A4Vision, Unisys Land Government Contract

The total contract is worth an estimated $420,000 to A4Vision and is part of a larger deal that Unisys struck with the Defense Department earlier this year, the company said.

A4Vision CEO Grant Evans said the government market is a key focus for his company's technology, 3-D camera systems that include a combination of patented optical technology, recognition algorithms and tracking software. The technology is being used as the basis of surveillance and access systems, among other things, he said.

The device under development by A4Vision and Unisys is being designed to identify subjects under varying light conditions more accurately, Evans said. It will support smart card technology as well as Wi-Fi.

In a statement, Ed Schaffner, director of identification and access control systems for Unisys, said the systems integrator has been involved with integrating biometrics and imaging technologies being used for identification for at least a decade.

"While 2-D face recognition solutions have been around for several years, 3-D solutions have only recently emerged and offer the promise of increased accuracy and flexibility," Schaffner said in the statement.

A4Vision, which has its U.S. headquarters in Cupertino, Calif., is recruiting government integrators and vertical-market VARs to deploy its technology in the United States for physical-access security solutions as well as applications such as network access control. Aside from Unisys, another key partner is Logitech.

Pricing for the technology varies, but Grant said it would cost between $1,200 and $1,500 to secure one door using the A4Vision technology.

Customers already using A4Vision's technology include airports, oil refineries and companies in Europe, he said.