
Footsteps, Pressure Sensors, and AI: The Next Step in Airport Security - rbanffy
https://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1333332&_mc=RSS_EET_EDT
======
Tade0
> With this system, the researchers claim that the way a person walks and
> analysis of that individual’s footsteps could be used as a biometric at
> airport security instead of fingerprinting and eye-scanning, providing a
> non-intrusive method of identity verification.

This is one of those modalities (gait, keystrokes, tone of voice) that gets
rediscovered every few years, shown to be waaay worse than e.g. iris
recognition and forgotten until somebody else picks it up again.

Back when I was doing my thesis(liveness detection based on pupil dilation)
there existed a system that could scan multiple irises from a distance of up
to 6 metres. I assume these kind of systems have only gotten better since
then.

~~~
lifeisstillgood
>> there existed a system that could scan multiple irises from a distance of
up to 6 metres.

Holy %}^# _#_

I thought that was Minority Report BS - it's actually possible?!

~~~
Tade0
The head of our department was rightfully sceptical as well.

Here's how they did it: they had a few decent cameras zoomed and focused so
that their fields of view formed a skewed line crossing the path the subjects
walked.

You only need a 300x150 image of the whole eye to perform decent iris
recognition, so an eye covering 10% of a given camera's field of view was
usually large enough.

But that was in 2012 - I imagine they've made some improvements.

~~~
lifeisstillgood
I still think we can only survive as societies with truly radical openness -
stick up all the cameras younwant, but it is legally obliged to publish
_everything_ you are monitoring - everyone gets to see what everyone else
sees.

i honestly don't see any alternatives, despite the enormous implications

~~~
bryanlarsen
An idea publicized and championed by David Brin in 1996 (!)

[http://www.davidbrin.com/transparentsociety.html](http://www.davidbrin.com/transparentsociety.html)

~~~
86767858587
An idea dissected in detail since even the 1950s.

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Light_of_Other_Days#Simila...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Light_of_Other_Days#Similar_themes_in_literature)

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failedartifact
Silly walks may be freedom. I find this mostly daunting. I wouldnt mind if the
technology was developed to improve our understanding of city commute, but
this gets into some freaky stuff. When were all much older, I can imagine
getting pulled aside by an officer because my walk is disturbing the
computers.

Oh monty python has this covered...
(Here)[[https://youtu.be/iV2ViNJFZC8](https://youtu.be/iV2ViNJFZC8)]

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userbinator
It's relieving to see basically all the comments here expressing how dystopian
this is, and my opinion is no different.

As I read the article I keep asking myself what motivates these people to do
such research --- they're basically contributing to the erosion of personal
freedom and privacy. It's scary.

~~~
Spooky23
Pretty easy. Money and security.

People make a lot of noise about freedom, etc, but paying the mortgage tends
to trump all.

~~~
pc86
Many people have a legitimate belief that security is preferable to freedom.

To the folks downvoting this objective fact: I suggest you take a look at your
ability to rationally discuss things that upset you before spending much more
time on the internet.

~~~
vertexFarm
It's certainly a fact that some people prefer security to freedom. In addition
freedom is a very abstract concept, and as a consequence it is much more often
fetishized than adequately understood. Absolute security and absolute freedom
are both essentially death.

That all gets very philosophical though, and most people can recognize a good
balance of freedom and are watchful of security paranoia stepping up and
curtailing that balance.

But here's the problem. This isn't actually security. Security is the straw
man. This is power masquerading as security. Nobody is becoming significantly
safer thanks to these overreaches of surveillance in any way that really
matters. The likelihood of falling victim to a failure of airport security is
outrageously low, and these security firms are taking advantage of our
inability to accurately assess risk when it comes to things like this.

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dandare
I prefer to inject a little randomness into my attacks on gait­recognition: I
put a handful of gravel into each shoe. Cheap and effective, and no two steps
are the same. Plus you get a great reflexology foot massage in the process (I
kid. Reflexology is about as scientifically useful as gait­recognition).

Little Brother by Cory Doctorow

~~~
dcbadacd
> Little Brother by Cory Doctorow

Makes my blood boil

~~~
dandare
why? I don't understand.

~~~
dcbadacd
Did you read it? It's written to push buttons, and it did push mine, I don't
get how's that hard to understand.

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freeloop10
“Walk without rhythm and you won't attract the worm”

~~~
teekert
So now it just tries to keep track of who's where and when. If someone leaves
by the school-gates during classes, their gait is checked to see if it kinda-
sorta matches any student gait and if it does, whoop-whoop-whoop, ring the
alarm!

