Everyone’s expects more from their smartphones these days, so why should the Pentagon hold back? In a latest move, it has signed a $3 million research deal with AOptix to develop a device that turns any smartphone into a face, eyes and thumb scanner. The Department of Defense wants this device to be able to scan facial characteristics and iris signature at a distance, so as to improve defense personnel’s ability to detect, read or register suspicious people easily. AOptix has two years to develop the hardware and software. It will work in conjunction with CACI International, who is responsible for providing data security and will partake in the $3 million.
This product, named “Smart Mobile Identity,” is not a phone itself. It will include a piece of hardware that can be attached to any ordinary smartphone and software. The hardware peripheral will not add too much to the weight of the device, AOptix assures. The company is not announcing which smartphone platform it will work with, but speculation suggests that it will be designed for the cheap and widespread Android OS.
AOptix promises that it will be able to scan faces from a distance of two meters, irises from one meter and voice from a sufficient distant. Thumbprints will, of course, require the person to touch the screen of the phone. Either way, this is definitely a much more streamlined and efficient way of recognizing suspicious individuals as those in place right now.
Currently, U.S. troops are dependent on HIIDE for facial, optical and thumbprint scanning. HIIDE, which stands for Handheld Interagency Identity Detection System, looks like an oversized camera and defense workers need to bring it very close to a person in order to scan anything. The whole scanning process is slow and bulky. The Smart Mobile Identity system is a significant upgrade, if you consider the fact that it will allow users to scan suspicious people without even clicking, tapping or swiping their phones in certain cases.
As you would expect, both AOptix and the Department are being very tight-lipped about the software and hardware specifications, or where it will be used. However, since the timeline is 2014, by when the withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan is likely to be complete, it is probable that the tool will be employed by special operations forces for patrolling purposes.
