Don't remember someone's face?
Well, try looking at their EARS!
According to New Scientist magazine, EAR-shape analysis could be better than face-recognition when it comes to identifying people.
Mark Nixon is a biometrics expert at the University of Southampton in the UK. And he's developed a technique that captures the shape of somebody's ear and turns it into a code kind of like fingerprints. And this is a great way to identify a person, because unlike faces - ears don't change shape over time. In an initial study of 63 people, Nixon found his ear-analysis method to be 99% accurate. He says it could be used to identify people from security camera footage. And it could even be incorporated into mobile phones to identify a caller as they put their phone against the receiver.
Also, police are now using "ear prints" to catch thieves! How? Well, burglars often press their ear to a door or window before they rob a place, to make sure it's deserted. And this leaves behind not only an imprint of their ear, but also DNA. Either of these can be run through a computer to help identify a criminal. In fact, "ear printing" has already helped catch felons in England, the Netherlands and Switzerland. And it's just a matter of time before it becomes a worldwide practice.
According to New Scientist magazine, EAR-shape analysis could be better than face-recognition when it comes to identifying people.
Mark Nixon is a biometrics expert at the University of Southampton in the UK. And he's developed a technique that captures the shape of somebody's ear and turns it into a code kind of like fingerprints. And this is a great way to identify a person, because unlike faces - ears don't change shape over time. In an initial study of 63 people, Nixon found his ear-analysis method to be 99% accurate. He says it could be used to identify people from security camera footage. And it could even be incorporated into mobile phones to identify a caller as they put their phone against the receiver.
Also, police are now using "ear prints" to catch thieves! How? Well, burglars often press their ear to a door or window before they rob a place, to make sure it's deserted. And this leaves behind not only an imprint of their ear, but also DNA. Either of these can be run through a computer to help identify a criminal. In fact, "ear printing" has already helped catch felons in England, the Netherlands and Switzerland. And it's just a matter of time before it becomes a worldwide practice.
