Biometrics technology can take on many forms, but, in general, it is defined as the automated identification of a person based on physiological or behavioral characteristics. The topic has gained considerable attention lately, because it can be a tool for airport surveillance or national security.
To learn the basics of biometrics, try the overview given on a Michigan State University Web site (1...
Since September 11, 2001 the U.S. government has been actively searching for ways to improve surveillance at airports and U.S. borders. The Electronic Frontier Foundation is concerned that biometric technologies are being promoted as the silver bullet when very little independent, objective scientific testing of biometrics has been done. This evolving website discusses what is known and raises...
The Georgia Institute of Technology is conducting research on Human Identification at a Distance, with an emphasis on gait recognition. Supported by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), the project's development of gait recognition systems and algorithms is "an example of an activity-specific biometric: a method of extracting some identifying properties of an individual or of an...