Chavez High is ringed with gravel walkways. I like to keep a couple handsful
of rocks in my shoulder-bag, just in case. I silently passed Darryl ten or
fifteen pointy little bastards and we both loaded our shoes.

    
    
        - Cory Doctorrow, Little Brother: https://craphound.com/littlebrother/Cory_Doctorow_-_Little_Brother.pdf

~~~
gm-conspiracy
Excellent book!

I read the whole story in one sitting.

~~~
teekert
Me too (almost), gave me a good grip on public/private key crypto as well!

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d--b
Unless you need a captcha in an airport, I wouldn't say this qualifies as
useful... 0.7% error rate on biometrics means that of the 1000 people who will
use the airport on a particular day, the system will fail 70 times, that's
huge. Plus this is in lab conditions. Add a few years to the sensors, and your
error rate goes through the roof.

Plus I'm pretty sure you could develop "adversorial shoes" for this...

Meh.

~~~
ashelmire
What do you think the current error rate is? In testing the TSA has something
like a 100% failure rate iirc.

~~~
pavel_lishin
I'm no fan of the TSA, but you're comparing apples to handguns-in-handbags
here; their inability to find planted explosives in my luggage isn't the same
as a failure to correctly identify that I have the right documentation to get
on the plane.

~~~
ashelmire
You're right; failing to detect weapons (and thus letting people die) is a
fatal error that can't be corrected. Failing to correctly id you is something
that can be corrected by a human afterwards. I'm much happier to let a system
incorrectly id someone than to let them onto a plane with a weapon.

That said, this seems like just one of many potential id methods that would
comprise a larger system (facial recognition, fingerprinting, etc).

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robkop
With only 127 people being tested and a false positive rate of 0.7% I'd be
hard pressed to see this as a viable system in its current form.

It's certainly less invasive but you have to ask how effective it can possibly
be when it's known about. It's a lot harder to fake your fingerprints and
retina than to walk at a different speed.

If you were a highly funded individual you could also quite easily acquire one
of these systems and practice to fool it.

I don't see how this could be used as a effective security system but maybe
someone could enlighten me.

~~~
Brotkrumen
You could probably trick that system by dragging something heavy, deviating
from your regular gait. Now where to get something heavy to carry around at an
airport, I have no idea.

~~~
JimmyAustin
A roller carry on bag with jammed wheels would qualify.

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sandworm101
>>> With this system, the researchers claim that the way a person walks and
analysis of that individual’s footsteps could be used as a biometric at
airport security instead of fingerprinting and eye-scanning, providing a non-
intrusive method of identity verification. Lol. Does anyone here think this is
possible given the realities of airport "walking". Pressure patterns? You mean
the pressure my feet place on the ground as I shuffle because my laces are
untied approaching security? Or my stride length as I drag my roll-aboard with
its one broken wheel? Or my pace as I run between flights, limping because one
foot is still asleep after eight ours in an economy-class cage.

And ... I don't drink but many people do drink at airports. Everything with
your walk changes after a beer or two.

And women in heals.

>>> the process is non-intrusive for the individual

Yes... until I get pulled over for questioning because my walking pattern
doesn't match my last walking pattern. TSA is already security theater. If our
missteps will result in bad reviews, that theatre is now a security ballet. If
you want to make your flight, remember to hit your mark.

------
King-Aaron
"If it walks like a terrorist.. it's a terrorist"

\- Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov

~~~
pabloski
He didn't mean literally. But these people are seriously nut. They want to
scare people, that is all. We all know that the 9/11 terrorists where on the
Saudis payroll. And Saudia Arabia is an american ally!

~~~
Fnoord
> They want to scare people, that is all.

Yes, they do, but not merely in the direct way.

If the government fears its civilians and becomes a police state, _the
terrorists_ succeed.

~~~
Spooky23
Oh course. Asymmetric warfare is usually successful.

We’re trying to swat flies with World War 2 armies. The US has been in a war
state for so long there is no actual condition that will result in victory,
and we have undermined the institutions of civil government with no tangible
benefit.

------
toss1
This'll work great until someone has an event that changes their gait --
sprained ankle, different shoes, stone or wrinkled sock in one shoe, carrying
luggage asymmetrically, etc., etc., etc..

They even mention this sort of problem near the end of the article, where they
mention it would be a good way to pickup cognitive or physical decline. This
controlled use would be a much better use of the technology, but grab fewer
headlines.

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cgb223
But what happens if I break my leg?

Does it identify me as someone else?

