Viisage locks down DOD biometric work

Viisage Technology Inc. won a $10 million contract with the Defense Department for multimodal biometric devices that incorporate iris, finger and facial recognition technologies.

The Handheld Interagency Identity Detection Equipment device, known as Hiide, is a scalable tool for enrolling, identifying and verifying people using any of the three biometrics, the company said.

Hiide can be used as a mobile handheld system or connected to a host computer or network. It can be used for mobile identification of people on the battlefield, at border checkpoints, in airports, in detention centers and for checking people against watch lists.

The device also is being marketed to state and local law enforcement agencies and public and private correctional facilities where it could be used for suspect, inmate and visitor identification, the company said.

The terms of the contract call for the SecuriMetrics unit of Viisage to deliver the biometric devices. SecuriMetrics, which introduced the device in 2005, supplies iris recognition solutions for Defense Department use in Iraq, Afghanistan and Bosnia, the company said.

Viisage in February paid $28 million in cash to buy SecuriMetrics Inc., Martinez, Calif.

Viisage of Billerica, Mass., has about 220 employees and had annual revenue of $66.2 million in fiscal 2005, according to Hoover's Online, Austin, Texas.