http://www.cnn.com/2000/TECH/computing/07/19/iris.scan.idg/index.html Iris scans take off at airports July 19, 2000 by Michael Meehan (IDG) -- In one of the first public applications of eye-scanning technology, two airports this week will begin scanning passengers' irises as part of an effort to streamline boarding and security processes. Using video cameras to scan the iris - the colored ring that surrounds the pupil in the human eye - EyeTicket Corp. in McLean, Va., will begin registering passengers at Charlotte/ Douglas International Airport in North Carolina and Flughafen Frankfurt Airport in Germany today. EyeTicket has been scanning Charlotte/Douglas airport employees and U.S. Airways Group Inc. flight staffs since May. The airport rollouts are among the first major business applications involving iris-scan technology. Until now, Bank United Corp. in Houston had been engaged in the most notable business application of iris scans, observers said. In May last year, the bank converted three supermarket automated teller machines, at a cost of $5,000 each, to use the technology to identify customers before they conducted transactions. Bank United remains the lone player in its industry to go live with the technology, said Judy Wong, an analyst at Newton, Mass.-based Meridien Research Inc. The technology got its start in law enforcement. [snip]