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basicplus2
Unless you have pulled a muscle somewhere, and your are limping..

~~~
wrboyce
Or carrying a heavy bag?

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vanderZwan
Isn't that easily bypassed with a hoverboard or wheelchair?

~~~
have_faith
Or a pair of cheap ankle weights, maybe even only wear one on one leg only to
increase how much your gait is off balance.

~~~
lostlogin
It’s probably safest to have a few beers before setting off.

------
poundtown
pimp stroll

------
teekert
Security? Whose official vehicles are in the basement parking lot?

According to the register, a Mr. Nakamura from the Treaties Bureau and a Dr.
Willis, sir.

Get me the video records of their entrance.

Again. In infrared this time.

One thousand, one; one thousand, two; one thousand, three.

Now get the records of the pressure sensors for basement parking stalls B8 and
B7.

Major, this is Togusa, Code 09.

What's up?

Does that Nakamura guy have a special-order cyborg body?

No, there aren't any cyborgs in Section 6. They don't even ship them to serve
overseas because they're too hard to maintain. There's diplomatic
considerations too.

Then, even if the other guy that was with him is a cyborg, the two of them
together couldn't weigh over 1,000 pounds.

Ah, you checked the pressure sensors in the parking structure, didn't you?

Right, but neither man looks like the type to drive himself. The security
cameras show only two people. But remember how sensitive the sensors on the
entrance doors are? They took a full three seconds longer than usual to close
after the two went in. And it's illegal to use therm-optics inside government
facilities.

It's a serious violation of the National Security Act. Section 6 must be up to
something. Are you ready?

With my trusty Matever, anytime.

    
    
        - Ghost in the Shell 1995: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghost_in_the_Shell_(1995_film)

~~~
tzahola

        Transporting a listed programmer out of the country violates our arms export treaty.
    

My all-time favorite.

~~~
teekert
This movie is full of nice quotes regarding tech and it's from 1995! Japanese
people really have a fundamentally different view on tech, tech is always a
tool. We Westerners love the classic Terminator plot, the classic Asimovs laws
gone bad plot (I, Robot). The Japanese _use_ tech, they sit in battle robots,
they use it connect their consciousness directly to the internet. I love it.

Ok, some more from Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence, fully off topic but hey
I'm getting pretty fired up, I'm going to watch both movies again really
soon... The movies are so timeless because they don't focus on exact tech,
they focus on the philosophical implications of the tech, it keeps them highly
relevant.

 _Scene 9: Golden Sky (In a vehicle flying across the remains of a city)_

Batou: "This is one of the largest cities in the Kureal Islands, it was once
prosperous, originally built to be one of the most important information
centers in the Far East. See those towers? This city was really something. But
its dubious sovereignty has made it the ideal haven for multi-nationals
cooperations and the criminal elements that feed off their spoils. It's now a
lawless zone, beyond the reach of the e-police. Reminds me of the line, 'What
the body creates, is as much an expression of DNA as the body itself.'"

Togusa: "Doesn't that apply to beaver dams and spider webs as well?"

Batou: "If the essence of life is information that is carried in DNA, then
society and civilisation are just collossal memory storage systems, and a
metropolis is simply a sprawling external memory."

Togusa: "As it says in the bible. 'How great is the sum of all thy thoughts.
If I should count them, they are more in number than the sand.'"

Batou: "Psalms 139, Old Testament. The way you spontaneous spout these ancient
exotic references, I'd say your own external memory's pretty twisted."

Togusa: "Look who's talking."

Speaker: "Sorry to interrupt, but we're about to fly over Locus Solus. I'm
changing the route just for you, so take a good look."

Speaker: "So much for the free tour. Now prepare for landing."

Togusa: "'His legions, angel forms, who lay entranced / Thick as autumnal
leaves that strew the brooks'"

Batou: "Now you're quoting Milton, but we are not Satan."

~~~
bitwize
You're kidding yourself if you think the Japanese are above a good old-
fashioned AI gone rogue plot. Exhibit A: Macross Plus (and the AI is an idol
singer to boot). Exhibit B: GitS itself, with the Puppetmaster.

As for "Asimov's Three Laws gone wrong", Asimov himself created the Three Laws
because he thought _Frankenstein_ had been retold too many times and wanted to
write stories about robots blending into human society rather than attempting
to overthrow it (and imagined interesting _new_ failure modes of these robots
in the process!).

------
thousandyear
Put a pebble in your shoe and the metric becomes meaningless. Move the pebble
around to shuffle your biometric signal.

