Photography

HIIDE portable biometric device scans iris, fingers and face

HIIDE portable biometric device scans iris, fingers and face
The HIIDE portable biometric device
The HIIDE portable biometric device
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The HIIDE portable biometric device
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The HIIDE portable biometric device
The HIIDE portable biometric device performs iris, fingerprint and facial recognition
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The HIIDE portable biometric device performs iris, fingerprint and facial recognition
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The HIIDE portable biometric device
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It’s billed as “the most powerful tool ever developed for biometric identification,” and it could well be. L-1 Identity Solutions’ HIIDE is a rugged, portable device that can establish and then verify peoples’ identities using three separate biometrics - iris, fingerprint and facial recognition. It must be pretty impressive, as the US Department of Defense recently ordered ten million dollars worth of the suckers.

HIIDE is an acronym for Handheld Interagency Identity Detection Equipment. The device is embedded with Microsoft XP and can operate either in the field or hooked up to a PC. You can also customize it by adding peripherals such as a passport reader, a keyboard or a mouse. Once up and running, it can store up to 22,000 full biometric profiles, each one including two iris templates, ten fingerprints, a facial image and biographical data.

The HIIDE portable biometric device performs iris, fingerprint and facial recognition
The HIIDE portable biometric device performs iris, fingerprint and facial recognition

To use the device, you simply take a photo of the subject’s iris with the 640 X 480 camera, get their fingerprints with the built-in 500dpi sensor, then snap a picture of their face. If you’re using it for verification, the HIIDE will next check through its 256 MB onboard database, or it can wirelessly search through a number of worldwide databases. It will let you know when a match is found, or if one isn’t.

There are currently over 65,000 L-1 HIIDEs in use around the world, many of those in Iraq and Afghanistan.

All images courtesy Whipsaw, Inc., designers of the HIIDE.

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3 comments
3 comments
John Harper
I use this system nearly everyday as im deployed in iraq i personally hate it the battery last a whole 20 min so you must leave it on the charger also you cant use it in the sun it wont read the eye even when in the shade most of the time is says no image found it also has to be updated daily
Gargamoth
The beginning of technology always seems to have friendly, helpful, even benign characteristics. Don\'t be caught blind. let batteries be enough, solar power is fine.
Human nature has an ability to perverse good things.
Charlotte Brown
The biometric is still in the developing phase hence it still possess some of the limitations like battery’s life, exposure settings and OS limitations.