Slashdot Mirror
Nose Scanners — the New Face of Biometrics?
An anonymous reader writes "Forget fingerprints and ID cards, this photo story shows how the latest thing in biometrics is nose scanning! Bath university researchers have claimed that the nose will soon be able to be used as a way of identifying a person. Apparently the 'PhotoFace system captures a 3D image of a person's face by taking several photos lit from different angles to throw shadows on the face and then building a model of facial features. The software determined that there are six main nose shapes: Roman, Greek, Nubian, Hawk, Snub and Turn-up.' Some cool pictures make this worth a click — but what happens if a person breaks their nose?!"
Add a CowboyNeal option and you've got the next Slashdot poll.
Set your phasers on "funky"!
Actually, it's snot as bad as that.
Sorry, it had to be said.
Welcome to the Panopticon. Used to be a prison, now it's your home.
Two words....
Michael Jackson
nuff said...
"You can't make a race horse of a pig"
"No," said Samuel, "but you can make very fast pig"
I'm Tycho Brahe, you insensitive clod!
Life just keeps piling on for the poor suffering adolescent geek. Now when he develops a giant zit on his nose, he doesn't just have to worry about the derision of his peers, but his nose-scanning locker won't open.
On the positive side, if anyone beats you up and breaks your nose, they can now be sued for aiding and abetting terrorism by making the 'nose database' useless...
It would be just as secure and applying for an ID card would be a real hoot.
No sig today...
I'd rather see the words: "Please insert nose to verify identity." than "Processing colonic map." on the ATM of the future.
Dewey, you fool! Your decimal system has played right into my hands!
Two words....
Michael Jackson
nuff said...
Actually his nose is quite stable now. It's likely to remain in its current state long after the rest of his body has decayed to nothing.
Maybe in some future time someone or something will dig up his remains and wonder what all the extra parts were for.
At least people will be able to tell how honest you've been since your last ID card. If the shape of your nose has changed too much, you've been telling lies.
A nose by any other name would still smell
I'm trying to teach myself to set people on fire with my mind... Is it hot in here?
Come on, TSA!
You've already got the millimeter body scanners rolling out across the US and rest of the world. Kick it up a notch! Go straight for the biometric genital scanning!
Pfft, privacy. You don't need privacy. You need safety. Now drop your drawers!
Don't let the security-crazed among us start thinking about what other stickout-y parts of the human anatomy they could photograph from six angles, digitize and put on our passports. All to keep the children and kittens safe, of course.
I've calculated my velocity with such exquisite precision that I have no idea where I am.
And they stole it from an opposing prop forward.
If you were blocking sigs, you wouldn't have to read this.
It would be a denial of service attack.
Running afoul of felony battery laws while also breaking DMCA protections!
There was an old cartoon from back in the 80s when the first really painful desktop security measures were put in place... back when people still ran unpatched OSs and downloading updates (via dial-up modem) wasn't common.
I think it was "The Fifth Wave" series. Wish I could find it to post a link.
Basically, it was a manager turning to an employee looking stubborn at his computer terminal and saying "Now c'mon, Bob, you know nose scanning is our best defense against unauthorized computer use!" The nose scanners were cups on thick cords hanging from the ceiling like airline oxygen masks.
Biometrics is a cute marketing trick, but it's no substitute for good security process. That's why I like signing in to my laptop using the "fingerprint" of a small area on the underside of my scrotum. Any legitimate reason to doff one's pants at work is good. "I'm just logging in." or "Whoops, there goes my screensaver. Zzzzzzzip...."
Erik
Can you imagine some archelogist digging him up in a few millenia and wondering what kind of shaman he must be? I mean, religious mutilation, various artificial parts inserted in the body...
Must've been a really weird cult of human sacrifice and deification of silicon parts. Some successor of Däniken would certainly claim it's clearly a sign that silicon based aliens were worshipped here by us trying to convert one of us into one of them...
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
Actually his nose is quite stable now. It's likely to remain in its current state long after the rest of his body has decayed to nothing.
Maybe in some future time someone or something will dig up his remains and wonder what all the extra parts were for.
Or, in a zany twist, they might mistake the surviving fragments of a Woody Allen movie as a documentary and elect Mr. Jackson's remains as The Leader.
Promote proofreading. Don't mod up sloppy posts.
I'm sorry, but this idea is about as useful as a box of hair...
Hair Scanners -- the New Toupée of Biometrics?