Your walk can give you away
October 9th, 2011 - 9:11 pm ICT by IANSLondon, Oct 9 (IANS) The way you walk could give you away as accurately as fingerprints - but only if you walk without your shoes.
Researchers have developed a method that can identify a unique “pressure signature” in individual footsteps.
By analysing more than 100,000 pressure points created by people’s feet as they walk, the scientists were able to pinpoint 70 key patterns that are unique to an individual, the Telegraph reports.
The system could provide a new form of “biometric” identification that could work alongside retinal scanning and fingerprints at airports.
The only snag is that it won’t work if people are wearing shoes. John Goulermas, electrical engineer at the University of Liverpool, was hopeful of developing the system so it will work when people are shod.
“This is more complicated as the stiffness of the sole and the treads can change things, but it should still be possible,” said Goulermas.
Researchers asked 104 volunteers to walk across boards studded with thousands of highly sensitive pressure sensors. They recorded 10 steps per person and then analysed how each persons step changed to produce a unique profile for each person.
When asked to then identify individuals from their footsteps, the system was correct 99.6 percent of the time.
- Now, ears too can be used for airport security ID checks - Oct 11, 2010
- UID can be an enabler of financial inclusion: Nilekani - May 11, 2010
- FAQ on 'Aadhaar' (To go with 'How to get your own unique identity') - May 08, 2011
- Delhi residents to get UID numbers by October - Mar 11, 2011
- Cyber expert fears misuse of UID numbers - Aug 12, 2011
- How to get your own unique identity number - May 08, 2011
- Acoustic ear-scanning will make iPods, mobile phone theft-proof - Jul 29, 2009
- New car seat can recognise driver's bottom-print - Dec 29, 2011
- How to safely use fingerprints, iris pattern as digital signatures - Aug 01, 2009
- Uproar in Lok Sabha over caste-based census (Lead) - Aug 12, 2010
- Biometric scanners flooding Oz pub market as fix-all solution to violence - Jan 30, 2011
- Corporation Bank signs MoU with UIDAI - Aug 05, 2010
- Knee X-rays can be used for identification - Mar 26, 2009
- Making 3-D face from 2D photo for security applications, forensics - Jan 20, 2011
- Nose scanning - the newest way to blow security hooter - Mar 02, 2010
Tags: airports, electrical engineer, fingerprints, footsteps, key patterns, london, pressure points, pressure sensors, retinal scanning, scientists, shoes, signature, snag, stiffness, telegraph, university of liverpool, volunteers