Authentic brain waves improve driver security

Brain wave biometrics prevent vehicle hijacking and halt intoxicated drivers

2013-09-05

(Press-News.org) One-time entry authentication methods, such as passwords, iris scanners and fingerprint recognition are fine for simple entry whether to a protected building or a private web page. But, a continuous biometric system is needed in some circumstances such as authenticating drivers of vehicles carrying valuable commodities and money, and even public transport vehicles and taxis. Now, such a system based on scanning the driver's brain waves described in a forthcoming issue of the International Journal of Biometrics could make hijacks of such vehicles a thing of the past.

Isao Nakanishi of the Graduate School of Engineering, at Tottori University, and colleagues explain that conventional biometric systems commonly assume that authentication is "one-time-only", but if an imposter replaces the authenticated user in a hijacked car, for instance, such systems have no way of verifying that the person currently driving the car is the legitimate driver and that the hijacker hasn't thrown the owner from the car or tied them up in the boot. An authentication system based on password entry or iris scanning that repeatedly checks that the driver is the legal driver of the vehicle would be not be safe and so would be wholly unviable.

However, measuring the driver's brain waves continually - via sensors in the headgear of the driver's headgear - would be straightforward and would allow authentication that could not be spoofed by an imposter. If the wrong brain waves are measured, the vehicle is safely immobilized.

The Tottori team has now developed a system that can process electroencephalogram (EEG) signals in the alpha-beta band of the brain's electrical activity and verify the signals it receives against a pre-programmed sample from the legitimate driver. "Brain waves are generated by the neural activities in the cerebral cortex; therefore, it is hidden in the body and cannot be bypassed," the team explains.

Fundamentally, the system records the pattern of alpha-beta brain waves of a driver with their eyes open carrying out the normal functions of driving, given that this is the condition in which authentication is required. An alternative brain wave scan might have them with eyes closed and not carrying out any task. Importantly, the ongoing authentication of drivers using their brain waves would facilitate a simple way to preclude starting the engine if the driver is intoxicated with drugs or alcohol, or even just too tired because their brain waves would not match their normal pattern under such circumstances.

### "Using brain waves as transparent biometrics for on-demand driver authentication" in Int. J. Biometrics, 2013, 5, 288-305

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

New recommendations for standardizing studies of thyroid hormone and disease from ATA taskforce

2013-09-05

New Rochelle, NY, September 4, 2013—Despite tens of thousands of studies in the literature on the thyroid gland, thyroid hormone, and thyroid disease, lack of standardization in study design makes it difficult to compare the results and apply them to the development of improved diagnostic and treatment approaches. A new report from the American Thyroid Association's Taskforce on Approaches and Strategies to Investigate Thyroid Hormone Economy includes 70 specific recommendations and accompanying commentaries on a range of topics. The report is available free online on the ...

Arresting model stops cars

2013-09-05

Researchers in China have developed a mathematical model that could help engineers design a flexible vehicle-arrest system for stopping cars involved in criminal activity or terrorism, such as suspect car bombers attempting break through a check point, without wrecking the car or killing the occupants. Writing in a forthcoming issue of the International Journal of Vehicle Design, Pak Kin Wong and colleagues in the Department of Electromechanical Engineering at the University of Macau, in Taipa, Macao, explain how common vehicle-arrest systems used by law enforcement, ...

Terramechanics research aims to keep Mars rovers rolling

2013-09-05

CAMBRIDGE, MA -- In May 2009, the Mars rover Spirit cracked through a crusty layer of Martian topsoil, sinking into softer underlying sand. The unexpected sand trap permanently mired the vehicle, despite months of remote maneuvering by NASA engineers to attempt to free the rover. The mission mishap may have been prevented, says MIT's Karl Iagnemma, by a better understanding of terramechanics — the interaction between vehicles and deformable terrain. Iagnemma says scientists have a pretty good understanding of how soils interact with vehicles that weigh more than 2,000 ...

