Your Thoughts Are Your Password

Posted by ryuzaki0 on Thursday April 27, 2006 @05:18AM from the my-name-is-werner-brandes dept.

Vitaly Friedman writes "Scientists hope that mind-reading computers will one day replace typed passwords, making fingerprint readers and retina scans obsolete. Skeptics say don't count on it. From the article: 'Researchers at Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada, are exploring the possibility of a biometric security device that will use a person's thoughts to authenticate her or his identity. Their idea of utilizing brain-wave signatures as pass-thoughts is based on the premise that brain waves are unique to each individual. Some researchers believe the difference might just be enough to create a system that allows you to log in with your thoughts.'"

2 of 240 comments (clear)

Great... by x2A · 2006-04-27 05:20 · Score: 5, Funny

...so my computer won't let me use it when I'm stoned or tripped out :-/

Gonna have to get a standalone CD player and ditch winamp and it's pretty visual plugins :'-(

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The revolution will not be televised... but it will have a page on Wikipedia
Good luck with that by Anonymous Coward · 2006-04-27 05:25 · Score: 5, Interesting

fMRI xperiments have consistently shown that people are not able to consciously control activity (average firing rates) in local networks within the brain. Since all brain scans pick up mean field electrical activity (and, unless you are willing to stab yourself in the brain with micro-electrodes, always will), it will be impossible to create a unique thought pattern signature that is consistently reproducable.