Carnegie Mellon University's Biometrics Center Selected To House New Pedo-Biometrics Research and Identity Automation Lab

CMU Lab To Test New Identity Automation Technology Using the Human Foot

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Jul 18, 2012, 09:00 ET

PITTSBURGH, July 18, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Identity science takes a giant leap forward with a new discipline in biometrics. Carnegie Mellon University researchers at the new $1.5 million per year Pedo-Biometrics Research and Identity Automation Lab are teaming up with Autonomous ID, an Ottawa, Canada, company currently relocating operations to the U.S., to test insole sensory system prototypes for a variety of identification uses, from security to detecting the onset of such diseases as diabetes and Parkinson's.

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The CMU Pedo-Biometrics Lab, headed by Electrical and Computer Engineering Professor Marios Savvides, will provide the roadmap for scientific analysis and algorithm research and development for the new pedo-biometrics discipline, which uses a specially designed insole to monitor foot movement.

Vladimir Polotski, the chief science and technology officer of Autonomous ID, will work with CMU's Savvides and Vijayakumar Bhagavatula to provide researchers with the instructional technology intrinsic to the emerging science of pedo-biometrics.

"This new collaboration is a wonderful way to showcase our ongoing work in the emerging field of biometrics and our growing commitment to integrate innovative lab work with the needs of industry. It also offers wonderful opportunities for fundamental research in pedo-biometrics with potential applications in medical diagnosis, forensic science, privacy, security and automation," said Bhagavatula, a professor of electrical and computer engineering (ECE).

"The establishment of the Pedo-Biometrics Lab at CMU recognizes our technological achievements and we look forward to exploring the new frontier at the university," Polotski said.

Todd Gray, chairman and president of Autonomous ID, said this new CMU lab gives his company the needed research and development boost to field trial the primary identity apparatus dubbed BioSole and its cloud connected automation suite governing the access and use of controlled resources.

"The continuing threats to military personnel and critical infrastructure and the growing national cyber security vulnerabilities demand a new breed of credentialing technology, and what our group has achieved certainly puts a whole new spin on things," Gray said.

Savvides reports that the new lab will be housed at CMU and will complement his work of using the iris of the human eye as a fingerprint to trap cybercriminals. "As a researcher and a professor, this new frontier is exciting. There is really no limit to what can be done with this new identity technology; I look forward to beginning."

About Carnegie Mellon University: Carnegie Mellon (www.cmu.edu) is a private, internationally ranked research university with programs in areas ranging from science, technology and business, to public policy, the humanities and the arts. More than 11,000 students in the university's seven schools and colleges benefit from a small student-to-faculty ratio and an education characterized by its focus on creating and implementing solutions for real problems, interdisciplinary collaboration and innovation. A global university, Carnegie Mellon's main campus in the United States is in Pittsburgh, Pa. It has campuses in California's Silicon Valley and Qatar, and programs in Asia, Australia, Europe and Mexico. The university is in the midst of "Inspire Innovation: The Campaign for Carnegie Mellon University," which aims to build its endowment, support faculty, students and innovative research, and enhance the physical campus with equipment and facility improvements.