Walking soon to be used as a biometric tool
Guilty by walking: Scientists in several countries are now working on technology able to detect criminals by their style of walk
For more than a decade scientists have been working on technology which will allow computer systems to analyze the movements of criminals caught on CCTV and compare them with those of a suspect. The system works on the premise that every individual has a signature walking style. In the U.K., the Ministry of Defense (MoD) has backed scientists working with a £500,000 on the technology which they have termed “automatic gait recognition”, allowing police and courts to compare images captured on CCTV with the walk of a suspect.
The technology is still very new but has worked successfully in its few court appearances. Swedish authorities used the technology in 2003 in a case where an individual robbed a bank leaving one woman dead. It was again asked to be used by Swedish police in the murder of the country’s Foreign Minister Anna Lindh. The suspect, however, Mijailo Mijailovic, confessed to the murder leaving no need for police to use the innovative system.
Professor Mark Nixon of Southampton University’s department of electronics and computing says that research shows walking patterns are able to distinguish between each individual. The studies show differences in walks are because of variations in muscle strength, tendon and bone length, bone density, visual acuity, co-ordination skills, experience, body mass, centre of gravity, muscle or bone damage, physiological conditions, and a personal walking “style”. Nixon also said that an attempt for an individual to try and disguise the way they walk is difficult because the system is able to identify a person whether they are casually walking or sprinting.
Similar studies are being conducted in China, the United States, Australia, and Japan. U.S. scientists have produced a “walking surveillance” system similar to speed guns used by police officers trying to catch drivers speeding. The U.S. device sends a radar signal to the intended walking individual and which reflects back specific information about their pattern of walk and creates an individual radar signature.
