Iris-based biometric authentication specialist EyeLock has signed an agreement with ViaTouch Media that will integrate EyeLock’s iris recognition technology within ViaTouch’s smart-shelf vending solution, Vicki.

Calling the new partnership a “major breakthrough,” EyeLock CEO Jim Demitrieus said the agreement was the culmination of years of working with leaders from a variety of industries to bring embedded security solutions to market. “This win is indicative of the many potential commercialized applications for iris authentication,” Demitrieus said. “The ViaTouch partnership underscores an innovative approach to protecting consumer identity and transaction security.”

EyeLock’s iris authentication will be deployed as part of the interface for Vicki (ViaTouch Intellishelf Cognitive Kinetic Interactions), a smart shelf vending machine with an AI-enabled shopping assistant. Formerly known as Lisa, Vicki engages consumers by authenticating them, learning their preferences, providing loyalty, rewards, and discounts, and using smart shelf technology to note what products shoppers are viewing as well as  which they are selecting and deselecting. The virtual clerk-powered machine communicates using directional speakers so that only the person standing in front of it can hear the conversation.

The company said EyeLock-enabled machines will be available early in the second quarter of 2018. ViaTouch Media CEO Tom Murn said the solution, which will be operated on First Data online payment networks, will “create the most secure AI iris authentication self-checkout payment solution in the world.”

Founded in 2006 and headquartered in New York City, Eyelock demonstrated its USB-powered Iris Identity Authenticator, myris, at FinovateFall 2014. A majority-owned subsidiary of Voxx International Corporation, the company announced a trio of new patents last month, affirming the company’s innovations in iris and facial imaging, biometric matching, and visual guidance in gaze alignment.

“We continue to achieve significant technical breakthroughs that have served as significant barriers to market-wide adoption of iris authentication technology,” EyeLock CTO Jeff Carter said. “With each successful patent, we are able to expand our IP to deliver the fastest, most cost-effective and easy-to-use solutions that our end users require.”

EyeLock has spent much of 2017 forging major partnerships that will bring its full suite of hardware and software access control solutions to customers throughout North America and around the world. In October, EyeLock teamed up with Australian security solutions vendor, CSD (Central Security Distribution), and in August, the company signed a licensing agreement that will enable the company to build iris authentication solutions for Qualcomm Technology’s Qualcomm Mobile Security platform. A May partnership with STANLEY Security, an integrated security solutions provider and division of Stanley Black & Decker, rounds out a busy year of partnerships for EyeLock.

There are plenty of reasons I stopped using my bank’s finicky iris-scanning mobile-authentication technology to log in and check my account balance. Plagued with issues caused by glasses, glare and sunlight, I switched to using a 4-digit PIN for the foreseeable future. This week iris authentication company EyeLock released a new technology to remove some of the friction associated with the technology and boost adoption rates.

The New York-based company’s new technology authenticates at a distance of 60 cm and works with glasses, contact lenses, and even in bright daylight, making EyeLock even more user-friendly. EyeLock CEO Jim Demitrieus refers to the new technology as a “significant scientific breakthrough.” In a press release, Demitrieus added that it “solves the usability and security impediments that have long been an obstacle for mass-market adoption.”

EyeLock owns and controls the entire software and algorithm stack, which helps it to create a more secure solution. Founded in 2006, the company has raised $3 million in funding. At FinovateFall 2014 the company debuted myris, a USB-powered identity authenticator that converts a user’s iris into a unique, encrypted code for secure website access.

Earlier this year, EyeLock opened an IoT Center of Excellence to further develop and expand the distribution of its iris-scanning technologies. In late 2015 the company teamed up with Diebold to create a new concept ATM that connects to the user’s smartphone instead of using a PIN pad, card reader, or screen.