be among the least violable of biometric security measures. (Fingerprints, by comparison, are relatively easy to forge.)

Nevertheless, retinal scanners are not at present good candidates for widespread use. First they are expensive. Second, in order to work, users must permit light beams to be shone directly into their eyes for 10 to 15 seconds. The sensation is unpleasant and intrusive enough to make widespread acceptance among the general public unlikely. Additionally, diseases such as cataracts can cause the retina to change over time.

 Article Source: http://www.informationbible.com/article-biometric-scanning-167348.html

 Article Tags: retina scanning, eye scanning in office, biometric scanning

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