Iris and Facial Recognition Work Even When Moving... Also Detects Fever

Non-contact Biometric Technology Specialist, 'CMITech Co., Ltd.'
False Recognition Rate 0.0001%, 50% Cheaper
Last Year's Sales 5.4 Billion KRW, 73% Export Ratio

Jangjin Chae, CEO of CMI Tech Co., Ltd.

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Jong-hwa] The contactless biometric recognition market, including iris recognition and facial recognition, is rapidly growing due to COVID-19.

According to a report by the US market research firm Grand View Research, the global contactless biometric technology market size was $6.9 billion in 2019 and is expected to grow at an annual average rate of 20.3% from 2020, reaching over $30 billion by 2027.

Recently, CMI Tech has been gaining attention for its biometric recognition technology for speed gates that verifies identity through face and iris recognition even while wearing masks and in motion. The iris recognition devices developed and sold by CMI Tech maintain identity verification accuracy without any impact from mask-wearing, with a false recognition rate as low as 0.0001%, yet are priced about 50% cheaper than market prices.

Founded in 2009 with 37 employees, CMI Tech exports iris recognition devices for identity verification to over 80 countries worldwide, including India's electronic resident ID project, Thailand's electronic passport project, iris recognition device supply to the Mexican police, and Nepal's resident registration project. With the spread of COVID-19, they launched a 'contactless quarantine solution' equipped with a fever detection sensor on iris and facial recognition products, supplying to the US and Europe, achieving sales of 5.1 billion KRW in 2019 and 5.4 billion KRW last year. Exports account for 73% of sales.

Domestically, public institutions that used fingerprint recognition devices for access control and attendance management are rapidly switching to iris recognition devices to prevent infections. An-yang City Hall, Yeongdeungpo District Office, Mapo District Office, and Dongducheon City Hall are already using CMI Tech's products, and first-class police stations including the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency are sequentially adopting them.

Since the revision of the Medical Service Act in October 2019, which mandates the recording and purpose-based storage of access logs for operating rooms, delivery rooms, and intensive care units, demand has surged nationwide as hospitals request iris recognition device supplies.

A scene at a Colombian airport undergoing access authentication procedures using CMI Tech's iris recognition device.
[Photo by CMI Tech]

CMI Tech received research and development (R&D) support from the Technology and Information Promotion Agency for SMEs (TIPA) for developing the 'iris recognition system' in 2011, the 'next-generation access security terminal combining 3D facial features and binocular iris recognition' in 2013, and the 'iris recognition device for speed gates that authenticates while moving at 50% lower cost' in 2017. Thanks to this, in 2018, it was recognized as a 'Global Small Giant' by the Ministry of SMEs and Startups.

Jangjin Chae, CEO of CMI Tech, said, "Since COVID-19, major governments and institutions worldwide have been extensively applying contactless biometric recognition systems for safety," adding, "With the soon-to-be-released 'contactless facial quarantine solution,' we will establish ourselves as a global market leader."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.