You have probably seen science fiction movies set in the future where security systems scan a person’s eyeball to verify their identity. Now, a company called Tools for Humanity has leveraged artificial intelligence (AI) and iris imaging technology to make this a reality.
Introducing Orb: The Futuristic Hardware for Human Identity Verification
In the age of generative AI, it is difficult to know whether any creative work is genuine, since AI can generate them. Not only that, it is even harder to tell whether the people we communicate with online are real, since AI can sound and chat like a real person.
Orb is a revolutionary high-end hardware device that performs digital identity checks by scanning a person’s iris to verify their identity. It doesn’t use laser beams to scan the iris like a barcode, as you might see in movies. Instead, this technology uses a powerful camera and a telephoto lens to capture a high-resolution photograph of the iris, providing a clear map of the eye’s texture and visual pattern.
The visual pattern is then converted into a unique string of anonymous numbers called an “IrisCode.” Once it generates the coded numbers, the Orb immediately deletes the photo for security and privacy. From there, the Orb sends the IrisCode to the World App on your smartphone. The code will essentially become your “World ID.” The World App will use the encrypted World ID to verify you’re a human on websites whenever they request human verification.
Think of the World App as a digital passport, and the Orb as the issuing authority. The Orb takes your photo and sends you the document as your identification. Then you keep the passport in your pocket to prove your identity whenever you need to. In this case, you keep your smartphone in your pocket and open the World App to prove it.
For example, when you visit a website that requires you to verify that you’re a human, such as Reddit or a Discord server, it will show a QR code on your screen. What you would do is take out your smartphone, open the World App, and scan the QR code on the screen. After a few seconds, the app confirms your human identity and conveys the verification to the website.
As a result, you don’t have to share your driver’s license, actual passport, or any other personally identifying information with a third-party website to verify your identity. The Orb and World App verification process keeps your personal information safe and protected, while still verifying you as a human to the website. It doesn’t even send your photo to the website, either.
Technical Specifications of the Orb
The Orb looks like a chrome sphere about the size of a bowling ball. This sophisticated spherical device contains several key components, including an 8-core Arm Cortex 64-bit CPU, 1024-core Nvidia GPU, 3D sensors, 16GB of memory, Wi-Fi, a battery, infrared and thermal vision, and four high-quality cameras. It has a custom optical system with a 2D gimbal mirror, telephoto lens, and a dedicated cryptographic signature element.
When you are ready for the Orb to take your picture, it will begin by locating your face. Then it will focus on your eye and zero in on the iris. Once it has a clear view of the iris, it will snap a high-resolution photo. The imaging is at a much higher resolution than the recommended industry standard to ensure it captures the full visual pattern of the eye.
The software running the Orb uses advanced AI algorithms to determine whether you are a real human in front of the camera or a picture of a human. So, if you were to cheat by putting a picture of a human in front of the camera, the AI would detect it and refuse to take the picture. That is how the Orb verifies you as a human, not a chatbot or someone impersonating another person.
The Orb generates permanently encrypted codes from the photos taken of your iris. It sends the codes to many secure databases to avoid duplicate verifications. All this might seem like a long process, but it actually takes just seconds to complete. You can even delete your IrisCode data if you want. That is why the entire process is safe, simple, and easy to do.
Open-Source Software and Hardware
Tools for Humanity is committed to transparency regarding its Orb hardware and software. To prove this, the company has released the Orb’s hardware specifications, engineering files, and core software components. You can find the software components publicly available on GitHub under an MIT/Apache 2.0 dual license.
Open-source licensing allows developers to review hardware designs, iris recognition algorithms, and software code to learn more about them. Developers will want to do this to identify potential vulnerabilities in the software that could compromise its privacy claims regarding data encryption. Since most companies never release an open-source model for their AI-driven hardware and software, Tools for Humanity is going the extra mile to build trust with people.
However, the hardware files are released under the Worldcoin Responsible Use License. It is a more restrictive license that prevents developers from using biometric imaging technology in ways that could infringe on someone’s privacy and safety. Developers may only use the files to audit Orb’s security and privacy capabilities.
Conclusion
Tools for Humanity created the Orb to help people prove they are human online. If more companies and government agencies adopt the Orb technology into their digital websites, it could set an international standard for proving your personhood anywhere while maintaining your security and privacy.
The Orb may look like an unusual, shiny sphere-like object, but it is so much more. It has the potential to become the 21st-century digital passport. While scanning your eyes to produce a digital global ID may feel like a science-fiction concept, the reality of it is already here. Between this new technology and the continuous evolution of AI, authenticating human beings online will become easier than ever over the next decade.
