The first time I ever did a Biometric integration Project that was not about Biometric Fingerprints, it was about Iris Recognition. PHP Web Biometric Iris Recognition integration was my first ever Project using an Iris Scanner. The Iris Scanner that I used was a BK2121U Iris Scanner from the company called Iritech.
Before you dedicate your time to read this article post, please take note of the following and decide for yourself whether it is worth spending your time reading it;
- This article post is NOT A TUTORIAL
- This article post is NOT AN EDUCATIONAL OR STUDY MATERIAL
- This article post is NOT GOING TO OFFER YOU SOFTWARE DRIVERS TO DOWNLOAD, I DO NOT DO THAT HERE
- This article post is NOT GOING TO OFFER YOU A DOWNLOAD LINK FOR SOFTWARE CODE, I ONLY SHARE MY CODE ONLY WITH COMPANIES, ORGANIZATIONS, INSTITUTIONS OR SMEs THAT I AM ACTIVELY DOING CONSULTING FOR. LEARN MORE ABOUT THIS HERE BIOMETRICS DEVELOPER & INTEGRATION SUPPORT
- This article post is NOT A PROMOTIONAL CONTENT FOR AN IRIS SCANNER PRODUCT
- This article post is NOT GOING TO COMPARE AND CONTRAST MERITS OF ONE IRIS SCANNER TO ANOTHER
What is Iris Recognition?
Iris Recognition is the Scanning of a Person’s Irises and getting the Irises image Data using an Iris Scanner then carrying out Probabilistic Mathematical Calculations to Compare a Set of Previous Captured and Enrolled Irises for Similarities in the Irises patterns so as to Uniquely Verify a Person from another or to Identify a Person from a Set of other People.
Iris Recognition just like with other forms of Biometrics Authentication can further be subdivided into 2 categories namely;
- 1:1 Iris Matching commonly known as 1 to 1 Iris Matching which implies Verifying that a Person is who they claim to be by comparing their Pre-Captured and Enrolled Iris(es) against their now Captured Iris(es)
- 1:N Iris Matching commonly known as 1 to Many Iris Matching which implies Identifying a Person’s Identity from their now Captured Iris(es) against a Set of other People’s Pre-Captured and Enrolled Iris(es) in a Biometrics Database.
The major difference between 1:1 and 1:N Iris Matching is that it is more expensive and costly to carry out 1:N Identification of Iris(es) Programmatically because of Time and Space complexity. The Big O notation soon comes into play with increasing number of Captured and Enrolled Irises in a Database. The more Irises of other People in their millions you continue to add in your Biometrics Database the longer it will take to do a 1:N (Identification)of a single person’s Iris(es).
Iris(es)
By the way, the reason I am writing Iris(es) is so as to factor in Capture and Enrollment of both a Single (1) Iris and that of 2 Irises. This is because some Iris Scanners can only capture only 1 Iris per interval. Similarly, some Software Applications are designed and developed to Capture and Enroll only 1 Iris per person. In some unfortunate scenarios, during Iris Capture and Enrollment, an individual could have only 1 Iris because their other eye is missing.
How I got to Know about the BK2121U Iris Scanner
One day while up and about on the internet, while looking up stuff about Biometrics online, I came across the UNHCR ( The UN Refugee Agency) website and noticed that they use Iris Scanners for managing Identities of Refugees in some of their centers.
That time, I did not care a thing about Iris Scanners, I was immersed in the world of Biometric Fingerprint Scanners.
Before then, I had never bothered to learn a thing about Iris Scanners nor even to write an application that uses Iris Scanners.
This stance however was about to change after I started getting curious about Iris Scanners after seeing them being used by UNHCR.
See below picture from UNHCR Biometrics Identity Management System (BIMS) where they are using the BK2121U Iris Scanner.
The above picture demonstrating use of BK2121U Iris Scanner is sourced from UNHCR’s new biometrics system helps verify 110,000 Myanmar refugees in Thailand.
