Can Your Software Capture Irises with an Android Camera?

Iris solution vendors, I hope you saw the latest and greatest from SAM.gov (PEO-TIS: Contactless Iris Collection Collaboration Event (CE)):

CONTACTLESS iris?

Now wait a minute.

Is anyone actually proposing CONTACT iris collection?

And I’m not talking about the old system of putting your iris really close to the camera. I’m talking about the iris TOUCHING the collection device, like many fingerprint systems do today.

I don’t think so.

But let’s look at the meat of the opportunity.

SOFWERX, in collaboration with USSOCOM Program Executive Office Tactical Information Systems (PEO-TIS), will host a series of events to complete a study of mobile devices (Android-based cell phones and tablets) with built-in cameras for their use in unaided iris localization and collection, including resolution testing and image distortion analysis.

Note the word “unaided.” It’s a lot easier to capture irises if the capture device does the work for you. Soldiers in the field don’t have time to precisely position the camera with an uncooperative subject.

A previous study indicated that it is possible to conduct iris localization using a mobile device camera, but a wider population pool is required to validate these results. A wider population of 500-1000 is adequate to prove the basic viability of the biometric algorithm. 

Hey, it’s not a million people, but it’s not bad.

If you’re an iris solution vendor and register by August 28, here’s the timeline:

• Phase 1: 30 September 2026 Collaboration Event (CE)
• Phase 2 – 27 October 2026 to 27 November 2026 Submissions to the Assessment Event (AE) Open
• Phase 2a – 11 November 2026 Q&A Telecon
• Phase 3 – 30 November 2026 to 14 December 2026 Downselect
• Phase 4 – 19 January 2026 [sic] to 21 January 2026 [sic] Assessment Event (AE)
• Phase 5 – Path Forward

See the SAM.gov announcement for more details.

Since this effort is primarily technical, Bredemarket can’t drive the effort. But if you need assistance in content, proposal, or analysis materials before, during, and after the event, talk to me.