Microsoft’s Army Goggles No Longer Make Soldiers Sick – Identity News Digest

Welcome to FindBiometrics’ digest of identity industry news. Here’s what you need to know about the world of digital identity and biometrics today:

US Army Orders Next-Gen Microsoft Headsets

The US Army has placed a new order for next-generation HoloLens augmented reality headsets after successful tests of the customized IVAS 1.2 goggles based on the headsets this summer. An earlier version of the “Integrated Visual Augmentation System” goggles was equipped with facial recognition, but proved so uncomfortable in testing last year that it made some soldiers nauseous. An Army spokesperson now reports that the improved goggles got positive feedback from soldiers, and “demonstrated improvements in reliability, low light sensor performance, and form factor”. Further testing will be conducted in April and June of 2025.

Kenyan Authorities Seize Worldcoin Orbs

Kenya’s National Security Agencies have confiscated Worldcoin’s iris-scanning Orbs, according to a report from domestic outlet The Star. The country’s Ministry of Interior had announced an investigation into the startup near the start of August, over concerns about its collection of users’ biometric data when enrolling them in its blockchain-based digital ID platform. Worldcoin’s Orbs are its most attention-grabbing asset, with the spherical devices being used to scan users’ eyes. Authorities have also reportedly seized other electronic devices and “merchandise” used by Worldcoin’s parent company, “Tools for Humanity”.

Synthetic Identity Detection Startup Raises $9M

New York-based startup Deduce has raised $9 million in a funding round led by Freestyle Capital and featuring Foundry and True Ventures. The company has been developing a system, called “GenAI Identity”, that can detect AI-generated identity fraud. In a statement, the company explained that its solution uses “multi-contextual activity-backed intelligence” to analyze data for patterns indicating the use of synthetic identities for account opening, and to detect “sleeper” identities that have already been onboarded. The company is offering GenAI Identity through its partners Auth0, Experian, ForgeRock, and Ping Identity.

Lending Platform Leverages IDVerse Tech

Nimo has implemented IDVerse’s digital identity verification solutions to enhance a SaaS platform it offers to banks, mortgage brokers, and other lenders to automate the lending process. IDVerse rebranded from its previous name, OCR Labs, earlier this year in order to better reflect the breadth of its offerings, which include biometric liveness detection and identity document verification. “ID verification with IDVerse enables a lender to progress to other compliance checks such as credit bureau, land title and bank account verification with speed, certainty and confidence,” said Nimo Industries CEO Leann Jones.

Facial Recognition Comes to the Farm

Farm Health Guardian Ltd. has teamed up with NoveTechnologies LLC to develop a biometric access control system tailored to the livestock agriculture industry. Farm Health Guardian showcased the “Protocol” solution, which is based on facial recognition, at Canada’s Outdoor Farm Show this week. Protocol not only detects whether individuals are authorized to enter certain areas, but also tracks their activities in an agricultural system to prevent biosecurity issues. “We’re monitoring what farms have you been to recently within that system, or within that network of farms,” explained CEO Rob Hannam. “If you went to a barn two days ago that broke out with a disease, and then you come to this farm, it’s not going to unlock the door.”

Indian Medical Science Institute Plans Aadhaar-Linked Attendance System

The All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in Delhi plans to implement a biometric time and attendance tracking system based on facial recognition. AIIMS Delhi has asked its IT services department to issue work orders to the National Informatics Center or another relevant service provider, and is aiming to have the system in operation by October 31, 2023. The system will be linked to Aadhaar, the country’s massive biometric digital identity program, and has accordingly been dubbed the “Facial Recognition-Based Aadhaar Enabled Biometric Attendance System”, or “FR-AEBAS”.

Digital Frames System Gets Facial Recognition Upgrade

Aura, the maker of digital picture frames, has enhanced its connected app with a facial recognition feature. When a customer is using the app to select a picture for a particular frame, the “Highlights” feature will automatically find photos of certain individuals based on who normally gets displayed in the frame. For example, if a certain frame usually shows pictures of a couple, the app will automatically look up photos of that couple. It’s an effort to leverage facial recognition to enhance the user experience (unless of course the user has just gone through a breakup).

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September 14, 2023 – by Alex Perala