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New Car Anti-Theft Device Profiles Your Rear End
Hugh Pickens writes "A car-seat identifier developed at Japan's Advanced Institute of Industrial Technology by Associate Professor Shigeomi Koshimizu can recognize a person by his or her rear end with 98 percent accuracy when the person takes a seat in his car. The bucket seat's lower section is lined with 360 pressure sensors that measure pressure on a scale from 0 to 256, sending information to a laptop, which aggregates the information, generates the key data and produces a precise map of the seated person's rear profile. Researchers say traditional biometric techniques such as iris scanners and fingerprint readers cause stress to people undergoing identity checks, while the simple act of getting seated carries less psychological baggage. Koshimizu wants to see his work available commercially as an anti-theft product in two to three years if automakers agree to collaborate. He sees possibilities of this device being used beyond auto-theft identity protection to a device for security identification in office settings, where users log on to their PCs as they sit down."
Some people apply their rear pressure differently based on if their rear load is full, empty or something in between. Not only does your overall weight change, but also the formation of rear pressing against the seat will be different, especially depending on your nutrition and different days. Is it going to be able to detect such load changes without many problems? Obviously there needs to be some kind of threshold, but if your rear pressure varies a lot the device could even lock you out from using your car.
"measure pressure on a scale from 0 to 256" ... what an odd design choice.
No, honey; it's your arse that makes you look fat.
How is detecting your rear any more stupid than your fingerprint? It's way more convenient, and especially so with cars as you're going to be sitting down anyway.
Technician: Hello, this is OnStar. How can I help you?
Owner: I locked my keys in my car, can you unlock it?
Technician: Certainly, let me just bring up your profile... Wow, sweet pooper -- do you do Zumba?
Stop-Prism.org: Opt Out of Surveillance
Oh yeah, who wants to drive to and from work EVERY day. With 2% failure rate, you can expect 8 failures-to-drive a year.
I mean, seriously, 98% is a good rate, but putting it on something one uses every day is just an accident waiting to happen.
Plus you won't be able to lend your car easily.
Brings a whole new meaning to the phrase 'your ass is mine'.
Ganty
So what happens when your ass no longer matches the profile? Will you still be able to start your car or log into your computer?
And I am not necessarily talking about getting fatter over time. It is possible to get leg and back injuries that cause you to sit differently with different pressure applied to different areas when you sit down. What about people with hemorrhoids that need to sit on an inflatable donut?
you're walking until you loose those extra pounds.
0 to 255. Yeesh.
Cwm, fjord-bank glyphs vext quiz
...what happens in those 2 of 100 cases it detected your behind wrongly? :D
The scene: Aristocratic antique styled dining room. There's a long table to seat over 20 guests with a prominent chair at the head for the prime minister.
You see various servants tidying up and leaving the room one by one while a butler inspects, he leaves last.
*Ethan Hunt carefully drops down from the skylight suspended by a cable*
*After much twisting acrobatics he replaces the seat cushion on the prime ministers chair with a pressure sensitive decoy unit* (For suspense let's put in a scene where he nearly knocks over a glass of red wine and catches the spilt drop with one hand while holding the glass with the other, a single drop of sweat will fall on a plate at this point, Ethan will wince as the drop lands but he won't have time to wipe the plate off)
*He quickly lifts up just as the butler returns to the dining room, nudging the sensor into perfect alignment right as it leaves his reach*
*Butler notices the drop of sweat and raises an eyebrow curiously, he then makes an icy stare at the servant girl who set that area as she enters the room, she looks fearful and guilty*
*Cut to MI van parked outside, a 3D printer is printing out a faux-butt for Ethan to wear while he steals the prime minister's car, it is spraying a realistic flesh tone over the perfectly carved rear* (Insert witty joke from Luther about Ethan's butt, perhaps stating that he had to guess the color and hopes it's right)
Cwm, fjord-bank glyphs vext quiz
Just another something to break and require a costly repair.
Years ago, I didn't go for the automatic seat belts which put the shoulder part in place but you still had to manually do the lap part. It had no benefit and was just another thing that could break.
Am I locked out of using my car if I put my wallet in the other rear pants pocket? My exercise pant don't even have read pockets.
A growth industry?
Please do not read this sig. Thank you.
I believe almost all the accuracy from this device will be based on a single data point: weight. Weight is a good addition to a security system, it's already used in some areas, but thinking it can ID a person is silliness.
The bucket seat's lower section is lined with 360 pressure sensors that measure pressure on a scale from 0 to 256, sending information to a laptop, which aggregates the information, generates the key data and produces a precise map of the seated person's rear profile.
*emphasis mine*
Fingerprint recognition works by creating an image of the print. This new method is no different, though the resolution is much, much lower and the area being examined is different.
A person's weight is not evenly distributed across their cheeks. Even if it were then the shape and size of the crack differs from person to person; I'm not saying this is the be-all and end-all of arse recognition but it does illustrate the point that one might be able to differentiate between people by looking at their backsides.
If God forks the Universe every time you roll a die, he'd better have a damned good memory.
What about valet parking or taking the car to the shop? Obviously, there has to be some kind of override and as such, thieves, will find a way to hack it and still steal the vehicle.
I'm sorry Dave, I can not open the garage doors and let you drive out in your car since you gained 5 kilo during xmas. You need exercise, take the cycle.
I think the wider application for this technology will be in the workplace... to track when/if employees are actually sitting at their desks.
Can anyone see the problem in a theft system that activates the moment you plant your butt on the seat? Hint: You have to be inside the car to trigger it.
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
"Honey, does this security system make my ass look fat?"
Use of a tow-truck to steal vehicles is not that commonly employed. Mostly owing to the amount of time that it takes to properly hook up a vehicle to a tow truck, the likelihood of discovery is exponentially higher. Although the action might appear innocuous to quite a few people, there is a huge risk of being questioned or even photographed, and a thief risks having to deal with both situations. Cars on private property can only be legitimately be towed with consent of the owner of the vehicle, or else by consent of the owner of the property, and proof of such authorization might be requested by someone who sees a car being hooked up. This is problematic for thieves who might want to employ such a technique... they are taking a 15 minute gamble that nobody who works there or sees them will care what they are doing. Finally, to discourage property owners from profiting from thefts on their own property, if a host of thefts from one particular place occur in too short a time, the owner of that place is probably going to be facing something just short of an inquisition to confirm that he or she is not somehow party to the thefts. In fact, I actually know one store owner who once was questioned about an unusual number of car thefts (not towed... just ordinary thefts) on his property, and he ended up having to invest in security cameras, which I had heard actually immediately made a differences in the number of car thefts happening there.
So you have heard of a tow truck.
I'm a consultant - I convert gibberish into cash-flow.