Heathrow Has Eye On Passengers

Airwise.com ^ | May 2, 2002 | Staff

[LurkedLongEnough]

A five month trial of new eye-recognition technology at passport control started at London's Heathrow Airport this week.

The experiment, which involves identifying passengers by iris recognition, is designed to speed up passport checks in arrivals areas.

Two thousand travelers, who fly frequently through Heathrow with both British Airways and Virgin Atlantic, are taking part in the trial. The equipment, provided by US company EyeTicket, has been installed in the Immigration Hall at Terminals 3 and 4, where Virgin and BA operate their North Atlantic services.

Heathrow's Managing Director, Mick Temple said: "Heathrow is always looking at new and innovative ways of improving passenger journeys through the airport. With this trial we hope to establish that iris recognition technology can prove to be a safe, effective and highly accurate means of ensuring passengers on arrival are legitimate entrants to the UK.

"Although, this particular trial is about simplifying a passenger's progress through the airport, we will also consider whether in the longer term this sort of technology could have wider security benefits."

Passengers will undergo an initial enrolment process, including identity checks by an immigration officer, before being able to use the equipment. It is also planned to use the technology at New York JFK and Washington Dulles airports.

[LurkedLongEnough]

"Although, this particular trial is about simplifying a passenger's progress through the airport, we will also consider whether in the longer term this sort of technology could have wider security benefits."

Wonder about what is meant by "wider security benefits"...

[Deguello]

I wonder if colored contact lens will interfere with the computer recognition? The contacts can also be purchased for various shapes such as cat eyes, stars and many others.