Besides the BK2121U Iris Scanner that UNHCR uses for Iris Recognition, they use the DactyScan84c for Capturing Fingerprint Data during Registration.
Here is a Screenshot of the BK2121U Iris Scanner and the DactyScan84c Fingerprint Scanner for Biometric Registration Equipment used by UNHCR.
The above picture showing the BK2121U Iris Scanner and the DactyScan84c Fingerprint Scanner is sourced from Biometric Registration Equipment used by UNHCR
I am actually noticing now that they use the DactyScan84c Fingerprint Scanner for Biometric Fingerprint Data Registration.
Trust you me, I think I am making up my mind now that the 2nd 10 Fingerprint Scanner that I am going to Buy and Add to my Arsenal of Biometric Fingerprint Scanners after the KOJAK Biometric Fingerprint Scanner is going to be the DactyScan84c Fingerprint Scanner.
By the way, towards end of year 2021 I did a 10 Fingerprint Scanner PHP Web Biometric Integration using a KOJAK Fingerprint Scanner. Check it out if interested and let me know what you think about it.
As a Biometrics Systems enthusiast, I am always elated to learn about new Biometric Devices and who is using them and why they chose to use that particular Biometric Device over another.
Like for instance in this case, I can deduce that the DactyScan84c Fingerprint Scanner was probably chosen because of its retail price of USD $595 per piece so that UNHCR justifies that it does not exorbitantly use Donors funds.
In my overall view, I think UNHCR can get other more advanced Fingerprint Scanners than the DactyScan84c Fingerprint Scanner. That’s my 2 cents though.
That aside, could I let you in on a little story about my past on how I was worried about my missing Fingerprints?
I think my interest and awareness about Biometrics stems from way back then when I was ailing from a Fungal infection on my Fingers dermis. Check out my answer on Quora to If you slice your finger’s skin off, will it grow back up with the same fingerprint?
As soon as my curiosity about Iris Scanners was piqued after seeing UNHCR using the BK2121U Iris Scanners as part of their Biometric Registration Equipment, I decided that I too will get me a BK2121U Iris Scanner.
Scouting for and Buying the BK2121U Iris Scanner
After not so long, I started flipping thru the internet looking for resellers of the BK2121U Iris Scanner unit device.
From experience, I have observed over time that as long as you are not Buying a Large quantity of a particular type of a Biometric Device from the Company that produces it, you are better off looking for resellers to sell you the device.
If I cannot source the particular Biometric Device that I want locally and now I have to get it abroad, I usually have to procure it online and get it shipped to me.
Some of the online retail outlets where you could buy the BK2121U Iris Scanner from are;
If you live in a country where no shop stocks this type of a Biometric Scanner, it may take a while before your shipment after an online purchase of the device finally gets to you.
In my case it took like almost 2 months for my BK2121U Iris Scanner to get to me. Only the UNHCR uses the BK2121U Iris Scanner in my country.
The asking price for the BK2121U Iris Scanner at the online retail stores as of this time is €499 Euros minus shipping costs.
Before I bought the BK2121U Iris Scanner I endeavored to learn as much as I could about this Biometric Device before buying it from the website of the Iritech company which produces it.
While Googling about the BK2121 Iris Scanner I realized that the same Biometric Iris Scanner is sold for much less in India than elsewhere.
So I was wondering why this huge difference in pricing of the same BK2121 Iris Scanner ?
I was sure it was not a contraband of the Biometric Iris Scanner device that I was looking for because in India they use a large assortment of Biometric Device Scanners for Aadhar ( a service that is provided by the Unique Identification Authority of India [UIDAI]) and there is no way they would be using a non genuine Biometric Device for such.
To debunk these price differences based on region, I asked myself why not shoot Iritech an e-mail and get first hand information from them?
Thereafter, I proceeded to write to Iritech to inquire from them why the BK2121U Iris Scanner sells for much less in India than in other parts of the world.
In fact, my main concern was to confirm whether if I bought the BK2121 Iris Scanner from India if I would still qualify to get Tech Support from Iritech should I need Help with their unit device.
