Biometric security technologies are replacing traditional methods - from modest passwords, fingerprint sensors with which the user can unlock the phone, to advanced scanning of the iris of the eye - now a new method is on the way: the sound vibration of the user's skull.
Scientists in Germany are working on a system that can detect the vibration of the human skull in response to ultrasonic irradiation, since this sound is as unique as fingerprints. Ultimately, this can serve as proof that the user is exactly the person he claims to be when entering an email or trying to access the Pentagon's network.
According to the publication Gizmodo, although only a small sample of 10 people were used to test the device, the new system was able to correctly identify the user only by the sound vibration of the skull in 97 percent of cases.
Of course, some special headset or accessories are needed to measure the vibration of the skull, and researchers are currently developing a device like Google Glass to log into the system.
Eventually, this technology can be implemented in smartphones, and then holding the phone to your ear to receive a call will be enough to identify the user.
The new system is called SkullConduct, and it integrates other biometric security technologies that are being developed today and sometimes seem strange and surprising, including vein configuration and brain waves. The idea is that these biological markers are much more difficult to counterfeit.
"The sound recorded with the microphone carries the characteristic features of the user's head," the researchers report in an article in the journal ACM.
"Since the human head is structurally composed of such different parts as the skull, tissues, cartilage and fluids, and their composition and location are strictly individual for each user, the pattern of the sound wave is also unique."
Promotional video:
Several issues need to be addressed before SkullConduct technology becomes practical, New Scientist reports.
Firstly, the system must be able to isolate background noise (as long as this factor is not taken into account in the presented prototype), and secondly, the device currently uses white noise as a test signal - in the future it will be possible to use a short music signal instead.