Defense Department research contract to explore smart mobile identity biometrics
14 February, 2013
category: Government
Wanting to explore the possibility of recording and validating facial or iris biometrics with a smart phone from a distance, the U.S. Department of Defense has awarded a $3 million research contract to AOptix.
As reported by Wired, the California-based technology firm will be looking at what’s called “Smart Mobile Identity” biometrics identification. The two-year contract involves delivering a hardware peripheral and software that, when attached to a smart phone, can scan and transmit data about a person’s eyes, face, thumbs and voice. AOptix is partnering with CACI International for data security on this project.
This contract will move the DOD away from using the Handheld Interagency Identity Detection System (HIIDE), which is a single-use device used at close range for collecting biometric data and transmitting it to the department’s wartime biometrics databases.
The new device should be lighter and more manageable than the HIIDE. AOptix hasn’t disclosed the operating system connected with the software, but Wired believes it could be for Android devices.
Smart Mobile Identity enables for distance scans, with a range of two meters for faces, one meter for irises and a normal phone distance for voices. While users will have to capture thumbprints by getting subjects to actually touch the phone, the new system will be able to work well in bright sunlight and automatically perform captures without user input.
Read more here.
