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Walmart Pay Now Available in All Walmart Stores Nationwide

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BENTONVILLE, Ark.--()--Today, Walmart announced that Walmart Pay, a safe, easy and convenient way for customers to check out with their smartphones, is now available in the more than 4,600 Walmart stores nationwide.

Available through the Walmart app, Walmart Pay works with any iOS or Android device*, at any checkout lane, and with any credit, debit, pre-paid or Walmart gift card. Walmart Pay is like no other mobile payments solution available today, expanding access to mobile payments and improving the way customers check out in all Walmart stores in the U.S.

"There is something very powerful about the ease and simplicity of Walmart Pay," said Daniel Eckert, senior vice president, services, Walmart U.S. "What's even more powerful though, is what this means for our customers. We want to make every day easier for busy families. We're connecting all the parts of Walmart into one seamless shopping experience with great stores, easy pickup, fast delivery, frictionless checkout and apps and websites that are simple to use."

Walmart Pay Facts

Walmart Pay transactions increased 45% in the last week

Eighty-two percent of customers would recommend using Walmart Pay

Three out of four customers have given Walmart Pay a five star rating in the Walmart app

Eighty-eight percent of transactions come from repeat Walmart Pay users

Walmart Pay transactions are safe and secure, taking place behind Walmart's firewalls - no payment credentials are ever stored on a customer's phone or exchanged at the point of sale

"Today was my first experience using Walmart Pay and it was FAB-U-LOUS! I was shopping with five of my children, which can sometimes feel a little bit like herding cats, and Walmart Pay got us through the register smoothly," said Lisa Rowlee, a Walmart Pay customer via the Walmart app. "I could keep my eye on my cute little kiddos rather than digging through my purse to pull out my debit card. Using my phone to scan the code was easy - I have it out to reference my shopping list anyway. Thank you so much. I'm a convert!"

Walmart Pay is one of the newest and most powerful additions to the Walmart app, which ranks among the top three retail apps in the Apple and Google app stores with more than 20 million active users. The app was built with an emphasis on making shopping faster and easier for customers - from refilling a pharmacy prescription to building a gift registry and finding where an item is located in store. The app also makes it easy for customers to shop the millions of items on Walmart.com.

"Walmart Pay is just the beginning," said Eckert. "We're building deeper relationships with our customers across our ecosystem and are looking forward to delivering new tools like Walmart Pay that allow them to use the Walmart App as their remote control for a faster, more convenient shopping experience."

About Walmart

Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE: WMT) helps people around the world save money and live better - anytime and anywhere - in retail stores, online, and through their mobile devices. Each week, nearly 260 million customers and members visit our 11,527 stores under 63 banners in 28 countries and e-commerce websites in 11 countries. With fiscal year 2016 revenue of $482 billion, Walmart employs more than 2.3 million associates worldwide. Walmart continues to be a leader in sustainability, corporate philanthropy and employment opportunity. Additional information about Walmart can be found by visiting http://corporate.walmart.com on Facebook at http://facebook.com/walmart and on Twitter at http://twitter.com/walmart. Online merchandise sales are available at http://www.walmart.com and http://www.samsclub.com.

*Available on any phone that can download the Walmart app.

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Walmart Pay Now Available in All Walmart Stores Nationwide

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BENTONVILLE, Ark.--()--Today, Walmart announced that Walmart Pay, a safe, easy and convenient way for customers to check out with their smartphones, is now available in the more than 4,600 Walmart stores nationwide. Available through the Walmart app, Walmart Pay works with any iOS or Android device*, at any checkout lane, and with any credit, debit, pre-paid or Walmart gift card.

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I remember watching TV shows such as "The Jetsons" when I was a child and fantasizing about the possibilities of living with a robot, riding in a flying car, or having food instantly show up warm and ready whenever I wanted it.

Fast forward a couple decades later, and it turns out that we are now on the brink of a Jetsons-like reality. Robotics companies are popping up all around the world, enabling humans to program objects with artificial intelligence to do mundane tasks for them, ranging from mopping the floors to answering doors.

Startups like Terrafugia are creating flying cars that can convert from driving mode to flying mode in under a minute. (You can even sign up to reserve one of the first publicly available cars.) And food creation is evolving to the point where our refrigerators know exactly what is inside of them and can even conjure up recipes using the ingredients you have on hand.

