THE ID CARD AND VERIFICATION TECHNIQUE HAS BROAD APPLICATION TO ACCESS CONTROL, ELECTRONIC FUNDS TRANSFER, DRIVER LICENSES, GOVERNMENT FACILITIES, NUCLEAR POWER STATIONS, FUEL PROCESSING PLANTS, AND TO OTHER SITUATIONS REQUIRING PERSONNEL IDENTIFICATION AND A HIGH LEVEL OF SECURITY. THE OBVIOUS WEAKNESS OF THE STANDARD ID CARD IS THAT THE CARD BEARER CAN EASILY PASTE OVER THE PHOTOGRAPH. WITH THE OPTICAL TECHNIQUE, THE ID CARD HAS A PHOTOGRAPH OF THE AUTHORIZED CARD HOLDER THAT IS VISIBLE UNDER ORDINARY ILLUMINATION. A SECOND IDENTICAL PHOTOGRAPH OF THE USER ALSO IS INCLUDED THAT IS HIDDEN FROM VIEW INSIDE THE CARD. WHEN THE CARD IS ILLUMINATED BY OPTICAL LIGHTING AND VIEWED BY A SPECIAL LIGHTING SYSTEM AND TELEVISION OR HAND-HELD VIEWER, BOTH VISIBLE AND HIDDEN PHOTOGRAPHS ARE DISPLAYED. THE AVAILABILITY OF BOTH PHOTOGRAPHS PERMIT A GUARD TO DETERMINE WHETHER THE VISIBLE PHOTOGRAPH IS AUTHENTIC OR COUNTERFEIT. THE SPECIAL TELEVISION-VIEWING SYSTEM PROVIDES A SPLIT-SCREEN VIEW OF THE ID CARD AND PERSON'S FACE, ALLOWING A GUARD TO COMPARE THE FACE OF THE PERSON (LIVE) WITH VISIBLE AND HIDDEN PHOTOGRAPHS ON THE ID CARD. OTHER INFORMATION HIDDEN IN THE ID CARD INCLUDES SIGNATURE, PERSONAL PRINTED DATA, A MEMORIZED ID CODE NUMBER, AND A BINARY CODE. A GUARD CAN INTERROGATE THE CARD BEARER USING DATA DISPLAYED FROM THE ID CARD TO PROVIDE INCREASED SECURITY. THE TELEVISION SYSTEM CAN READ THE BINARY CODE WHICH IS INTERPRETED BY THE COMPUTER AS A VALID OR INVALID CODE AND CARD. THIS ACCESS CONTROL SYSTEM COMBINES THE HIGH PROBABILITY OF IDENTIFICATION WITH THE LOW PROBABILITY OF ID-CARD COUNTERFEITING. SAMPLE ID CARDS, DATA, ILLUSTRATIONS, AND A SHORT BIBLIOGRAPHY ARE INCLUDED. (AUTHOR'S ABSTRACT MODIFIED--DEP)