Use of one-dimensional iris signatures to rank iris pattern similarities

A one-dimensional approach to iris recognition is presented. It is translation-, rotation-, illumination-, and scale-invariant. Traditional iris recognition systems typically use a two-dimensional iris signature that requires circular rotation for pattern matching. The new approach uses the Du measure as a matching mechanism, and generates a set of the most probable matches (ranks) instead of only the best match. Since the method generates one-dimensional signatures that are rotation-invariant, the system could work with eyes that are tilted. Moreover, the system will work with less of the iris than commercial systems, and thus could enable partial-iris recognition. In addition, this system is more tolerant of noise. Finally, this method is simple to implement, and its computational complexity is relatively low. (c) 2006 Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers.