Iris ID system to track horses

Sarnoff Corporation has been selected by Global Animal Management (GAM) to develop a portable equine iris capture and identification (ID) system to help identify and track horses.

The system, which will be based on Sarnoff’s Iris on the Move (IOM) technology, will quickly capture a horse’s iris image with a low-visibility infrared light source from a distance, even while the animal is moving.

In this way, the horse will not be disturbed or unnecessarily stressed, as is common using today’s ID methods, which often involve tattooing and manually checking marks on horses.

'In the high-stakes sport of horse racing, correctly identifying horses is not nearly as fast or simple as it needs to be,' said Mark Clifton, vice-president of products and services at Sarnoff Corporation.

'It can take more than half an hour to check a horse’s tattoos and markings or even longer if they’ve faded over time, plus they’re easy to fake. Sarnoff’s new portable equine Iris ID system will allows users to quickly and accurately identify horses right before a race.'