You know, there is an English proverb that goes different strokes for different folks so I wanted to be sure that I was not just going to shoot myself on the foot ( another English proverb )by Buying a Highly priced BK2121 Iris Scanner outside of India while I could have bought it for Half the price in the Indian market.
To my surprise, I was informed that there is a version of the BK2121 Iris Scanner that is primarily tailored for the Indian market that is not available in other Countries.
I asked what would go wrong if I bought the Indian version of the BK2121 Iris Scanner.
I was told something in the line of the two sets of Biometric Iris Scanners using different Software Drivers at the core. In other words, the IndianBK2121 Iris Scanner uses Software Drivers that are not supported outside of India.
I was not able to wrap my mind around that explanation as yet but then I remembered a time back when I had sought to inquire from a sales representative of a certain Biometrics Company who was pitching a sale to me of their unit devices whether their Biometric Devices are available in the Indian market and she told me that their asking prices were not favorable to the Indian market and as such, did not attract a large clientele group for their business there.
I compared that explanation that I was told back then and now began to understand why India had a locked down version of the same BK2121 Iris Scanner but one that is tailored and custom made for India.
Maybe Iritech was pulling wool over my eyes ( another English proverb ) but after this explanation, I cared less about getting into the details between these two types of the same unit devices. I resolved to procure the non-Indian version of the BK2121 Iris Scanner.
The non Indian version of the BK2121 Iris Scanner is the one with a U after BK2121. If you are not in India, you will be buying the BK2121U Iris Scanner with a U after BK2121.
I bought the BK2121U Iris Scanner that goes for €499 Euros.
Fast forward to about 2 months later after I placed an order for my BK2121U Iris Scanner then one day I receive a notification that my Bioemetric unit device has shipped into the country and now is pending delivery.
I collected the Biometric device thereafter and started making great plans for it.
Unboxing the BK2121U Iris Scanner
When the BK2121U Iris Scanner arrived, I quickly unboxed it and started poring inside the package box it shipped with.
I do not remember very well but I think inside was some form of documentation for user guides and an email for contacting Iritech’s Tech support so that they provide you with the Software Drivers of the Iris Scanner.
After unpacking all the contents of the box, I sent Iritech an email and informed them that I had procured the non Indian version of the BK2121U Iris Scanner and that now I was eagerly awaiting the Software Drivers from their end to power up the device and use it on my computer.
Inside the BK2121U Iris Scanner box was the following;
- USB Cable for connecting to the Iris Scanner and Computer
- White Binocular Goggles (nowadays they ship in Blue color)
- BK2121U dual Iris Scanner Camera module
- Some Documentation pamphlets
How the BK2121U Iris Scanner works
When I finally got the response of the e-mail that I had sent to the Iritech Tech support team, I downloaded the Software Drivers and installed the ones for Windows on my Windows 10 computer.
By the way, Iritech supports their BK2121U Iris Scanner on the following platforms. They are;
- Windows
- Linux
- Android
The PHP Web Biometric Iris Recognition was the only one that I got to do for this Biometric Device on Windows 10.
I plan to do projects with the BK2121U Iris Scanner on Linux as well as on Android too in the coming days. If I get interesting Client Projects for Iris Recognition in Linux or Android it will be more fun than when I am motivating myself to do personal projects that no one is paying for.
After setting up the Biometric device and connecting it via USB cable to my Computer, I installed the Software Drivers for Windows and began to try it out.
When you click on Iris Capture, the BK2121U Iris Scanner powers on the Infra Red Light from the Iris Scanner Camera into your eyes thru the Binocular Goggle it is attached to.
Basically what you need to do to get Iris Scan Images from your Eyes is to Open your Eyes wide Open after clicking on Iris Capture button then pore into the BK2121U Iris Scanner’s Goggles as though you are staring into the distance at 2 Small Red Round shaped Demons that are scaling the walls of a Tall Building.
