OPTICS A Discerning Eye In the James Bond movie , " Never Say Never Again , " a camera zooms up to a character to identify him by the unique appearance of his eye . At that time , there was no device that could accomplish such a thing . But now Sensar , a subsidiary of the David Sarnoff Research Center , has announced a $25.8 - million agreement with OKI Electric Industry Ltd. in Tokyo , one of the world 's leading suppliers of automated teller machines ( ATMs ) . This means iris recognition could be coming to an ATM near you .

Unlike signature verification , voice recognition or fingerprinting , iris recognition requires little cooperation . A person simply walks up to the machine and inserts his or her bankcard . Meanwhile an ordinary video camera captures an image of the customer 's right or left eye . This image is converted into a digital code , which is compared with one already stored for that individual . If the system perceives a match , the customer can proceed . The process takes about five seconds .

---

Although color is the first thing we notice about someone 's eyes , recognition is based only on immutable structures of the iris . These include the trabecular meshwork of connective tissue , collagenous stromal fibers , ciliary processes , contraction furrows , crypts , vasculature , rings , corona , coloration and freckles . As with fingerprints , most of these characteristics are established by random processes before birth , says John G. Daugman of the Computer Laboratory at the University of Cambridge , who developed the algorithm behind the process . The iris 's pattern - - which is different in each eye - - appears to persist virtually unchanged throughout life . Even identical twins have unique iris morphology . What is more , no prosthesis can defeat the system because it detects the minute pulsations and pupil changes that indicate living tissue , contends Sensar 's Kevin B. McQuade .

---

Experts in high security have shown a keen interest in iris - based identification: McQuade speaks in hushed tones about inquiries from the Central Intelligence Agency . Frank Bouchier of the Security Systems and Technology Center at Sandia National Laboratories tested an early version on 199 eyes and found zero false accepts and less than 5 percent false rejects .

---

The first ATMs equipped with iris recognition are expected by the end of this year . And if the technology catches on , it could protect users of " smart " cards . The customer 's iris code could be stored on the card , and the merchant would be unable to access the data unless the customer - - or more precisely , the customer 's eye - - were present .

---