Development of biometric authentication technology that reads the heart with a laser

Biometrics such as fingerprint and facial recognition used for unlocking smartphones are already infiltrating everyday life. Recently, there are also systems that use face authentication to issue major league tickets and identify a specific person only by gait characteristics by linking with a surveillance camera.

New methods are expected to be added to these biometric technologies. The US Department of Defense is developing Jetson, a biometric technology that uses laser light. The system identifies a person by irradiating a laser light onto a person from 200m away by reading the movement of the heart.

There is only one way a person’s heart moves. Unlike faces and fingerprints, it is said that they cannot be disguised. Jetson says that when it comes to identifying the heart, it shoots a laser light into a person’s chest, but it can be identified without a problem with a T-shirt or thin area. However, if you are wearing thick clothes such as winter clothes, coats, and jumpers, even a laser cannot read your heart.

In addition, at least 30 seconds are required to read, so the subject must sit in a chair and remain stationary for that amount of time. Of course, to identify a person, you also need a heart database that stores data such as human image characteristics in advance.

Jetson has a recognition rate of over 95% if it is used correctly. When it comes to precision, it can be said that it has the potential for everyday use as well as fingerprint or face recognition. The technology was being developed a few years ago by the Department of Defense in an official document in connection with a state sponsoring terrorist countermeasure technology. It started with military aspects and surveillance purposes, not for general use. However, there are many cases where technology developed for military purposes is used peacefully. Jetson is also not limited to remotely identifying people, and in hospitals, vital monitoring or cardiac examination of inpatients can be performed without touching the patient. While monitoring the heartbeat from the driver’s seat at all times, when symptoms such as a heart attack occur, the driver can be identified and an automatic emergency call can be applied. Related information can be found here .