Post-mortem iris biometrics – Field, applications and methods

Abstract

Post-mortem iris recognition (PMIR) is a recently developed area of expertise falling into the broader category of biometric methods utilizing human iris features for the purpose of automatic or semi-automatic establishing or confirming one’s identity. Yet, contrary to traditional iris recognition applied to living individuals, post-mortem biometrics presents forensic experts and scientists with challenges that have previously been unknown and require novel approaches and development of new skills. This paper summarizes the current state of the art of research in this area, both with respect to studies exploring the feasibility of iris recognition in a forensic setting, as well as the challenges still pervasive in the scientific community and potential ways to overcome them. We argue that post-mortem iris biometrics can serve both as a way for improving iris recognition, as well as provide forensic examiners tools for extending knowledge and skills in their respective field.