Tascent InSight®
High Throughput Solutions
Tascent White Paper
tascent.com
High Throughput Solutions
Introduction
Tascent InSight® has redefined what can be expected from
industry, Tascent InSight provides higher quality images and
biometric identity verification systems. It is fast, intuitive, non-
better accuracy while also being easier to use.
invasive, and accurate. By virtue of an intelligent, automated
capture process, it can be easily used regardless of technical
Tascent InSight is changing the way the world looks at biometric
familiarity, with only a simple instruction set for guidance.
identity verification. It is delivering extraordinary capabilities to
Working at a range of 1.5—2.5 meters, it delivers remarkably
applications ranging from expedited immigration and aviation
consistent, high quality iris images. Independent government
checkpoint processing to conclusive authentication at high
studies show that, compared to the leading devices in the
throughput secure facilities. And that’s just the beginning.
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High Throughput Solutions
Ease of Use
One of the revolutionary aspects of the Tascent InSight identity
verification system is our emphasis on advancing subject human
factors in the collection of iris biometric images. Subjects in
the real world are often unaccustomed to interacting with
“high tech” devices especially if, as in the case of first time
enrollment, they are experiencing the device for the first time.
Language barriers can also add to failures of enrollment or
acquisition.
Our human factors, or ergonomics paradigm, is to let the system
find the subject rather than the other way around, as is the case
for other iris imagers on the market today. Subjects merely
In identification or recognition mode, the ease of subject par-
need to enter the very large capture zone of approximately one
ticipation and the speed of the system delivers high through-
cubic meter, then look at Tascent InSight and open their eyes
put, essential for high volume access control deployments in
for a few seconds. No longer does the subject need to follow
which access demand occurs in peaks, such as shift change-
indicator lights or vocalization feedback to position themselves.
over times.
This advanced concept of human factors in iris biometric
We believe that the main barrier to utilization of the very power-
image capture applies equally to enrollment and identification
ful technology of iris recognition for biometric identification and
(or recognition) applications. Enrollment will most often involve
authentication has been the human factors limitation of existing
subjects that have never experienced an iris recognition sys-
iris biometric imagers. It is this advancement with Tascent InSight
tem before, and so many will be unable to follow the complex
that will unleash the full potential of iris recognition biometrics
instructions of existing systems resulting in varying and some-
in a wide variety of high accuracy identification applications.
times poor image quality.
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High Throughput Solutions
Throughput
Tascent InSight offers a combination of throughput and
2. The Tascent InSight system’s automated image capture
conclusive authentication unparalleled in the biometrics in-
process delivers consistently well-centered, well-focused iris
dustry. With an image capture and authentication cycle time of
images, while requiring minimal effort from users.
two seconds for one eye or four seconds for two eyes, and the
very simple “Stand at the position marks, look at the system,
Straightforward Reacquisition: If for some reason there is
open your eyes” concept of operations, Tascent InSight iris
an FTA, reacquisition is straightforward and intuitive, as the
recognition systems can deliver overall throughput of up to
user is already stationary in the capture area. If this occurs, the
15 people per minute.
Tascent InSight system will automatically prompt a user to stay
in the capture area, and remain focused for a second capture
In high throughput environments, the consistency of conclusive
attempt.
decision making is as critical as the raw potential of the system
for rapid image capture and authentication. In this regard, Tascent
Structured Queuing: The brief pause that reduces FTA and
InSight stands out in several regards:
eases the complexity of multiple authentication attempts also
allows for a well-structured queue behind the current user.
Very Low Failure to Acquire (FTA) rate: FTA is a critical
As each individual in the queue expects the person in front
parameter when considering overall throughput, as a failed
of them to pause, the line can be orderly and controlled, thus
attempt requires a user to repeat the authentication process.
enabling higher throughput.
Tascent InSight iris recognition system has a dramatically lower
While it may initially seem that asking users to pause briefly
FTA rate than conventional biometric technologies, primarily
in the image capture area, as opposed to having the system
due to two factors:
capture biometric data from users in motion, would slow down
overall throughput, the opposite is true. This brief pause mini-
1. During an authentication attempt, users are asked to pause
mizes FTA, facilitates reacquisition, and lays the foundation for
briefly in the capture area and focus all attention on the Tascent
a well-controlled flow of individuals. On a broad scale, these
InSight system. This reduces confusion and mitigates the chance
characteristics make Tascent InSight iris recognition systems
of misuse (e.g. a user looking in the wrong direction).
not only fast, but consistently fast.
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High Throughput Solutions
Accuracy
The proprietary adaptive optics control sub-system in Tascent
.05
InSight Duo Biometric Performance
InSight delivers iris images that are always centered and in fostandard ISO 19794-6 specification for optical quality. In addition, Tascent InSight utilizes a unique “zoom” optics approach
that ensures consistent iris diameter throughout the very large
capture volume. This is of key importance, as consistency of
iris diameter has a large impact on matching performance. The
.04
False Non-Non Match Rate
cus, while the optical sub-system design exceeds the industry
.03
.02
.01
result of these efforts is unprecedented matching accuracy, both
with Tascent’ proprietary encoding and matching algorithm as
well as with other industry leading algorithms.
0
1 00E–06
1 00E–05
1 00E–05
1 00E–03
1 00E–02
1 00E–01
1 00E+00
False Match Rate
To document the opportunity for achieving superior matching
Lab Environment
accuracy results, we have compared ROC (receiver operating
Real-World Environment
characteristic) curves for external and internal reference data
bases.
Specifically, we compared ROC results from a 1600 image
subset of the Bath iris database (as utilized in the NIST IREX
algorithm comparison testing) against the Tascent internally
Note: Accuracy metrics are dependent on the biometric image set and
the population under test and so these results may not represent typical
generated Long Term Database of iris images. We utilized the
experience. Because of the high degree of automation and simple usage in-
proprietary Tascent iris algorithm for this study. The Tascent iris
structions, InSight Duo delivers superior biometric performance in lab and
recognition algorithm achieved a very strong 0.3% False NonMatch rate (FNMR) at 10-6 FMR.
Tascent White Paper
real-world environments. The very flat ROC curves here showing excellent
accuracy even with large populations and similar performance from the lab
to in-field usage.
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High Throughput Solutions
Interoperability
Image Format: Tascent InSight captures images according to
ISO 19794-6 standards - at 640 x 480 pixel resolution, in 8-bit
grayscale depth, with iris diameters well above the specified
200 pixel lower limit, and with Modulation Transfer Function
(MTF) exceeding recommended levels - thus promoting interoperability with varying algorithms and alternative iris capture
devices.
The level of interoperability is a testament to Tascent’ commitment to customer choice: We believe in the notion that
government and commercial customers should have the
ability to choose what combination of biometrics products
best suit their needs, and all of those products should work
well together.
Communication Protocols: Tascent InSight’s focus on
interoperatbility and standards compliance extends beyond
iris imaging and into communications and infrastructure. The
system communicates with back-end systems using SOAP
for IP-based architectures and Wiegand or RS-485 for access
control architectures. All three of these interfaces are based on
open standards, with a goal toward allowing implementation of
Tascent InSight system with existing structure.
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Tascent, Inc.
475 Alberto Way
Los Gatos, CA, 95032
T 408558 3300
www.tascent.com
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