Personal identification

An apparatus for providing an information signal characteristic of an eye, said apparatus comprising:

• a housing having an entrance window;
• an image capture device mounted within the housing, in optical communication with said entrance window, and operable to provide an image signal representing one or more features of the eye responsive to non-visible light reflected from the eye;
• an illumination source operable to illuminate the eye with light, at least a portion of which is non-visible;
• a target object visible, in use, through said entrance window by the eye;
• an optical element disposed, in use, across the optical path between said eye and the target object and across the optical path between the image capture device and the eye, said optical element being substantially transparent to said non-visible light, and having a first region which is less transparent to visible light from said target object than a second region thereof;
• the arrangement being such that, when aligned for use, the image capture device views the eye through said first region and the eye views the target object through the second region.