The technological revolution has impacted so many parts of our lives, and the " smart home" is the next big trend on the horizon. Computer scientists and industrial designers are working together to prototype new technologies that will make life at home easier and more efficient. Read on to unveil home technologies that are either available now or may become available over the next 5-10 years.

The futuristic Hi-Can bed comes complete with blinds that drop on all sides, making it pitch black even in full daylight, a built-in PC, and a multimedia system with connected speakers surrounding the bed and a large high-definition projector screen that drops down at the foot of the bed. It is also able to connect via Wi-Fi to all other compatible devices in your home, making it easy to adjust the lights and sounds throughout your house -- right from your bed.

Though still in a conceptual development phase, this mini washing machine may change the way we all do laundry. Perfect for those without a lot of space for a full-size washer, this machine is compact and portable, enabling you to wash pieces of laundry on-the-go. It's also designed to be eco-friendly. Instead of using water and soap, the machine cleans clothes via ultrasonic waves and can be charged with the sun via a built-in solar panel. These innovations could prove quite useful for those in developing countries without much access to water.

Another product still in its conceptual design phase, this digital cutting board is designed to be a touchscreen device, a food scale, and a cutting board in one. It can display recipes and step-by-step instructions while also telling you if you've added too much of an ingredient based on the weight of your food.

Up until recently, molecular gastronomy was used to describe the science of cooking; however, it is now more commonly referred to as a new type of cuisine that chefs all over the world have been adopting which uses common chemistry techniques to create a physical and chemical reaction during cooking. The result can yield all kinds of frozen foods in addition to tasty liquids like foams and jellies. The Mo'Sphere is a molecular cooking device that lets you, the home cook, create the same types of foods from within the walls of your own kitchen. No white coat required.

The Numi Toilet may just be one of the most advanced toilets ever. Complete with a touchscreen interface and built-in speakers, the toilet can connect via bluetooth to devices like your smartphone in order to play your favorite music or podcasts while you're on the pot. It also comes equipped with a motion sensor that raises the lid as you enter the bathroom, bidet functionality, a heated seat, and ambient lighting with multiple color options. There are even heat vents for your feet!

Already a hit in Asia and Europe, the Magic Mirror is a new product that is fast making its way to America. It's a fully functioning mirror that has a built-in display connected to the Internet so that you can browse the web, watch videos, check the weather, and more -- like Google glass for your bathroom -- all while you're getting ready for your day. It also comes with a sensor pad so that you can keep up with your health vitals (weight, etc) from a single location.

Ever wish you could not only turn your TV off, but make it invisible as well? The transparent TV may just be the answer to your wishes. It's a new product design that does just what it sounds like -- makes your TV screen transparent so that when it's turned off, you can see straight through it. While this one is more about form than it is function, I could be swayed by it for aesthetic purposes alone.

Acoustable is a speaker and a table in one, and aims to be as useful to place things on as it is to pump out sound. It is Wi-Fi compatible and thus can connect to your computer, iPod, or phone to play music or videos. It's a space saver and conversation piece all at once.

Click & Grow is a new product that makes growing herbs and plants indoors simpler. The magic lies in its "smart soil" which, according to its website, is a nano-technological growth medium that guarantees plant roots an optimal amount of water, oxygen and nutrients at all times. The soil draws from a built-in water reservoir that contains enough water to keep the plant healthy for 3-6 weeks before needing more H2O. Don't worry, an indicator will come on to let you know when to add more. Finally, a way to become a gardener without needing to have a green thumb first.

New tools make locking and unlocking your doors as easy as pushing a button on your smartphone. Devices like Lockitron, Kevo, and August are useful not only for those who have a tendency to misplace their keys, but also for those who may want to grant access to someone to enter their home remotely. Using a connected app, you can give a friend permission to unlock your door for a specified period of time, a good solution for those who may have guests stopping by when they're not around.

Would you use any of these futuristic home technologies? If you can't get enough, check out even more gadgets from your future home. You might be using some of them inside your own house sooner than you think.

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take a peek inside your future home - cnn

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I remember watching TV shows such as "The Jetsons" when I was a child and fantasizing about the possibilities of living with a robot, riding in a flying car, or having food instantly show up warm and ready whenever I wanted it.

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Future technology: 22 ideas about to change our world | BBC Science Focus Magazine

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The future is coming, and sooner than you think. These emerging technologies will change the way we live, how we look after our bodies and help us avert a climate disaster.