Prion-like proteins drive several diseases of aging

2013-09-05

Two leading neurology researchers have proposed a theory that could unify scientists' thinking about several neurodegenerative diseases and suggest therapeutic strategies to combat them. The theory and backing for it are described in Nature. Mathias Jucker and Lary Walker outline the emerging concept that many of the brain diseases associated with aging, such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's, are caused by specific proteins that misfold and aggregate into harmful seeds. These seeds behave very much like the pathogenic agents known as prions, which cause mad cow disease, ...

400-year study finds Northeast forests resilient, changing

2013-09-05

A joint Harvard-Smithsonian study released today in the journal PLOS ONE reveals how much -- and how little -- Northeastern forests have changed after centuries of intensive land use. A hike through today's woods will reveal the same types of trees that a colonial settler would have encountered 400 years ago. But the similarities end there. Jonathan Thompson, research associate at the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute and lead author of the new study, explains, "If you only looked at a tree species list, you'd have the impression that Northeast forests haven't ...

Female tiger sharks migrate from Northwestern to Main Hawaiian Islands during fall pupping season

2013-09-05

A quarter of the mature female tiger sharks plying the waters around the remote coral atolls of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands decamp for the populated Main Hawaiian Islands in the late summer and fall, swimming as far as 2,500 kilometers (1,500 miles) according to new research from University of Florida and the University of Hawaii. Their report is scheduled for publication in the November 2013 issue of Ecological Society of America's journal Ecology. The authors' manuscript is available as a preprint. "When we think of animal migrations, we tend to think of all individuals ...

Overgrazing turning parts of Mongolian Steppe into desert

2013-09-05

CORVALLIS, Ore. – Overgrazing by millions of sheep and goats is the primary cause of degraded land in the Mongolian Steppe, one of the largest remaining grassland ecosystems in the world, Oregon State University researchers say in a new report. Using a new satellite-based vegetation monitoring system, researchers found that about 12 percent of the biomass has disappeared in this country that's more than twice the size of Texas, and 70 percent of the grassland ecosystem is now considered degraded. The findings were published in Global Change Biology. Overgrazing accounts ...

Peering into genetic defects, CU scientists discover a new metabolic disease

2013-09-05

An international team of scientists, including University of Colorado School of Medicine and Children's Hospital Colorado researchers, has discovered a new disease related to an inability to process Vitamin B12. The disorder is rare but can be devastating. "Some people with rare inherited conditions cannot process vitamin B 12 properly," says CU researcher Tamim Shaikh, PhD, a geneticist and senior author of a paper about the new disease. "These individuals can end up having serious health problems, including developmental delay, epilepsy, anemia, stroke, psychosis and ...

Researchers determine digestibility of blood products as feed in weanling pigs

2013-09-05

URBANA, Ill. - Because weanling pigs do not tolerate great quantities of soybean meal in the diet, alternative sources of protein must be used. Blood products, such as blood meal and plasma protein, are common ingredients in weanling pig diets and are considered high-quality sources of amino acids. Researchers at the University of Illinois have determined the amino acid digestibility of five blood products produced in the U.S. to provide swine producers with guidance for the use of these products in formulating diets. "Blood meal usually is considered a good source of ...

Deep-ocean carbon sinks

2013-09-05

Although microbes that live in the so-called "dark ocean"—below a depth of some 600 feet where light doesn't penetrate—may not absorb enough carbon to curtail global warming, they do absorb considerable amounts of carbon and merit further study. That is one of the findings of a paper published in the International Society of Microbial Ecology (ISME) Journal by Tim Mattes, associate professor of civil and environmental engineering in the University of Iowa College of Engineering, and his colleagues. Mattes says that while many people are familiar with the concept of ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

Lower dose of mpox vaccine is safe and generates six-week antibody response equivalent to standard regimen

Personalised “cocktails” of antibiotics, probiotics and prebiotics hold great promise in treating a common form of irritable bowel syndrome, pilot study finds

Mobile device location data is already used by private companies, so why not for studying human-wildlife interactions, scientists ask

[Press-News.org] Authentic brain waves improve driver security
Brain wave biometrics prevent vehicle hijacking and halt intoxicated drivers