Researchers designed heart based user authentication system

Heart based user authentication system

University at Buffalo researchers developed a computer security system using the dimensions of your heart as identifier. The system uses low-level Doppler radar monitors your heart to make sure no one stepped in to run your computer.

The system is a safe and potentially more effective alternative to passwords and other bio-metric identifiers. It may be used for smartphones and at airport screening barricades.

"We would like to use it for every computer because everyone needs privacy," said Wenyao Xu, PhD, the study"s lead author. "Logging-in and logging-out are tedious," he said. The signal strength of the system"s radar is much less than Wi-Fi, and does not cause any health threat.

He said, we live in a Wi-Fi surrounding environment every day, and the new system is as safe as Wi-Fi devices. The reader is about 5 milliwatts, even less than 1% of the radiation from our smartphones.

The system needs about 8 seconds to scan a heart the first time, and the monitor can continuously recognize that heart.

electrocardiogram signals

Xu said, the system uses the geometry of the heart shape and size, and it moves to make an identification. No two people with identical hearts have ever found. People"s heart does not change shape, unless they suffer from serious heart disease.



Heart-based bio-metric systems used for almost a decade, primarily with electrodes measuring electrocardiogram signals. But, no one has done a non-contact remote device to characterize our hearts" geometry traits for identification.

The new system has several advantages over current bio-metric tools, like fingerprints and retinal scans. The device is a passive, non-contact. So, users not bothered with authenticating themselves whenever they log-in. And, it monitors user constantly, means the computer will not operate if a different person is in front of it. Therefore, people do not have to remember to log-off when away from their computers.

Xu plans to miniaturize the system and have it installed onto the corners of computer keyboards. The system also used for user identification on cell phones. For airport identification, a device could monitor a person up to 30 meters away.

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