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You're already connected to your phone 24/7, so is it that much of a stretch that tomorrow's phone will be embedded in your body?

We've already got technology built into our watches, shirts and shoes. While having a phone implanted into your head, hand or arm may sound like science fiction, it's really just the next logical step.

At least, that's the thinking of influential industry leaders who were surveyed by the World Economic Forum, a group of the world's most powerful leaders and tycoons who are meeting this week in Davos, Switzerland.

The survey offers a glimpse into their vision of the future and where society is headed. Many believe we are entering a time of momentous changes thanks to advancements in software. That includes artificial intelligence, Internet-connected devices, 3D printing and, yes, phones in our heads.

"Now comes the second Machine Age," Erik Brynjolfsson, director of MIT's Initiative on the Digital Economy at the Sloan School of Management, said in the report. "Computers and other digital advances are doing for mental power -- the ability to use our brains to understand and shape our environments -- what the steam engine and its descendants did for muscle power."

What are some of the predictions that will shake up our world? Think Kate Beckinsale in the remake of the sci-fi thriller "Total Recall" video chatting with her boss using the phone embedded in her hand. Experts say embeddable "phones" or devices that are implanted in the body that use wireless technology could be commercially available by 2023.

While you may not necessarily want to take text messages or phone calls in your head, there will be plenty of opportunity for other applications, especially in the medical field. For years, doctors have implanted pacemakers to keep hearts beating and cochlear implants to help people hear.

That's just the beginning. Soon devices that connect to phones will help monitor health functions like glucose levels in a diabetic patient, track activity levels for patients on heart monitors, or send alerts about detected diseases. While there are likely many worthy benefits to such technology, there's also concern about privacy, government surveillance and simply getting to a place where humans change how they communicate with each other.

Another key prediction is that industry leaders believe that by 2026, one out of every 10 cars on US roads will be driverless. That's just a decade from now.

Companies like Audi and Google are already test driving such cars, and other companies are also ramping up efforts in this area. The idea is that driverless cars will be more efficient and safer than cars driven by humans because it removes the most unpredictable factor: us.

The impact the technology could have on providing reliable transportation for the elderly population and people with disabilities are also significant. Are there downsides? Taxi and truck drivers may be out of jobs. And there are cybersecurity risks from "hacked" cars. Last summer, two hackers demonstrated they could control a car's dashboard function, steering and brakes all through the vehicle's entertainment system while it was moving.

There are risks to be sure, but the stage has been set. Google says its driverless car will be available in 2020. And in 2012, Nevada became the first state to permit the use of autonomous vehicles.

The survey noted a total of 21 "tipping points" for technologies that may sound futuristic but are really just a few years away from mass adoption. They include Internet-connected reading glasses and the first transplant of a 3D printed liver.

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The mobile phone of the future will be implanted in your head

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You're already connected to your phone 24/7, so is it that much of a stretch that tomorrow's phone will be embedded in your body? We've already got technology built into our watches, shirts and shoes. While having a phone implanted into your head, hand or arm may sound like science fiction, it's really just the next logical step.

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Editor's Note - Future of Aviation explores the next leaps forward in the world of air travel, from jet technology to passenger experiences. Read CNN's sponsorship policy

(CNN) - Air travel photos from the 1960s show smartly dressed, champagne-sipping passengers in spacious airliner cabins.

Contrast that with today's cramped seats and overcrowded airports and it looks like our flying experiences are getting steadily worse.

But is this based on reality?

The aviation industry has been investing massively to prove nostalgic travelers wrong.

Yes, aircraft may still look similar to those of the so-called golden years.

But every single aspect of the air travel experience is currently being overhauled -- all driven by technology.

Right at the forefront are airplane cabins.

And key to their transformation is wireless connectivity.

With virtually every passenger toting a smartphone, tablet or laptop, inflight Wi-Fi is opening up new ways to engage with air travelers and redefine the flying experience.

Personalized inflight entertainment

Mobile tech already plays an important role in enhancing travel, from electronic boarding passes to last-minute bids on biz class upgrades.

Some airlines, such as KLM, have even started sending boarding passes and flight alerts through a dedicated airline Facebook Messenger chat bot.

But the one area where mobile can become truly transformative is inflight entertainment, with personal devices becoming gateways to a whole range of up-in-the-air services.

While built-in in-flight entertainment systems are unlikely to vanish, particularly on long-haul flights, they can work in tandem with the passenger's own devices.

