Identity authenticationHoyos Corporation (formerly Global Rainmakers): Identifying 50 people per minute

Published 22 December 2010

The company says its HBOX device can scan fifty people a minute; it is used by the Philadelphia Port Authority as well as Bank of America at lobby entry points; the company made headlines recently with an ambitious city-wide deployment in Leon, Mexico

Established in Puerto Rico in 2006, Hoyos Corp. (formerly Global Rainmakers, Inc. [GRI])) began as a research and development-focused enterprise. The company has its headquarters in Puerto Rico and serves the government, pharmaceutical companies, educational institutions, hospitals and health care facilities, airports and transportation, banks and financial institutions, manufacturers, and retail.

The four products featured at the Biometrics Consortium Conference in Tampa Bay, Florida were the HBOX®, HCAM®-E, EyeSwipe®, and EyeSwipe®-Mini.

The HBOX is a multi-modal biometric portal that requires its users to walk through an entry-way and quickly look up at the capture device in order to be identified and, thus, be permitted access to the facility employing the technology. The device also has multiple mount options, ranging from mobile stands and fixed frames to wall mounts and is capable of handling high throughput environments such as airports, stadiums, and construction sites.

The HBOX combines iris and facial recognition modalities to deliver a higher level of security. In a conversation with the Homeland Security NewsWire, Jeff Carter, chief development officer at Hoyos, said that the HBOX “can scan 50 people per minute and is already being used by the Philadelphia Port Authority as well as Bank of America at lobby entry points regularly to scan its 10,000 employees.”

The product had little difficulty in scanning the NewsWire staff. We were also told that the product is so effective, it can also readily identify those wearing hijabs after a good enrollment.

Regarding concerns over the condition of the iris as a person ages, Carter told the NewsWire: “The iris stays stable after two years of age. It truly is a dependable and unchanging form of data.”

The device uses near IR light to eliminate ambient light and backlighting issues.

An optional HBOX feature is the “Enrollment on the Fly®” capability which provides identity security through live iris verification. This measure requires a user’s physical presence at the time of identification and ensures that an identity cannot be stolen like credit card numbers, PINs, usernames, and passwords can.

The HBOX and the EyeSwipe (which is a miniaturized version of the HBOX) use GRI’s proprietary HCUBE® modules which consist of embedded processors, sensors, and IR panels running multiple wave lengths. All operating features of the technology are internally housed. Software development kits are sold to interested company and agencies along with the camera.

The difference between these products are the speed and distances at which identification can be made, although both