FROM BLOOMBERG

‘Minority Report’ May Come to Real World With Iris Recognition
By Chris Dolmetsch - Feb 2, 2011 12:00 AM ET


If Hoyos Corp. has its way, the world will soon resemble a Tom Cruise movie.

A closely held company based in Puerto Rico, Hoyos makes devices that photograph human irises for identification purposes, like the technology featured in the films “Mission: Impossible” and “Minority Report.”

In the movies, the technology protects super-secret labs and high-security vaults, helps chase down criminals and flashes personalized ads. In the real world, it screens employees of Bank of America Corp. and travelers at London’s Heathrow Airport and helps New York City police track prisoners.

As key patents expire and costs fall, Hoyos wants to make the technology ubiquitous, installing it on mobile phones to verify online payments and cash machines to replace bank cards that require personal identification numbers, said Chief Development Officer Jeff Carter.

“The cost of the devices has come down and the fraud is going up at such an escalating rate that it’s beginning to make sense,” Carter said in an interview at the New York offices of Hoyos, formerly known as Global Rainmakers Inc. Civil libertarians warn that the technology’s use may come with complications for privacy, and increased reliance on it may heighten the risk of misidentification.

Physical Characteristics

Biometric technology such as iris recognition uses physical characteristics including facial shape, fingerprints, retinal photos and iris patterns to confirm identities.

The technology works by photographing the iris, the colored membrane that controls how much light reaches the retina, and converting the picture into a computer code. The code is compared with one in a database.

Its history goes back to 1936, when Frank Burch, an ophthalmologist in St. Paul, Minnesota, proposed identifying people using the furrows, ridges, rings and freckling that make every iris unique.

READ MORE

Road train technology can drive your car for you


Letting drivers read a book, surf the net or possibly even have a snooze while behind the wheel may not sound like the best way to improve road safety. Yet that's precisely the aim of an automatic driving system that has just been road-tested for the first time in Sweden.

By linking cars together into road trains or "platoons" to form semi-autonomous convoys under the control of a professional lead driver, the hope is that average road speeds can be reduced, improving fuel consumption and cutting congestion.

In a test performed late last month, Volvo, one of the partners of the Safe Road Trains for the Environment (SARTRE) Project, showed that a single car could join a platoon, be "enslaved" by a lead truck, and then exit safely. Discussions are now under way to carry out tests on public roads in Spain next year.

Platooning is not a new idea, says Tom Robinson of engineering firm Ricardo UK in Cambridge, the co-ordinator of the project, which is funded by €6.4 million of European Commission money. Early small-scale tests, such as the PATH project tested in San Diego in 1991, used induction loops in the road, he says. "We are looking at operating platoons on public highways without having to change the infrastructure".

Your sensors are mine now

Some modern cars already come equipped with sensors and actuators to ensure that they don't get too close to the car in front, or don't drift out of their lane, says Robinson. SARTRE was set up to exploit these technologies, but to use them to bring vehicles closer together instead.

Using a wireless standard developed specifically for vehicle-to-vehicle communication – IEEE 802.11p – these systems would be enslaved by the lead vehicle, which would be either a truck or a coach. The car would be placed under the control of that lead vehicle, allowing the driver to take their hands off the wheel until they wish to leave the platoon.


READ MORE

FROM THE SINGULARITY HUB

Will Lady Gaga’s New Glasses Bring Lifelogging to the Masses?

Pop diva Lady Gaga’s latest sunglasses are straight out of a spy movie. Produced in collaboration with Polaroid, and unveiled recently at CES 2011, the GL20 Camera Glasses use two small screens in the lenses to display images and video from an embedded camera. Users can snap photos or record video of their surroundings, and then upload that content to a computer via Bluetooth or a USB port hidden in the ear piece. The GL20 is scheduled to be available later this year at an undisclosed price. You can see the premier of Gaga’s latest venture into electronics at the CES press event in the video below. Devices like these Camera Glasses will make it remarkably simple to record one’s life as it happens. With her new line of products, Lady Gaga could help bring lifelogging to the masses.