Earlier in 2016, Panasonic unveiled Waterfront, a system that allows the passengers to use their mobile handsets to control an aircraft's built-in entertainment.

Aerospace companies Thales and B/E are also using mobiles to personalize passenger experiences.

By syncing with handsets, their seats know a passenger's preferences and can even restart a movie at the exact place where they left it in the previous flight.

Some airlines are doing away with embedded entertainment systems altogether.

They're opting for passenger's handsets to deliver inflight entertainment -- a move that crucially reduces aircraft weight and frees up cabin space.

No Internet connection is required, passengers just connect their devices to an in-plane network.

Netherlands-based AirFi is primarily equipping low-cost airlines that often fly short-haul single-aisle aircraft and don't have entertainment systems.

The company's portable wireless system beams pre-loaded content onto passenger devices.

The AirFi terminal behaves like a normal Internet router. It's lightweight and can easily be installed in a luggage compartment.

AirFi CEO Job Heimerikx says it's a cost effective and flexible way to provide quality inflight content to the short haul market.

"There are a customer service and a commercial angle to our system," he says.

"Passengers can access a broad range of movies and other sort of entertainment, but they can also use it to order food or shop duty free.

"It's like an evolution of the traditional inflight magazine, but just as it happens at online stores, you can make it really personal."

This concept thrives on having a captive audience.

But would it still work if users had a full inflight broadband Internet connection?

Passengers might be more interested in binge-watching their favorite TV series instead of booking airport transfers or ordering an extra cup of coffee.

"If airlines can't stop the passenger from going to Amazon or zoning out on Netflix for three hours... and they can't offer something at least equally interesting in terms of intuitive retail and custom content, they are missing a number of tricks" says Maryann Simson of Runway Girl Network, a leading aviation news website focusing on passenger experience.

It's a theory that'll get put to the test soon.

Aeromexico recently announced it would use Gogo's 2Ku satellite-based Internet connection to offer Netflix-enabled flights.

"More than 80% of passengers are walking on the plane with their own device," Gogo exec Ash ElDifrawi points out.

"Airlines can save the weight and maintenance costs of legacy seat-back entertainment systems and still provide differentiated experiences.

"For example, they can now create custom portals that create a unique brand and advertising opportunity for the airlines."

Internet connections are only the beginning.

Both Transavia, a low cost subsidiary of Air France/KLM, and Australian carrier Qantas have been testing virtual reality technology as an alternative to traditional in flight entertainment.

VR could offer not only entertainment but also help calm those afraid of flying.

Transavia also sees virtual reality sets as a potential source of extra cash, perhaps offered as a premium service.

Daan Noordeloos, manager marketing and customer strategies for Transavia, says tests have so far proved positive.

"We are evaluating ways to continue it and make it part of our regular inflight offering," he adds.

Qantas has already rolled out VR sets for first class passengers on some select flights between Australia and Los Angeles, with encouraging results.

New generation in-flight entertainment isn't going to be enjoyable without a comfortable environment to experience it in.

Providing a nice, relaxing atmosphere in a cramped metal tube is always going to be a challenge, but moves are afoot to improve that.

LED lighting has already proven effective during night flights, even apparently reducing jet lag.

No wonder both Boeing's next generation aircraft and the "Airspace by Airbus" cabin, rolled out on Airbus A330neo and A350 aircraft, make extensive use of LEDs.

Extra comfort is also coming from the constant accumulation of incremental ergonomic improvements.

These are the things that passengers barely notice on their own but put together make a difference between a good and a great travel experience.

Such as lavatories with anti-bacterial surfaces, or better designed overhead bins that reduce boarding time by making it easier to store hand luggage.

Many of the industry's creative energies are being devoted to creating the perfect airline seat.

It may come as a surprise to those stuck at the back of the economy class cabin, but these are exciting times for the aircraft seating industry.

An increasing number of airlines are discontinuing first class, but those that keep it are making it way more opulent, such as Etihad with its Residence.

Discontinuing first has led many airlines to upgrade their business class, opening a gap for the introduction of premium economy services.

Some carriers are pondering a more basic economy class, but does that mean radical proposals for standing-only planes will soon be realized?

They say certification costs and reputation risks may simply not be worth it, particularly when existing seats with pitches of 30 inches or less are already very efficient.

"I really can't foresee this happening in the near future," says Victor Carlioz, an advanced concept engineer at Zodiac Aerospace.