The Infra Red round lights powers on after clicking on Iris Capture button and begin to scan your Eyes for the Iris image as you stare into the Iris Scanner Goggles.
The Iris Scanning for both eyes takes place simultaneously for a duration of like 3 seconds then the Iris Images are displayed on the Computer Screen.
Seeing my Irises up close for the First Time
When I did the Iris Scan for the first time with my new BK2121U Iris Scanner I got to see up close How my Eye’s Irises patterns look like. It was a strange but exciting experience for my eyes to look up close to themselves for the first time and see how their Irises patterns look like.
An Interesting Design Feature of the BK2121U Iris Scanner Goggles that Prevents Capturing Irises Images Upside Down.
The BK2121U Iris Scanner Goggles are designed in a way that employs ingenuity in an interesting way. I will explain this now.
Here is the explanation! When you hold the BK2121U Iris Scanner up close to your eyes the correct way, the Goggles allow the Infra Red light Scanners to scan your Eyes and you can actually see the Infra Red Light when it comes on.
However, if you hold the BK2121U Iris Scanner upside down, the Goggles have some mechanical lids that close and cover the Infra Red light Scanners from capturing your Irises Image upside down.
It is a Mechanical mitigation measure against scanning your Iris Images upside down. In simplicity, just in case I lost you in that explanation, it is more like labeling one of the pair of someone’s shoes LEFT and labeling the other one RIGHT so that they do not end up putting on the RIGHT shoe on the LEFT foot and vice versa. You get it now?
See these 2 images below where I show you this interesting feature when Holding the BK2121U Iris Scanner the CORRECT WAY and when Holding the BK2121U Iris Scanner the WRONG WAY. The images are linked to the YouTube clip where you can watch me flip the BK2121U upside down and hold it the correct way.
That was an interesting way that Iritech designed their BK2121U Iris Scanner’s Goggles that I found to be really creative. Having dealt with Users before, I can see how someone can hold up that thing upside down then when Iris Recognition fails, they send you a very long e-mail narrating a lot of baseless complaints that are a causation of their own doing, falling short of saying your application crashed and all their Organization’s operations have stopped because of [put whatever they decide to slander you with for a mistake of their own doing]. But Dear Users, why do you have to be like this?
Preparing to do PHP Web Biometric Iris Recognition Integration using BK2121U Iris Scanner
After getting myself familiarized with the BK2121U Iris Scanner, it was now time to get an integration going for PHP Web Biometric Iris Recognition using BK2121U Iris Scanner.
The BK2121U Iris Scanner has a capability to store / archive / save about 10,000 Irises images inside the Device without the need for storing them in a Database somewhere e.g. in an RDBMs like Oracle, MSSQL, MySQL, MariaDB, PostgreSQL or even MongoDB.
In my PHP Web Biometric Iris Recognition using BK2121U Iris Scanner I decided to save my Captured and Enrolled Iris images in a MariaDB Database outside the BK2121U Iris Scanner.
So in preparation for my PHP Web Biometric Iris Recognition using BK2121U Iris Scanner, I created a Database in MariaDB for my DEMO application.
Here is a Dump of my MariaDB Database Structure ( see Screenshot below ) for my PHP Web Biometric Iris Recognition integration using BK2121U Iris Scanner
- Database which I named php_iris_recognition
- Table for archiving User Data and Iris Images which I named employees
As you can now see from the screenshot above of my MariaDB Database Structure, the employees SQL Table is found inside the php_iris_recognition Database.
Requisite Requirements for implementing PHP Web Biometric Iris Recognition using BK2121U Iris Scanner
Software Requirements
- Windows 10 or Windows 11 Operating System
- PHP 7.4 and above
- Web Server like e.g. Apache 2, Nginx, IIS
- Windows Drivers for Iris Scanner
- Web Browsers like e.g. Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Microsoft Edge, Opera for Client Computer
Server Computer Hardware Requirements
- RAM 8GB and above
- Processor Core i5 and above
- Storage Space 500GB of Free Space and above though it should be what you consider to be enough to accommodate the large number of Biometric Irises images that you are going to Capture and Enroll.
