Anti-terrorist technology can help find children … – TVI24

A technology designed to identify terrorists is being adapted to help find missing children. The system is based on the unique pattern analysis of the iris of each person.

Scientists at the University of Carnige Mellon developed a high-resolution camera that analyzes the iris – the colored part of the eye, which is different in every person and does not change over time – up to 12 meters away. Experts expect these devices to be placed in airports to detect not only the presence of terrorists, but also prevent the abduction and trafficking of children.

“The physical appearance can be changed, but no two identical irises,” said Marios Savvides, head of the project, adding that this “is an important advance in technology find missing children, especially victims of human trafficking. “

The system requires, however, the creation of an international database. Parents would have to authorize a scan the children of iris for this process possible. After that, if the child were kidnapped and the kidnapper tried to take it to another country, the camera easily would detect your identity.

“We are providing a biometric measure that can not be changed. A fingerprint requires that touch something, but the camera works over long distances to find expensive and analyze the iris in less than three seconds. “

The university received a million and half dollars from the US Department of Defense to develop the project in 2009. The technology is already used by the US military in Afghanistan and Iraq, to ​​identify terrorists who may have changed their physical appearance.

Marios Savvides now expects this adaptation a reality of daily life, soon, and that will help find criminals and missing children more easily.

One of the examples given by the scientist was the case of Madeleine McCann, missing since 2007 while on vacation in the Algarve. The girl had a distinctive mark in the iris, that given enough importance at the time of the searches.

“The mark of Madeleine McCann is one that can be seen with the naked eye, but our scanners go far beyond that.”

According to the FOX News , the investigator also said the lab is developing an application for smartphones to improve the AMBER system, which gives the alert for emergencies in cases of child abduction. The system could send the photo of the child to the phone, as well as relevant information such as age and name. The app also have a GPS that would see the distance from the location of the person where the child disappeared.