A Sydney-based entrepreneur is developing a cornea-based biometric authentication system, according to an article by Beverley Head in The Sydney Morning Herald. Stephen Mason, an optometrist by trade, took a $450,000 loan from Perth-based mining company Nemex Resources, to develop prototypes under his own startup, Wavefront Biometric Technologies.
Mason believes the technology he is developing could offer a uniquely secure means of biometric authentication, since each person’s cornea is unique, but also changes very slightly from day to day. That means that technology that can map the 9000 data points of a standard cornea should be able to differentiate between different subjects, while the slight difference from day to day between the same subject should prove unique enough to thwart any fraudsters who would try to obtain a digital copy of a user’s cornea. The technology just needs to be able to tell which differences are big enough to indicate different users, and which are small enough that the overall map is a match with a given user.
According to the article, a recent increase in Nemex’s share price is likely the result of investors’ interest in biometric technology. And that, of course, is good news for Wavefront Biometric Technologies too. But there’s also a lot of excitement about other eye-scanning technologies already on the market, such as EyeVerify’s, which looks at ocular vein patterns. In an increasingly competitive market with high barriers to newcomers, Wavefront Biometric Technologies will have its work cut out for it, but its unique solution could prove eye-catching.
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March 6, 2015 – by Alex Perala
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