An electronic security system that identifies people by monitoring the unique pattern of electrical activity within their brain is being tested by European scientists.
This novel biometric system should be difficult to forge, making it suitable for high-security applications, claim the researchers behind it. The system was developed by two companies 鈥� Starlab in Spain and Forenap in France 鈥� in cooperation with researchers at the Centre for Research and Technology Hellas, in Greece. It uses an established method for measuring activity in the brain, called electroencephalography (EEG).
EEG measurements identify the location and intensity of millisecond-long fluctuations in electrical activity in the brain via electrodes positioned around a person鈥檚 scalp. This can help neuroscientists understand the function of different brain areas and may also be used to diagnose and monitor neurological conditions such as epilepsy and dementia.
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Neural pathways
Since an individual鈥檚 brain activity is determined by the unique pattern of neural pathway in their brain, the same technique can be used for identification, says Dimitrios Tzovaras, who is the coordinator at the Centre for Research and Technology Hellas. 鈥淚t could be a very good security control,鈥� he told New 杏吧原创.
The authentication system requires a user to have EEG measurements taken beforehand with further measurements for each authentication test. This is done via a removable cap, which communicates wirelessly with a computer that analyses the data gathered. The cap has fewer electrodes than are normally used for EEG measurements, but can still provide enough information for authentication, according to Tzovaras.
Currently users must sit quietly with their eyes shut during each test. 鈥淲e ask them to close their eyes and not speak鈥�,鈥� Tzovaras says, which provides 鈥渁 much clearer picture鈥�.
The result of each authentication test is compared with the user鈥檚 pre-recorded measurements, using signal-processing algorithms. These algorithms can be tuned to different security levels.
But users could eventually be required to perform specific tasks during each test, he suggests, as this should also produce a unique EEG 鈥渟ignature鈥�. The researchers envisage the set-up being used as part of a building or computer security system and plan to test it as the security control system for a laboratory in Germany in 2007.
Multiple biometrics
The biometric system is part of a wider European project called Human Monitoring and Authentication using Biodynamic Indicators and Behavioural Analysis (HUMABIO). The aim of this project is to combine several different biometrics to create a more efficient and secure overall system. The EEG system will eventually be linked to a seat designed to identify a person by the way they sit, which is being developed at the University of Pisa, Italy.
A separate group, led by Rafal Wardzi艅ski at Warsaw University of Technology in Poland, is also working on EEG biometrics. In testing, this group found that the method could identify subjects with 88% accuracy.
However, John Daugman, a biometrics researcher at the University of Cambridge, UK, questions the practicality of the approach. He says an EEG cap could prove too cumbersome and invasive. 鈥淲earing a wired helmet with sensors on one鈥檚 scalp might change the ambiance of the workplace somewhat,鈥� he says.
Similarly, neuroimaging expert Olaf Hauk, also at the UK鈥檚 Medical Research Council, believes using the system in a wide variety of situations, particularly stressful ones, could complicate the results significantly. 鈥淓EG varies greatly depending on a person鈥檚 alertness, or mental operations,鈥� Hauk told New 杏吧原创. 鈥淵ou might not want to be taken for someone else at the airport just because you had a bad night before.鈥�
