Cryptography of human thoughts

What do you think if there is one day in the future, can you open your door or access your bank account just by ' thinking ' to the unlock code? This is not too far away.

Scientists at Carleton University (Ottawa, Canada) are studying to create a biological security device that uses human thinking to identify that person. Their idea is to use brain waves as crypto keys, based on the theory, brain waves are a special ' object ' of each individual. Although we think of something similar, the measured brain impulse still has some differences between one person and another. Some researchers believe that this difference is enough to set up a system that allows you to log in with your thoughts.

The thought of being used as a password can be anything, from a piece of music, a picture of a tree, or a picture you like. In other words, the identity device will in turn give you a piece of music, a tree or a picture, then you just need to think of ' Yes ' or ' Sai ' answers and touch devices. Will monitor your brain activity.

Researcher Carleton Julie Thorpe, who collaborated with Anil Somayaji and Adrian Chan in this study, commented: ' Everyone knows there is a difference between the human brain and the brain signal. Can we observe human-generated signals, in which hundreds of thousands of information are encoded according to some repetition? That is the problem. We think this is completely feasible . '

(Photo: opera.com) A computer capable of communicating with the brain, called BCI , is being attempted by researchers to extract meaningful parts of the brain signal, measured in EEG electroencephalogram. These signals are translated into commands that disable control or manipulation of related devices.

One difficulty with BCI technology is: Brain signals are unique , so when a system can identify a specific person, others will be very difficult to manipulate. Professor Touradj Ebrahimi of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology said: 'Brain signals are represented by a person's EEG signal, completely different from one person to another, even if they think about the same thing. somehow '.

But it is the distinctness of the brain wave that is making it difficult for scientists to be a valuable factor when building an identity system. A security device does not need to translate or understand human thinking, it simply extracts characteristics and identifies similarities. Ebrahimi said: 'A brain-based biometric device has a very strong ability similar to DNA biometric equipment'.

However, there are still some researchers who are skeptical that computers can identify some special images in each person's head. Iead Rezek is part of a sample analysis team at Oxford University, saying that this idea is good but not practical: Many things happen in the brain at the cellular level, although everything looks the same at all. Rezek said: 'The signal from the vast array of nerve cells disturbs and mixes together as soon as we are recording the thought pattern.'

Even if identification is done successfully, according to Jacques Vidal, BCI specialist and professor of UCLA computer science: 'The link between thought and brain is only at a large indirect level.' Moreover, this depends on how people remember the event. It is difficult to successfully build a device that automatically identifies the change in the signal of the same individual, the same thing.

Vidal is more optimistic for a simple form of identification: The computer will create a stimulus, then re-measure the brain's feedback signal . This conditional reciprocal relationship, also known as ERPs, depends on colored rays or special sounds that are completely different for each person, but consistent when repeated on the same person. Vidal said 'ERPs can be used for identification biometric devices'. Such a technique can benefit from the adaptability of the human brain. Instead of trying to passively identify a thought, an idea, the system can rely on reliable factors, which is how people use the right brain, using feedback from computers. as a guide.

In experiments with monkeys, scientists found that animals and computers could train each other effectively. Dr Reza Shadmehr, a neuroscientist professor at John Hopkins University, said: 'When animals learn to control computers, both brain neurons and computer algorithms use changes in communication signal. Both combine into a successful decoder. '

Carleton Group is proposing a simple transcription method using binary - a form similar to a brain aid device for people with disabilities. A login process is only successful when you can determine your password by thinking of the ' Yes ' or ' Sai ' answer, depending on the pictures or music that is played sequentially - a form The formula is similar to a memory test game with 20 questions.

If this works, it still faces some obstacles before it can replace other identifiers. Fingerprinting is an easy task, but the only way to get a signal from the brain is to use an inconvenient EEG hat, which applies a touch of oil through the scalp. However, brain activity is becoming more and more realistic. NeuroSky claims to have developed a neuronal sensor that can transform brain waves into meaningful electromagnetic signals, but they have not said when the product will be marketed. .

Optical devices also bring another promise. Shadmehr said that many devices on sale could use optical technology to interfere with neuronal activity outside the cortex. They release a ray of light, measuring the rate of reflection, the rate of reflection also varies according to the rate of oxygen in the blood. This device has absolutely no direct contact with the head.

He said: 'Brain activity measurement is still in its infancy. However, if we compare with the primitive of brain cells 40 years ago developed by neuroscientists to experiment on animals, looking back on that path, we see that the future ours is extremely bright '.

However, researcher Somayaji warned that passwords should not be rushed away: 'I am completely surprised and amused if such a security device is to be implemented within the next 20 years. Perhaps using code by thought will come true someday. But now, it is still a far-fetched idea. "