FROM FAST COMPANY
Eyeball This: Biometrics That Track The Way You See
What if you could be recognized by the way your eyes moved? An Israeli company believes that tracking the unique signatures in the movement of your eyeballs could be the most foolproof biometric system ever. What's more, its setup could be used as a lie detector, or a drug and alcohol test.
In ID-U Biometrics' system, the user has to watch a moving object onscreen, while the camera observes the motion of their eyes. Since the way our eyes move is based on a combination of factors --such as anatomy, physiology, behavioral characteristics, eye structure--it's a signature that simply can't be duplicated or forged, according to its developers.
Dr. Daphna Palti-Wasserman, CEO of ID-U Biometrics, says she designed the system by drawing up a wish list for the ultimate identification technology. "We explored the possible human signals and mechanisms that could deliver our dream biometrics," she told Fast Company. "It brought us to the visual system and to the dynamic approach."
This approach differs radically from eye-related biometrics we've written about previously, such as iris scanning. Iris scanning systems rely on matching the image of your iris structure with a stored pattern of your iris. In contrast, the pattern the ID-U technology is based on consists of dynamic movements made by your eyes as they track a target, something that cannot be controlled or learned. "Most of the eye movement components are involuntary, and we are not aware of them at all," says Palti-Wasserman.
The system requires only a screen, a camera and the ID-U software to obtain the identification signature. It can authenticate the user in as little as four to fifteen seconds and has a two percent error rate. Since it requires no specialized hardware, it can be easily deployed across a variety of platforms from homeland security applications to ATM transactions. It could one day replace conventional passwords in smartphones and PCs.
READ MORE
Eyeball This: Biometrics That Track The Way You See
What if you could be recognized by the way your eyes moved? An Israeli company believes that tracking the unique signatures in the movement of your eyeballs could be the most foolproof biometric system ever. What's more, its setup could be used as a lie detector, or a drug and alcohol test.
In ID-U Biometrics' system, the user has to watch a moving object onscreen, while the camera observes the motion of their eyes. Since the way our eyes move is based on a combination of factors --such as anatomy, physiology, behavioral characteristics, eye structure--it's a signature that simply can't be duplicated or forged, according to its developers.
Dr. Daphna Palti-Wasserman, CEO of ID-U Biometrics, says she designed the system by drawing up a wish list for the ultimate identification technology. "We explored the possible human signals and mechanisms that could deliver our dream biometrics," she told Fast Company. "It brought us to the visual system and to the dynamic approach."
This approach differs radically from eye-related biometrics we've written about previously, such as iris scanning. Iris scanning systems rely on matching the image of your iris structure with a stored pattern of your iris. In contrast, the pattern the ID-U technology is based on consists of dynamic movements made by your eyes as they track a target, something that cannot be controlled or learned. "Most of the eye movement components are involuntary, and we are not aware of them at all," says Palti-Wasserman.
The system requires only a screen, a camera and the ID-U software to obtain the identification signature. It can authenticate the user in as little as four to fifteen seconds and has a two percent error rate. Since it requires no specialized hardware, it can be easily deployed across a variety of platforms from homeland security applications to ATM transactions. It could one day replace conventional passwords in smartphones and PCs.
READ MORE
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