NET Income
NET Income is a marketing management consulting firm
established in 1984 to provide marketing services to
both for-profit corporations and non-profit
organizations. We maintain offices in northern Virginia,
but our clients are located throughout the world.
We help businesses open new markets, develop and
implement strategic plans, conduct market research,
evaluate and develop marketing communications, and
other developmental activities.
We offer specialized services in selected markets such
as membership, trade associations, telework
systems, and security. For more information on these areas, select
from the options at either side.
Services
We provide a variety of marketing support services to companies seeking to economize on their marketing budget without compromising on high quality marketing work. We offer the following consulting and support services:
Retina Scanning vs. Iris Imaging -- Get it Right !!
All too often, the general media
refers to any technology using the eye as a biometric information
source as "retina scanning" when they should use the term "iris
imaging." Here's the straight story.
Retina Scanning:
The human retina
is a thin tissue composed
of neural cells that
is located in the posterior portion of the eye.
Because of the complex structure of the capillaries that
supply the retina with blood,
each person's retina is unique. The network of blood
vessels in the retina is
so complex that even identical
twins do not share a
similar pattern.
Although retinal patterns may be altered in
cases of diabetes, glaucoma or
retinal degenerative disorders, the retina typically remains
unchanged from birth until death. Due to its unique and unchanging
nature, the retina appears to be the most precise and reliable
biometric.
A biometric identifier
known as a retinal
scan is used to map
the unique patterns of a person's retina.
The blood vessels within
the retina absorb
light more readily than the surrounding tissue and are easily
identified with appropriate lighting. A retinal scan is performed by
casting an unperceived beam of low-energy infrared
light into a person’s eye
as they look through the scanner's eyepiece. This beam of light
traces a standardized path on the retina. Because retinal blood
vessels are more absorbent of this light than the rest of the eye,
the amount of reflection varies during the scan. The pattern of
variations is converted to computer code and stored in a database.
Objective analysts estimated the crossover error rate (1) for
retina scanning was about 1 in 4000.
The idea for retinal identification
was first conceived by Dr. Carleton
Simon and
Dr. Isadore
Goldstein and
was published in the New York State Journal of Medicine in 1935. The
idea was a little before its time, but once technology caught
up, the concept for a retinal scanning device emerged in 1975. In
1976, Robert "Buzz" Hill formed a corporation named EyeDentify,
Inc., and made a full-time effort to research and develop such a
device. In 1978, specific means for a retinal scanner was patented,
followed by a commercial model in 1981. (2)
Eyedentify stopped
marketing their retina scanner in 2001.
To our knowledge, the company never made a profit for its
shareholders. The reason for this failure was the reluctance
of potential users to move in close enough to the imaging device so
their eye can be scanned, not wanting to place their faces against
the leather pad on the imager or to have their eyes penetrated with
an active beam of energy. The device was only used to any
significant degree in very highly classified technical facilities.
Subsequent to the closing of its doors, Eyedentify sold
patent rights to a small company that announced plans to manufacture
and market their version of the retina scanning technology.
That was the last anyone heard of the product per se.
In the mid-1990s, a company called Retica appeared at the
annual Biometric Consortium Conference (BCC) in Arlington, VA and
demonstrated their prototype for retina scanning claiming to have
solved the problems that had adversely affected Eyedentify a decade
before. At that time, Retica claimed they would have a
production model on sale within 6-12 months. At the next BCC,
Retica was at the show with their prototype, but still didn't have a
production model for sale.
2-3 years later, Retica was back
at BCC, but this time, they were demonstrating a device that
attempted to correlate retina scans with iris images. While
technically feasible, it made little functional sense. (See
Iris Imaging below.) Subsequently, Retica dropped the retina
technology and focused their efforts on an iris-based biometric
identification technical approach.
In a news release
dated August 2007, Retica announced:
“The acute vision of eagles enables the birds to see prey
from high in the sky. For security uses, Retica Systems Inc. is
developing a biometric system called "Eagle-Eyes" to identify people
by their irises from several meters away.” (3)
“As of the three months ended March 31,
2010, Retica Systems, Inc. was acquired by L-1 Identity Solutions
Inc. Retica Systems, Inc. develops iris-based identity management
and face capture systems that enables customers to identify multiple
people simultaneously in the United States and internationally. The
company offers Mobile Eyes, an acquisition device that allows
simultaneous capture of dual iris images; Eagle-Eyes, a dual iris
based multi-modal system that identifies individuals within randomly
moving crowds at variable distances; and Rapid-Match, which enables
users to encode and match iris algorithms.“ (4)
A note at the
Biometric Supplies web site,
http://www.biometricsupply.com/retica-mobile-eyes.html, indicates
the product is no longer for sale.
While there is a prototype
product developed by Optos shown on the Internet (5), we know of no
other company seriously attempting to use retina scanning as their
primary biometric identification technology.
The Optos product demonstration illustrates why the original
product had so many problems in user acceptance.
We are not optimistic for the success of this device.
Iris
Imaging:
Unlike the retina, which is component of and located at the back of
the eye, the iris is the
visible portion of the eye and resides under the transparent cornea.
The information available in the iris is about several orders
of magnitude greater than the retina.
The image is easier to acquire and process.
There are now several companies successfully marketing iris-based
products and several national-level biometric programs use iris
imaging with databases of tens of millions of enrolled subjects.
Journalists who use the term “retina scanning” these days really
mean “iris imaging”--they are not interchangeable terms—and reveal
their ignorance of biometric technologies.
What’s really galling is that if they would just read the
source material (company home pages, news releases) they would see
the word ‘iris’ all over.
They have to work hard at anything dealing with the retina.
Notes:
(1)
The crossover error rate is
the point at which the probability of a false accept is equal to the
probability of a false reject.
It is a term often used to compare dissimilar biometric
technologies.
(2)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Retinal_scan
(3)
This objective was achieved and developed by Aoptix prior to 2007.
(4)
http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/private/snapshot.asp?privcapId=11868457
(5)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UW5OmjEC9lM
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