History, current status, and future of infrared identification

Infrared identification (IRID) is a biometric which offers the security of fingerprints with the convenience of facial recognition. Twenty years after being first proposed IRID systems are becoming marketable. During the intervening time, IR camera technology has improved significantly and price reductions have been dramatic. Further improvements in IR camera sensitivity, array size, and variable optics, as well as further price reductions, are coming, just as interest is growing in biometrics. Several approaches have been developed, tested, and evaluated to extract and analyze features from infrared images of the face and body. IRID has been seen to have significant advantages over other biometrics in certain applications-not only in the traditional biometric security markers, but also in communications and health care.