2024’s Biometric Verification: An Inclusive Guide on Retina Scan Authentication
Author: teresa_myers | 29 Jan 2024In This Post
In biometric authentication, the quest for security and accuracy never finishes. That’s why the human eye, usually referred to as the “mirror of the soul”, turned out to be a gateway of future protection and identification. Retina Scan that’s hidden but a secure and intricate method whilst iris verification has gained acceptance. Besides, the colored iris has a retinal structure that’s a unique and complicated roadmap shaped by the fragile blood vessels beyond the eyes.
In the era of retina scans, the overlooked light beams embellish our deepest secret, and safety leaps into the future. The retina scan market will gain prominence by 2028 at a CAGR of 26.6%, reaching $4.9 billion. Connect us on this dive into retina scan, its history, its differentiation with iris, and its guarantee of fortifying the digital world.
Key Takeaways
- Retina scan biometric technology uses unique eye geometrical patterns to authenticate users and provide accurate results.
- Retina recognition is an advanced biometric method that verifies the unique patterns of individual retina by using a low-intensity light source.
- Secure banking and health industry through retina scan advanced technology.
What is a Retina Scan?
The human eye, often known as the most complicated organ in the body, is the key to the most authentic form of biometric verification, the Retina scan. Retina recognition verifies a user through their blood vessel patterns. The retina is a layer of complicated nerve cells and blood vessels behind the eye, and it’s essential, just like film, to the camera.
How Retina Scan Invented?
A research paper published in 1935 by Dr. Isodore Goldstein and Carleton Simon depicts every retina having distinctive blood vessel patterns. Afterward, they published research that suggests using images of these blood vessel patterns to identify individuals. In the 1950s, Dr. Paul Tower conducted the second study, which discovered that blood vessel retina patterns are distinctive even among identical twins. In 1976, EyeDentify, Inc. was the first significant dealer in developing, producing, and researching retinal scanning technologies. The Fundus camera was the first device to acquire retina images through instruments made for ophthalmologists. In 1981, the first prototype retina scan device was invented. It used infrared lights to illuminate the retina pattern of the blood vessel.
Let’s move forward to learn where retina scans are being used and why.
Which Industries are Transformed through Retina Scan?
Advanced retina scanners are complicated to spoof and are employed in high-risk or top-level safety applications for quick recognition and identification. They analyse blood vessel patterns by casting infrared or natural light on them. As these scanners are unique and get stable with time, it’s difficult to deceive these verification systems.
Retina scanners have many uses in nuclear reactors, government surveillance, and high-security locations as they are quite accurate. It’s really hard for fraudsters to replicate or dodge this method, the reason it’s trusted among users globally. Retina scans are employed in different industries, such as matchmaking, healthcare, government surveillance, and gambling, and they provide highly accurate results that weren’t even possible before.
The US government has employed biometric retina scan technology in high-risk agencies such as:
- National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
- Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)
- Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI)
Retina Scan VS Iris Recognition: Which One is Better?
Retina scans outperform advanced biometric authentication solutions due to their reliability and 99.9% accuracy rate. However, iris recognition is more advanced than retina scans. Both can easily differentiate identical twins and provide foolproof safety to firms. The primary difference between them is that iris biometrics are non-intrusive, whilst retina scans are intrusive.
Retina scans use a light beam to capture the person’s retina, which is appropriate for in-person recognition procedures. Conversely, iris technology is non-intrusive that just captures the pupil image. This method is typically used in KYC applications and user registration. It’s essential to understand their differences and similarities in-depth:
Similarities
- Minimal chances of false positives, almost 0%
- Quickly verify the person’s identity
- Highly Accurate, as two people don’t have the same retinal patterns
Differences
- Iris verification is just like typical images and can be executed from a distance, however, retinal scans require the user to bring the eye closer to the biometric device.
- Retina scanners are invasive, but the iris is widely recognised as a commercial modality.
- The accuracy of retinal scans can be changed in any disease whilst the iris remains stable.
Both are accurate and unique, providing legitimate results to businesses. Therefore, they both are highly recommended but in different scenarios to restrict scammers.
Secure Healthcare and Banking Industry with Retina Scan
The advanced biometric devices are more prevailing in today’s digital world. Moreover, they have diverse applications that range from security to healthcare. Following are the best five industries that use advanced biometric devices to recognise clients, enhance safety, confirm users, and do multiple things:
Banking
In banks, the security of financial transactions and the quality of customer services are improved due to these biometric devices. For example, retina scan technology is being used by financial firms to verify the client’s identity. These AI-powered systems minimize the risk of fraud, money laundering, and identity theft. Additionally, retina scanners are being used in the user authentication procedure of financial transactions such as account transfers.
Banks have also commenced to employ retina scan technology as additional security against customers engaging in theft. Indian banks have implemented retina scan security as a sophisticated method of identity verification that makes financial transactions secure. Therefore, these digital devices support firms and individuals in accessing their accounts without entering or memorising a pin and password.
Healthcare
Nurses and doctors have exercised retina scans for the past several years to recognise patients and be aware of their medical problems. Biometric verification utilised by doctors to congregate biometric information of patients through retina scans. Thereby, doctors can easily access patient history and find out if they are getting the right treatment by quickly retrieving their information from the database.
Due to their contactless nature, retina scanners became popular in the healthcare industry during COVID-19. According to Meticulous research, the healthcare industry is anticipated to flourish at an agile CAGR from 2022 to 2029 in the biometric world. Hence, the growing healthcare identity theft and data breaches are the reasons behind the growth of retina scan technology.
Fast-Track Customer Onboarding with Facia
Facia’s retina scan technology significantly impacts different industries and businesses due to its contactless nature and 99% accuracy rate. Their retina scanners are more secure than other biometric methods such as fingerprint, iris, palm, and vein. That’s why they are gaining acceptance in different industries, including retail, healthcare, and government. Furthermore, retina scans enable clients to confirm their identities easily, reduce time to create new accounts, and restrict spoofing activities.
Do you want to enhance security and streamline the user experience? Avail our free trial to learn more about Facia retina scan technology.
Frequently Asked Questions
A retina scan is a biometric technique that utilizes the unique patterns of a person's retinal blood vessels for identification. The highly distinctive pattern found in the retina, located at the back of the eye, is captured and used to accurately identify individuals.
Retina scanning involves shining an invisible infrared light into the eye to capture the complex pattern of blood vessels at the back of the eye. A specialized scanner then analyzes and converts this pattern into a digital code for identification, requiring the individual to look into a viewing device to capture the retinal pattern.
Retina scans are highly accurate, with the probability of two individuals having the same retinal pattern being nearly 1 in 10 million. This makes retina scans extremely reliable for identity verification, boasting very low false positive rates.
Retinal scans are employed in various high-security applications, including access control systems, secure authentication in banking and financial services, government and military facilities, and for personal identity verification in some healthcare settings, due to their accuracy and reliability.
Disadvantages of retina scans include the invasiveness of the scan process, high equipment costs, perceived health risks from the light exposure, limitations for individuals with certain eye conditions, and privacy concerns related to the storage and potential misuse of biometric data.
