Look into my eyes
Patents make perfect. Iridian Technologies owns a global patent on the concept that everyone's iris bears a unique pattern. The firm licenses its technology to system integrators that incorporate it in larger systems.
Iris recognition lacks the Orwellian overtones of face scanning but shares the same non-threatening hands-off approach. Just look into the camera, but first remove your sunglasses. Clear glass, even a clean car window, presents no problems for a camera up to 30 inches away.
"We've had no misreads [false acceptance or rejection] in eight and a half years," notes Lou Sassano, Iridian's VP of sales.
Iridian could be a ground-floor opportunity for integrators. "We're exclusively going via the channel now, no more direct sales," he says.
At Comdex 2000, Iridian introduced its Authenticam mass-market product, a US$200 5-inch- tall solution for enterprises and consumers. The company just received first-round funding and plans a $6.5 million advertising campaign.
Sassano says the company is looking both for system integrators to embed Iridian technology in total solutions, and for low-margin resellersâ€"ASPs and Web hosts among themâ€"that can employ Authenticam to migrate into profitable service niches.
Iridian can scale to millions of users per database, concludes Sassano, and the "price is right" for consumers and small to midsize businesses.
