ATM pins may soon be replaced by a unique system in which people use only their eyes to withdraw money.
A researcher at the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) is currently working on this ground-breaking biometrics project.
It is easy enough to switch an ID photo, but fooling technological algorithms is much more difficult.
"What you are born with can never be tampered with, unless you are injured," said CSIR scientist Gugulethu Mabuza-Hocquet, a researcher at the digital and modelling department.
"Even the way you walk is a feature of your own identity."
Fingerprints can become worn, especially for those engaging in physical labour, and perspiration can affect fingerprint accuracy.
Mabuza-Hocquet said the intention is not to move away from fingerprints but rather to cater for those who have worn hands but good eyes.
"Let us secure our systems by having the fusion of two biometric modalities," she said.
An iris recognition camera automatically picks up the unique features of the eyes using a sensor, and snaps a picture.
The image is then segmented, and the rest of the eye is removed from the image.
Mabuza-Hocquet is streamlining this process because traditional algorithms presume the iris and pupil are perfectly round, which they are not.
The images are run through a mathematical programme that identifies a unique "template".
By identifying bifocal points in the iris, similar to fingerprints, the template is logged and information such as age, gender, ethnicity, occupation or an ATM pin code can be matched to it.
"Police could just say 'smile' and check whether a person has a valid driver's licence," said Mabuza-Hocquet.
"What we want now is to not only to identify, but to put these templates into categories. We want to see whether we can tell, using the iris, whether you are white, black, male or female and what age you are."
She said South Africa was an ideal place to research the subject.
"We, South Africa, are the most diversified country to perform this because it is rare to find so many racial groups, so we are the best guinea pigs and if we succeed the world will actually take a second look at us."
For more stories like this one, be sure to buy the Sowetan newspaper from Mondays to Fridays
Eye scanners could replace ATM pins
ATM pins may soon be replaced by a unique system in which people use only their eyes to withdraw money.
A researcher at the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) is currently working on this ground-breaking biometrics project.
It is easy enough to switch an ID photo, but fooling technological algorithms is much more difficult.
"What you are born with can never be tampered with, unless you are injured," said CSIR scientist Gugulethu Mabuza-Hocquet, a researcher at the digital and modelling department.
"Even the way you walk is a feature of your own identity."
Fingerprints can become worn, especially for those engaging in physical labour, and perspiration can affect fingerprint accuracy.
Mabuza-Hocquet said the intention is not to move away from fingerprints but rather to cater for those who have worn hands but good eyes.
"Let us secure our systems by having the fusion of two biometric modalities," she said.
An iris recognition camera automatically picks up the unique features of the eyes using a sensor, and snaps a picture.
The image is then segmented, and the rest of the eye is removed from the image.
Mabuza-Hocquet is streamlining this process because traditional algorithms presume the iris and pupil are perfectly round, which they are not.
The images are run through a mathematical programme that identifies a unique "template".
By identifying bifocal points in the iris, similar to fingerprints, the template is logged and information such as age, gender, ethnicity, occupation or an ATM pin code can be matched to it.
"Police could just say 'smile' and check whether a person has a valid driver's licence," said Mabuza-Hocquet.
"What we want now is to not only to identify, but to put these templates into categories. We want to see whether we can tell, using the iris, whether you are white, black, male or female and what age you are."
She said South Africa was an ideal place to research the subject.
"We, South Africa, are the most diversified country to perform this because it is rare to find so many racial groups, so we are the best guinea pigs and if we succeed the world will actually take a second look at us."
For more stories like this one, be sure to buy the Sowetan newspaper from Mondays to Fridays
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