Futuristic eye scanner breaks new ground for schools

IT looks like a scene from the latest Philip K Dick science fiction blockbuster — students having their eyes scanned as they queue in the canteen for food.

The futuristic technology was unveiled in a school in Britain yesterday to allow pupils to buy school meals without using any cash.

Using the iris scanner, Sunderland's Venerable Bede School can secretly pick out less well-off pupils who are entitled to free meals from those who have to pay, who will be charged in a separate account.