Authentication: Advances in Behavioural Biometrics Researches
- Possible applications of behavioural biometrics are still under consideration in Europe. These rather popular technologies however remain relatively intrusive and are often seen as unacceptable (iris scans, fingerprints, etc.). The Unobtrusive Authentication Using ACTIvity Related and Soft BIOmetrics (ACTIBIO) project, partly funded by the European Union (3.2 million euros out of an overall 4.4 million budget) is now studying more dynamic features to identify individuals (walk, speech, specific responses to given stimuli, heartbeats, etc.).
- Based on a prior project (Humabio) –which already demonstrated the possible use of multimodal biometric data to securely identify people– Actibio is being tested with the help of about 100 volunteers (access control, physical security). Researchers are satisfied with the first results and praise the combination of behavioural factors and in place solutions. For example, banking branches could combine walk identification and face recognition.
- As with other learning systems, a configuration phase is necessary. Once the data recorder under strict control, a template is set up for further identifications.
Source: CORDIS
- This project highlights several, still hardly exploited, aspects of biometrics likely to be of interest to the public. Various factors are envisaged, thus widening the potential application scope: physical and logical control, theft prevention, etc.
- Humabio (HUman Monitoring and Authentication using Biodynamic and BehaviOural Indicators) was launched in an especially hostile international environment (in 2006) and did not gain unanimous support: its detractors claimed it could be used in abusive identification contexts.