Client Computer Hardware Requirements
- RAM 8GB and above
- Processor Core i5 and above
- Computer Screen with a Resolution of 1920px by 1024px Screen Monitor dimensions and above
- Free and functional USB ports that you can use to connect and power your BK2121U Iris Scanner
Biometric Iris Scanner Requirements
- BK2121U Iris Scanner ( 2 Irises Scanner )
- MK2120U Iris Scanner ( 1 Iris Scanner )
In your Windows Server Computer, you will need to install PHP and your preferred Web Server there.
In your Windows Client Computer, you will install the Drivers for the BK2121U Iris Scanner.
Challenges Experienced when implementing PHP Web Biometric Iris Recognition integration using a BK2121U Iris Scanner
- There were no major challenges that could not be solved by repeated debugging of my code until the integration worked as I intended it to.
Overall Experiences when implementing PHP Web Biometric Iris Recognition integration using a BK2121U Iris Scanner
- Well documented User guides from Iris Scanner company, Iritech
- Well documented User manuals from Iris Scanner company, Iritech
- Good Tech Support from Iris Scanner company, Iritech’s Tech Support Team
- Gained more insight and understanding of How Iris Scanners work and How they are used
- Garnered more confidence to take up PHP Web Biometric integrations of any other type of an Iris Scanner in the category of a BK2121U Iris Scanner from other Companies.
- Great feeling of achievement on my part after succeeding in implementing PHP Web Biometric Iris Recognition integration using a BK2121U Iris Scanner which is one of the Biometric Registration equipment used by big organizations like UNHCR ( The UN Refugee Agency).
Do you have any plans of doing a BK2121U Iris Scanner integration with Software Applications built on any other Programming and Scripting Languages apart from PHP?
Sure I do! I intend to do a couple of more integrations with other Programming and Scripting Languages with the BK2121U Iris Scanner.
I am open to working on any Iris Recognition Project with any Company, Organization, Institution or SME using a wide variety of Programming / Scripting Languages. Send me an e-mail if interested in You and I working together on your Iris Recognition Project and tell me more about it.
Other Web based Biometric Integrations that I have done in the Past that I can Help you with
- ARATEK A800 Scanner PHP Web Biometric Integration
- PHP Web Biometric Integration using Columbo Fingerprint Scanner
- Angular Biometric Integration using a Columbo Fingerprint Scanner
- React Biometric Fingerprint Integration
- PHP Web Biometric Iris Recognition using a BK2121U Iris Scanner
- 10 Finger Capture in PHP Web using a KOJAK Biometric Scanner
- PHP Web Biometric Smart Card Integration using Secugen Hamster Pro Duo PIV SC Scaner
- ZKTeco 4500 Fingerprint Scanner PHP Web Biometric Integration
- PHP Web Biometric Lite Integration using DigitalPersona 4500 Biometric Finger Scanner in Internet Explorer
- PHP Web Biometric Time and Attendance using DigitalPersona 4500 Biometric Finger Scanner
Videos of PHP Web Biometric Iris Recognition integration DEMOS that I did using a BK2121U Iris Scanner
I also did a Python Django Web Biometric Iris Recognition integration with a BK2121U Iris Scanner. See the Video DEMO integrations below.
I do Professional Consulting and double up as a Contractual Software Engineer for Identity and Access Control Management for Software Projects based on Biometrics! Need Help with Biometrics?
See more Details on How to reach out to me for Professional Consulting Services to Help you with your Software Project integration with Biometrics at Joseph Mwema’s YouTube channel’s About section.
Some of the Companies, Organizations and Institutions that I have helped to integrate Biometrics in their Software Applications
Thank you for reading all the way to the end of this article post and for your patronage. Please let me know if you have any suggestions, recommendations or ideas or anything that you would like to Ask me in regards to Biometrics. You could do this by sending me an email.