Very soon your heartbeats could be your password for logging in to your tablet, smartphone or gaming consoles. Researchers are currently developing a technology which will allow gadgets to identify their owners by measuring their hearbeats through fingertips.
Foteini Agrafioti, an engineer at the University of Toronto developed a version of the technology. He also started a company named Bionym to market the technology. He said that ECG biometrics facilitates identification of people by their cardiac rhythm.
This technology relies on the actual shape of heartbeats rather than just the heart rate. The heartbeat ID thus created could be embedded into smartphones or tablets for locking out unauthorized users.
Heartbeats could come across as a more secure alternative compared to currently popular biological ID measures like fingerprints. Heartbeat ID systems can also be implemented without much hassle unlike several other futuristic identification schemes currently in the making. Researchers have developed cheap, thin sensors which can measure ECGs through fingertips.
These finger sensors could be easily integrated into smartphones and tablets which will give heartbeat measurement capabilities to these devices. All users will have to do is to touch the sensors using one finger from each hand for a few seconds. The sensors will identify the heartbeat ID and authenticate the user. Although these sensors can provide heartbeat measurements, they are not actually precise enough for medical diagnosis.
Researchers have also found that the actual shape of ECG spikes vary from person to person. Every individual have their own distinctive shape which stays even during changes in heart rate. The shape of the spike remains the same over time. Studies have shown that ECG analyzing computer programs have different accuracy rates. However these programs are accurate enough to work as ID systems on their own.
Another important aspect of Heartbeat ID systems is that they can be easily integrated into any device which you hold using both hands like iPads or smartphones.