LV companies cash in on iris-identification systems

Thursday, Nov. 19, 1998 | 10:47 a.m.

A small Las Vegas company trying to slow the spread of AIDS is using popular new iris-recognition technology exhibited at Comdex.

Anonymous Data Corp., headed by Dr. James Beecham, a practicing pathologist, is preparing to field-test a mobile iris scanning system being shown at Comdex Fall, the giant computer trade show that is expected to draw 226,000 people to Las Vegas before it closes Friday.

The company licensing the innovative iris-recognition technology, IriScan Inc., Marlton, N.J., also has an agreement with another Las Vegas company, VSOP, to use the technology for casino security and check-cashing identification.

The heart of both the Anonymous Data and VSOP systems is the IriScan product, which is a video camera that produces a close-up image of a person's iris. The image is analyzed by iris recognition software and can be stored in a DOS- or Windows-based system in 512 bytes.

In a data base of 100,000 iris codes, it takes a computer about two seconds to confirm an individual's recognition.

Clyde Musgrave, vice president of business development for IriScan, said the quick and painless scanning of an eye is one of the least intrusive of any biometric identification systems and is more reliable than any other system except DNA sampling.

The probability of two irises producing the same code: 1 in 10 to the 72nd power. That's a 10 with 72 zeroes behind it.

IriScan Marketing Director Kelly Gates said her company linked up with VSOP and Anonymous Data last spring. The agreement between the companies allows the two Las Vegas corporations to use the iris-scanning technology for their own applications for undisclosed licensing fees. IriScan also collects royalties on its product as well as a percentage on financial transactions that occur when using the technology.

For Anonymous Data, which operates a small office in a business park on South Valley View Boulevard near Flamingo Road, the iris-recognition technology is one piece of system that will allow the company to slow the spread of AIDS with personnel never knowing the identification of the infected persons.

Beecham said ADC will field-test a system that blends the iris-recognition component with bar-code technology in Honduras in February. The ADC field test will involve prenatal testing of pregnant women in remote locations of the country.

The ADC program for reducing the transmission of HIV uses the scan of women's irises to establish a computer file. The HIV testing results are placed in a file and access can only be made by re-scanning the iris. As a result, an infected woman can receive therapy at any location linked to the data network.

The further transmission of the virus can be stopped with the bar-code technology. Here's how it works: An HIV-positive individual's iris scan is matched with a bar code, which can be stored on a card. Instead of disclosing identities and the names of sexual contacts, the patient can get additional cards with the 30-line bar code that can be given to the person's sex partners.

The potentially infected partners can then take the card to any clinic networked into the database to learn if their partner is HIV positive.

The fear of an HIV patient's identity becoming known has always been a roadblock to early treatment, Beecham said. A discrete identification system leads to treatment an average 500 days earlier than without one, according to a medical study released last month.

Beecham plans to explain the ADC system to a national conference on sexually transmitted diseases next month. He hopes to run a program in the United States simultaneously with the Honduras project to get Food and Drug Administration approvals necessary to begin operation.

The Honduras project was delayed after Hurricane Mitch ripped through Central America. Beecham's group had planned to install a series of radio-linked field computers to network HIV data. In the aftermath of the hurricane, the company agreed to distribute the computers and allow them to be used to coordinate relief aid to the country.

Meanwhile, VSOP doesn't use the technology for dramatic life-saving purposes -- but it does provide a service for Nevada's largest industry.

Bob Verhagen, vice president of development for VSOP, said his company plans to use the technology to provide a secure identification system for financial transactions within casinos.

"We believe this technology is going to absolutely revolutionize the way an individual is identified," Verhagen said. "Anywhere you need to be identified, for logging onto a system or making a purchase, it's accurate and the user doesn't have to be touched. It's better than any biometric system out there, fingerprints, palm prints and retina scans."

Initially, VSOP -- the initials of the name don't stand for anything -- will use the system to allow casino personnel to cash personal and payroll checks, to identify individuals who have debts to the casino or who put money in a safe-deposit box.

VSOP, which is led by Verhagen and company president Alistair Crighton, has produced software for player tracking systems and table game management and has had a client base that includes properties like Harrahs, Caesars Palace, the Golden Nugget, Hilton, and Circus Circus. Verhagen said the company has worked with about 40 casino companies worldwide.

The company formed and eventually sold Gaming Systems International. Last May marked the end of a non-complete clause the principals had signed in that deal and the IriScan technology is one of the first products it is introducing as the company reacquaints itself with the market.

Another company with Nevada ties is involved with IriScan. Citicorp, parent company of Citibank, the banking giant with a major presence in Las Vegas, is an investor in Sensar, another company licensed by IriScan.

Citibank plans to develop the iris-scanning technology for customer access to safe-deposit boxes and automatic teller machines.