Over a year ago, Polaroid announced it had hired Lady Gaga as its Creative Director. Through that collaboration was born the Grey Label, Gaga’s new line of designer electronics. Along with the GL20 Camera Glasses, Polaroid also announced the launch of a $150 mobile photo printer (with Bluetooth connectivity), and a new line of Polaroid cameras (with both digital and photo printing capabilities). During the press event, Gaga also mentioned that she’ll be producing a device that could push your photos directly to social media outlets:


READ MORE

FROM ENGADGET

AIRPrint performs ranged fingerprint scanning, won't let the terrorists win
By Michael Gorman  posted Jan 18th 2011 7:12AM

While ears may be the new biometric du jour, Advanced Optical Systems (AOS) is doing its best to keep fingerprints as the preferred method for identifying enemies of the state. The company has built a fingerprint scanner with the ability to accurately read a print up to two meters away, and our military views the system as a means to reduce the risk to soldiers at security checkpoints all over the world. The AIRPrint system is a significant upgrade over previous biometric security systems because it allows a person's identity to be confirmed by military personnel from behind the safety of a blast wall or armored vehicle, which keeps our serviceman out of harm's way. AIRPrint uses a source of polarized light and two 1.3 megapixel cameras (one to receive vertically polarized light and another to receive horizontally polarized light) in order to produce an accurate fingerprint. The prototype is able to scan and verify a print in under five seconds, but the device can presently only process one finger at a time, and that finger must stay a fixed distance from the cameras to get a precise reading. Despite these current limitations, AOS claims that soon the equipment will be capable of reading five prints simultaneously while a person is moving toward or away from the device. The system will be ready for market in the third quarter of this year, which is bad news for terrorists and soccer hooligans, but a windfall for Big Brother.

FROM SOMEWHERE

Progressive’s New Snapshot Device Records Your Driving Habits

Progressive Insurance has introduced a new program called ‘Snapshot’ to help drivers, who curb their driving habits, save money.

According to The Progressive site the Snapshot device will be sent to the customer who must plug it into their car. This device will record information about your driving habits (i.e. miles driven, time of day and how many sudden stop you make). After 30 days of recording, the customer could earn a discount on insurance. Make note of the loophole term ‘could’.

Taken from Progressive Snapshot FAQ:

Once you get your Snapshot device in the mail, just plug it into your car’s diagnostic port (usually below the steering column), and drive as you normally would to take your snapshot. Then log in to your policy to view your driving information and projected discount. Reading between the lines the obvious question is: will the information collected be used against the customer in order to raise their insurance rates? There are also very serious privacy concerns with this type of program.

FROM DVICE

Smiley face spy cam delivers secret video with feel good design

The last thing a cadre of stormtroopers, or the subject of a sting operation is expecting is a smiley face button concealing a spy cam, which is exactly what makes this device a must have for amateur covert ops.

The Smile Name Badge Sports HD DVR can take still pictures and record video and audio all from the surreptitious confines of your lapel. Powered by a rechargeable lithium ion battery and equipped with a Micro SDHC Card slot for 2 gigabytes of memory, or two hours of recording, you can pick up the ultimate peace lover's spy tool for just $35 here.

READ MORE

FROM POPULAR SCIENCE SHILLS

What's Next: Bodywave's Scanner Tracks Brain Waves to Keep You Sharp

Game your way to razor-sharp attention skills. North Carolina– based Freer Logic’s new biofeedback device, the Bodywave, trains you to become aware of your brain function, so you are better able to regain focus when you drift off at work, lose your steam on the back nine, or nearly fall asleep at the wheel. It’s the first brain-wave scanner to be worn on an arm or leg, forgoing clunky headgear.

The Bodywave works by tracking your brain-wave activity as you play games or engage in virtual-reality simulations. When synapses fire, they release electrical pulses that move through the body. The iPhone-size device uses three carbon contacts to tap the signal through the skin, while software filters out electrical interference from moving muscles, particularly the heart. The system comes with software, such as games or virtual-reality training scenarios, and it prevents you from engaging in any program until you’re in the zone. To determine focus, the Bodywave looks for brain-activity patterns indicative of attention, including beta-level waves from 12 to 30 hertz, which neurologists accept as a sign of concentration.

The system is currently used to help coach kids with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder and has also been adopted as a virtual-reality training tool in nuclear power plants. In the future, expect similar sensors in real-world scenarios.

READ MORE