"Instead we'll see a focus toward more innovative features in the economy class seat.

A compromise may be the flex-up seat proposed by Aviointeriors.

The Italian manufacturer is exploring a cinema-style seat for economy class that folds up vertically when unoccupied, allowing easier movement around the plane.

Ingo Wuggetzer, of Airbus, highlights how personalization is also becoming a thing in aircraft interiors.

The industry ideal is to create a seat that adapts perfectly to a passenger's body.

In 2011 the European manufacturer unveiled its "Future by Airbus" concept that outlined, among other things, the company's vision of the passenger cabin of 2050.

This included its own interpretation of the "smart seat" -- one able to recognize and adapt to its occupant ergonomically and through entertainment preferences.

A first step in that direction may be the "twisting seat" concept proposed by London-based Factory Design.

Creative director Adam White says the flexible structure is based upon a careful anatomical study of the multiple positions that the back adopts while seated.

White is also behind Air Lair, a concept of sleeping pods that immerse premium travelers in a futuristic cocoon with adjustable light, sound and temperature.

Other designs envisage adding sleeping rooms in standard aircraft cabins.

Carlioz and his Zodiac Aerospace team, for example, see potential in using an aircraft's cargo space and area between the stowage bins and fuselage to accommodate bunks.

"It's simply a question of who has the ambition and willingness to invest into a project of this scale and truly break the mold," says the company's industrial designer, Matthew Cleary.

Sounds radical, but perhaps not so much once the likely evolution of current technologies and concepts are taken into account.

"Design houses really are competing fiercely for airline business and that means they are also pushing the limits of creativity," says Runway Girl Network's Simson.

"Designs are becoming more intuitive, fabrics more breathable and inner-foam materials are being developed to stay cooler (which adds to comfort).

"Increasingly, we see seat designers taking cues from the automotive industry too, with auto seat makers such as Recaro and Mirus having started successful aero divisions."

Airbus's Wuggetzer says there's potential to develop powerful strategies to produce standout cabin features, even in economy class.

Transparency is key, he adds.

"The same way that travelers are used to comparing hotels and check reviews on TripAdvisor, innovation in the cabin experience could lead to more differentiation between the experience provided not just on different aircraft types, but on different airlines."

The golden age of air travel may be just starting, after all...

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airline cabins of the future: a new travel golden age? - cnn

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Editor's Note - Future of Aviation explores the next leaps forward in the world of air travel, from jet technology to passenger experiences. Read CNN's sponsorship policy (CNN) - Air travel photos from the 1960s show smartly dressed, champagne-sipping passengers in spacious airliner cabins.

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In a step forward for robotics design, humanoid robot DURUS uses heel-to-toe walking.

Credit: Christian Hubicki / Georgia Tech

A bipedal robot can now put its best foot forward, stepping with a heel-toe motion that copies human locomotion more closely than flat-footed robot walkers can.

By rocking its "feet" forward from the heel and pushing off at the toe, the DURUS robot closely imitates the walking motion of people, making it more energy-efficient and better at navigating uneven terrain, according to Christian Hubicki, a postdoctoral fellow in robotics at the Georgia Institute of Technology and one of the researchers who helped DURUS find its footing.

Enhanced walking capabilities could help robots navigate environments that people move around in, and could improve the performance of bots created for disaster response, Hubicki told Live Science. [ Robots on the Run! 5 Bots That Can Really Move]

The humanoid robot DURUS was designed collaboratively by the research nonprofit SRI International and Georgia Tech's Advanced Mechanical Bipedal Experimental Robotics (AMBER) Lab. An earlier DURUS design was modified to accommodate the new manner of walking, enabled by a novel mathematical algorithm that adjusts the robot's momentum and balance, one step at a time.

Robots that walk on two legs typically have "feet" that are large and flat, to provide a more stable platform, Hubicki told Live Science.

Heel-to-toe walking makes DURUS more energy-efficient and more stable than flat-footed walkers.

Credit: Christian Hubicki / Georgia Tech

"Bigger feet mean a bigger polygon of support, and the harder it is to fall," Hubicki said.

The algorithms that dictate a robot's forward momentum typically keep those big feet flat on the ground when pushing off, to minimize the risk that the bot will tip over.

"As soon as you lean on an edge, you're like a pendulum - on a pivot point that can fall forward or backward," Hubicki said.

But while a flat-footed walker might perform well on a treadmill, uneven terrain in the real world that doesn't accommodate a flat foot could confound the algorithm and stop a robot in its tracks.

