UC Berkeley School of Information research Passthoughts as Passwords - The Matrix Frees you Mind with Johnny Mnemonic unhackable password

“We find that brainwave signals, even those collected using low-cost non-intrusive EEG sensors in everyday settings, can be used to authenticate users with high degrees of accuracy”

UC Berkley School of Information led by Professor John Chuang paper on using Passthoughts that can potentially replace Passwords

Remember the IndieGogo funded Interaxon and their latest Bluetooth-connected Mind Controller, the Muse as described in my blog article entitled “IndieGogo funded Interaxon debut US$199 Muse Mind Controller at Le Web in France - Future Silver Lining Playbook for Gaming that'll Exercise the Windmills of Your Mind”.

Well, the Muse and other EEG controllers of its ilk are already poised for great things in 2013. The Muse and other Alpha and Beta wave based computer Controllers may end up doing more than relaxing you mind and playing games as noted in my Geezam Blog article entitled “Interaxon’s Muse Mind Controller and Tailly the Wearable Tail”.

This as a team from  UC Berkley School of Information led by Professor John Chuang have developed a method of using you Alpha and Beta Waves to create a replacement for Passwords, effectively Passthoughts as reported in “Researchers Look to Replace Passwords With 'Passthoughts'”, published April 10, 2013 03:35pm EST by Chloe Albanesius, PCWorld and “Passwords are so last season, ‘pass-thoughts’ let you log in with your mind”, published April 8, 2013 By Mariella Moon, DigitalTrends.

Basically, they’ve taken off-the-shelf Neurosky MindSet EEG (Electro EncephaloGraph) Headgear and modified it to convert your conscious thoughts represented by Alpha and Beta Wave pattern that’s as unique as your fingerprint or even a scan of your iris in your eyes.

Test subjects looked at a series of pictures and produce passthoughts to train the algorithm to recognize it’s them, effectively a kind of authentication procedure. Next the subjects were all asked to think up unique thoughts , the Alpha and Beta Waves for which were stored as a password.

Passthoughts, as I’d like to call them, can be an effective replacement for passwords, as already the team from  UC Berkley School of Information has achieve error rates of 1% as reported in “Researchers Replace Passwords With Mind-Reading Passthoughts”, published 04/09/2013 by Camille Bautista, Mashable  meaning that 1 in every 100 passwords are reproducible by another subject i.e we’re thinking on the same wavelength, get it?!

This is sorta acceptable but can be improved upon via encryption and improved filtering of Alpha and Beta Waves. In addition, it teaches the user to focus and relax more and thus makes them better at producing more unique passthoughts that are more difficult for someone else to think up, pun not intended.

Additionally, it nearly impossible to hack your brainwaves or even mimic them, as even if two test subjects look at the same picture and have the same Alpha and Beta Waves, slight differences in the patterns make them unique, like Fingerprints and Retinas.

The only way a hacker can hack your password is unless the hacker hacked the EEG device that was transmitting the passthought and thus could copy and reuse that passthought to access anything you have access. Even then, they’d have to mimic the authentication pattern of the user, which would be next to impossible, as not all great minds think alike. Sorry, that another horrible pun.

Effectively passthought  are a fun way to replace a tedious part of logging on to Secure Databases, Internet and devices such as smartphones and Tablets as you merely have to think of a pleasant non- physical thought and the algorithm reads it as a password as noted in “Passthoughts? Brainwave-Based Passwords a Reality”, published Apr 11, 2013 7:57am By Joanna Stern, ABC News.

Demonstrating that Mind Reading Computer Peripherals made by such companies as Neurosky as described in my blog article entitled  “Neurosky, Mind Controlled Games and Movable Ears - CNET Crave's Alpha and Beta Future of Gaming” are more than merely curious toys or a passing fad in computer Peripherals. They may be the ultimate replacement for passwords and cheaper than other Biometric systems of identification.

Strong evidence, if not proof, that Interaxon’s Muse can be more than just a party favour. Ditto too for Neurosky’s Necomimi Ears and that cute EEG (Electro Encephalo Graph) controlled Tail as alluded in my Geezam Blog article entitled “Interaxon’s Muse Mind Controller and Tailly the Wearable Tail”!

A little Research and Developer enthusiasm can go a long way to developing useful produces, eventually making Passthought a standard to replace passwords, despite the amusing opinion piece by CNET’s Chris Matyszczyk  in his article “Why bother with passwords when you can have passthoughts?”, published April 8, 2013 12:27 PM PDT by Chris Matyszczyk, CNET News.

The Matrix (1999) Frees the muscles of your Mind with Johnny Mnemonic  (1995) Unhackable Passwords