A process and an enabling system and associated devices are directed to automatically and positively identifying a person based upon a matching comparison between a stored, historical iris recognition-based record and a contemporaneously obtained record. The algorithm involves identifying anchor features in selected regions of an iris image and mapping an iris pattern associated with the anchor features into a topologically consistent flat analysis space. Analysis according to the invention generates historical (reference) and contemporaneous Iris Feature Vectors for individuals upon which matching comparisons can be made to positively identify an individual from the reference base.
