| John Daugman | |
|---|---|
| Residence | Cambridge, England |
| Fields | computer vision, pattern recognition |
| Institutions | Harvard University, Cambridge University |
| Alma mater | Harvard University (A.B., Ph.D.) |
| Known for | theory of vision, iris recognition algorithms |
| Notable awards | US Presidential Young Investigator Award, Information Technology Award and Medal, "Millennium Product" Award, "Time 100" Innovators Award, OBE, Order of the British Empire, Fellow of the Institute of Mathematics and its Applications |
John Daugman is a physicist and Professor of Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition at the University of Cambridge Computer Laboratory. He is best known for his pioneering work in biometric identification, in particular the development of the Gabor wavelet based iris recognition algorithm that is (as of 2008) the basis of all commercially available iris recognition systems.
Daugman received his A.B. and Ph.D. degrees at Harvard University and then taught there for 5 years. After short appointments in Germany and in Japan he came to Cambridge University to research and teach computer vision, information theory, and statistical pattern recognition. He held the Johann Bernoulli Chair of Mathematics and Informatics at the University of Groningen in the Netherlands, and the Toshiba Endowed Chair at the Tokyo Institute of Technology in Japan.[1]
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Daugman's iris recognition algorithm first became commercialized in the 1990's. The algorithm automatically recognizes persons in real-time by encoding the random patterns visible in the iris of the eye from some distance, and applying a powerful test of statistical independence. It is currently used in many identification applications such as border crossing controls in United Arab Emirates and passport-free immigration in the UK, the Netherlands, and many other countries.
Daugman's algorithm uses a Gabor wavelet transform to extract the phase structure of the iris. This is encoded into a very compact bit stream, the IrisCode, that is stored in a database for identification purposes.[2]
He has received several awards, such as:[3]