Blog: Fingerprints and Faces Can Be Faked, But Not Brain Patterns

Fingerprints and Faces Can Be Faked, But Not Brain Patterns
ICT Results (02/05/09)

The European Union-funded HUMABIO project is combining new types of biometric recognition systems with the latest sensor technologies to develop better security applications. HUMABIO researchers have developed sensorial and connectivity hardware for specific biometric applications, as well as new software to extract the biometric profile of individuals, which is based on physiology and behavior characteristics. HUMABIO's biometrics include using electrocardiograms to record heart rhythms and electroencephalograms to record brain patterns. The project has developed a prototype headgear system that uses two electrodes to take both readings. The technology is still in the proof-of-concept stage, but project coordinator Dimitrios Tzovaras says the researchers are very pleased with the results so far. "This is the first time this type of biometrics has been used for identification, and it solves most of the problems other biometric systems face," Tzovaras says. The project has been working on other types of biometrics that are much closer to commercialization, including gait or walking analysis, and analyzing a person's seated posture. The project also has been working on improving facial- and voice-recognition systems, and combining multiple biometric techniques into a multimodal biometric identification system that is more secure than individual biometric techniques.

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