RICHMOND, Va. – Hungry college students seeking a meal will step up to an iris scanner first.

Virginia Commonwealth University is deploying the technology in its cafeteria this fall in the name of expediency.

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“Students won’t need their ID to enter the dining center anymore,” says Stephen Barr, the director of campus services, according to the school’s website. “With iris identification, it’s as simple as a camera taking a picture of their eyes and two seconds later they walk through.”

Barr says the system is intended for convenience, like if a student loses his or her ID over the weekend.

“There currently isn’t a mechanism for students to get a replacement ID [over the weekend] so they can access Shafer (Court Dining Center),” Barr says. “So how do they eat over the weekend? In the past, they’ve had to come out of pocket. Now they don’t have to. This backup lets them get into Shafer so they can eat.”

According to the school:

The iCAM 7100 iris cameras, made by North Carolina-based ColorID, take a high-definition photo of the user’s iris and then identify 220-plus unique points. It then generates a number, which is associated with that individual meal plan holder’s iris.

“We don’t keep pictures of your iris,” Barr says. “It’s just a number, just like your ID. Your ID has a unique number that ties it to you.”

Many students are happy about the public university utilizing such an invasive system.

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USA Today notes, “Many students took to the VCU Facebook page to voice their concerns, calling the new system ‘creepy and unnecessary.’ Some accused the school of abusing students’ tuition money, but the VCU Facebook account responded saying that VCU Dining Services raises money from outside locations that are independent from student tuition.”

“We’re going to continually improve access to Shafer and see if there are other places [on campus] that we can expand this kind of technology to, as well,” according to Barr.