Enter the AMBER Lab researchers, who designed a new algorithm that works to keep a robot upright and moving forward even if only parts of the foot are engaged. Hubicki and his colleagues tested DURUS using a modified foot with an arch; every step began with the heel making contact - the "heel strike," according to Hubicki - and then rolling to the ball of the foot to push off from the ground. Springs installed by the robot's ankles act like tendons, storing the heel strike's energy to be released later, as lift.

On July 12, AMBER Lab posted a video of a confidently striding DURUS on YouTube. DURUS' new feet are about the same size as human feet - about half as long as the feet on the original model. And to emphasize the similarity, the team laced them into a pair of sneakers.

"We wanted to show that our algorithms could make it walk with human-size feet," Hubicki said. "What better way to do that than [by] putting shoes on it?"

The algorithm may even have applications beyond robotics, Hubicki added, suggesting that it could be used to improve the design of prosthetics and exoskeletons to help people who use assistance to get around.

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Shoe-Wearing Robot's No Flatfoot - It Walks Like a Person

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A bipedal robot can now put its best foot forward, stepping with a heel-toe motion that copies human locomotion more closely than flat-footed robot walkers can.

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Driverless car and chopper can fight where soldiers can't

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Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University and Sikorsky have created an autonomous vehicle that works alongside an autonomous helicopter to assist with dangerous and complicated military operations.

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Could iris scans replace fingerprints?

Credit: Sergey Nivens / Shutterstock.com

FBI officials have scanned the irises of nearly 460,000 people in a pilot program that may soon replace fingerprints. While iris-scanning technology has been around for more than 25 years, it's just now getting to where it's fast, easy and relatively bug-free.

"It's a powerful biometric," said Patrick Grother, a computer scientist at the National Institute of Standards and Technology in Gaithersburg, Md., who has been developing algorithms and software for iris scanning. "It's fast to process, it has discriminative power -- my iris doesn't look like your iris, and it has reasonable permanence."

RELATED: Iris Scanner Identifies a Person 40 Feet Away

Iris scanning has replaced retinal scans, a method that has been pretty much abandoned since it turned out to be uncomfortable for people to endure, Grother explained. Iris scan technology was featured recently in the AMC mini-series " The Night Manager," based on a John LeCarre spy novel. The lead character used an iris scan camera on his smartphone to access his Swiss bank account (just before a big truck blew up).

Grother says that kind of quick reading ability isn't far away, and several banks are looking at using it. Windows' Lumia Nokia and Fujitsu both have iris scanners to unlock their phones, (similar to the iPhone fingerprint pad) but it's not ready to authenticate other sorts of apps or accounts.

Iris scanning cameras can be hand-held or attached to a wall. They are effective from three to six feet away from the subject's eyes. Soldiers in Iraq have been using them to authenticate Iraqi civilians who are authorized to work inside U.S. military facilities.

The iris is a part of the eye outside of the pupil that is made of collagen in a three-dimensional arrangement. This pattern can be imaged with light at certain wavelengths.

"It's like taking picture of sand dunes from space," he said. "It's a 3-D object."

The FBI's Iris Pilot program is being deployed by law enforcement officials in California, Texas and Missouri during the booking process. The U.S. Border Patrol and Department of Defense are also using iris scans, according to Stephen Fischer, an FBI spokesman.

The next step is collecting iris scans from photographs of people's eyes.

RELATED: The Eyes Have It: College Adopts Iris Scans

"Iris images enrolled in the FBI Iris Pilot are primarily captured during the booking process in a controlled setting with a camera designed to capture the iris image," Fischer said in an email to DNews. "These cameras capture the iris image in near-infrared light. Research is currently being conducted on the extraction of iris images from high-resolution photographs."

People with brown eyes have more pigment than those with blue eyes, said Grother. That makes it tougher to capture iris information from photographs of brown-eyed folks.

Of course, anyone who blinks, squints or scrunches up their eyes will make it difficult for law enforcement to get a good scan.

Grother and other experts now are developing software to recognize iris patterns from several different camera angles, making it easier to use a hand-held device or smartphone.

Original article on Discovery News.

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FBI officials have scanned the irises of nearly 460,000 people in a pilot program that may soon replace fingerprints. While iris-scanning technology has been around for more than 25 years, it's just now getting to where it's fast, easy and relatively bug-free.