Feb 05
Forget retina scans and fingerprints. Turns out, body odor is a shockingly accurate biometric identifier. And according to new research from a team of Spanish scientists, it could change the way security checkpoints work.
     |
Jun 17
It’s only natural to be a little skeeved out by the idea that the government is slurping up your private data
| |
Apr 09
AOptix Stratus lets iPhone users check ID through eyes, faces, fingers and voices
Posted in: Today's Chili 
The many attempts at weaving biometric identification into mobile devices have usually focused on only one aspect at a time, whether it’s fingerprints or voices, and often for access to just the device itself. AOptix isn’t quite so narrowly focused. Its new Stratus system combines an app with a custom iPhone 4 / 4S case (the Stratus MX) to verify faces, irises, fingerprints and voices for grander purposes, whether it’s office workers checking in or entire national ID programs. The bundle should be more portable than most such alternatives, as well as more intuitive through its familiar interface. Odds are that you won’t be buying a Stratus kit to scan friends and family at home, though. Apart from the bundle’s lack of support for the iPhone 5 or any non-iOS platform, the Stratus software in the App Store isn’t an impulse purchase at $199 — and an emphasis on quotation-based case sales likely means you’ll be the scanner’s target, not its owner.
Filed under: Cellphones, Peripherals, Mobile, Apple
Source: AOptix
Mar 08
Google Glass App Identifies People By Clothes, Hints At Tech That Could Counter Face Blindness
Posted in: Today's Chili
That problem where you’re meeting someone for the first time, maybe to pick up something you bought through Craigslist? Google Glass can help with that. A new app designed for Google’s upcoming smart-mounted computer will be able to identify people based on what they’re wearing. The so-called InSight project (via 9to5Google) is funded in part by Google and developed by University of South Caroline and Duke University researchers, and uses a smartphone app to develop a clothing-based digital fingerprint to help identify strangers.
The app would let users like sellers on Craigslist, or members of online dating sites, or anyone meeting someone for the first time create a profile of themselves using their smartphone camera, and shots from various angles. InSight would then piece together a virtual profile of that person based on what they’re wearing, which could then be used by Google Glass to make a positive ID when that person comes within range of its visual sensors. It’s very sci-fi, it’s very cool, and best of all, it’s very accurate: in tests so far the researchers behind the project have been able to get a positive match 93 percent of the time.
The system uses clothes because it provides more visual signals at a distance to help with identification, and also because it keeps a user’s identity more or less private, since all they have to do is change clothes in order to not be identified by the same person’s Google Glass application in the future. But it could be refined to help with prosopagnosia, otherwise known as face blindness, and that’s where Google Glass’s therapeutic potential really starts to become apparent.
Prosopagnosia may affect up to 2.5 percent of the world’s population to varying degrees, according to a recent study, so while rare a system that corrects it could still have a significant impact. InSight, or technology like it, could help by identifying people based on their facial characteristics and keeping a stored database of people know to the Google Glass wearer, so that they can ‘recognize’ faces thanks to information provided through their heads up display.
The same kind of tech could also help with visual agnosia, a disorder resulting from strokes that can render a patient incapable of identifying everyday objects. And for more quotidian uses, it could work in tandem with language learning software to help learners identify the world around them in their target tongue.
Google Glass may not be something consumers can buy quite yet, but it’s already showing that it could have plenty of applications beyond just acting as an extension of your smartphone.
Sep 28
Severely Burned Corpse Identified By the Maggots Infesting Her Body [Science]
Posted in: Today's Chili
If you ever come across a body that’s so badly burned you can’t identify the corpse, don’t worry: just keep your eyes open for maggots. Because a police forensics team in Mexico managed to identify a body through maggot ID alone. More »
Jul 23
It’s no secret that everyone has a unique swagger — so much so it can be used for identification. Many are working on this for biometric security, including a team at Carnegie Mellon University and Autonomous ID, who are collaborating on shoe insoles that monitor pressure and gait to confirm the identity of the wearer. So far, tests have shown a detection rate above 99 percent within just three steps, meaning they can alert you before that opportunist even makes it out of the locker room. It’s thought the cloud-connected BioSoles could be implemented in security access, although we’re not sure this offers advantages over similar, static technology also in development. We do, however, like the idea that subtle changes in your strut could be used to provide early indications of conditions such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and diabetes. It’s likely that the insoles won’t be available any time soon, so until then, keep an eagle eye on those expensive kicks.
Continue reading BioSoles know you’re you within three steps, deter shoe bandits
Filed under: Wearables, Science
BioSoles know you’re you within three steps, deter shoe bandits originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 23 Jul 2012 12:41:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink 
The Verge | 
Carnegie Mellon University | Email this | Comments
Who's in charge here?
This is site is run by Sascha Endlicher, M.A., during ungodly late night hours. Wanna know more about him? Connect via Social Media by jumping to about.me/sascha.endlicher.