As Published In January/February 2006

Going Mobile

Podcasting from your car, iris scanning, and secure cell phones

Podcasting Meets the Road

The world is abuzz about podcasting, so why not "roadcasting"? Researchers from Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, have mixed podcasting, radio, and peer-to-peer file sharing on a system that lets people in cars tune into music from digital music systems in nearby cars. The concept matches people with radio stations and music they prefer. Essentially, anyone can have a radio station, broadcasted among wirelessly capable devices—some in cars and others in ad hoc wireless networks. The system learns individual preferences and chooses songs and podcasts that people want to hear. Roadcasting provides a set of methods to transform radio into a community-driven interactive medium, which could be a tremendous blow to radio stations. Here's a surprising fact: This project was commissioned by a major automaker that plans to offer roadcasting as a standard by 2010.

Web Locator Roadcasting Secure cell phones Iris on the Move

Walking the Talk

Here's the latest in cell phone technology: a cell phone that secures itself by learning your walking and moving patterns. Researchers at the VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland have developed a cell phone prototype that uses motion sensors to record a user's walking pattern. The device periodically checks to see that it is still in the owner's possession by measuring the current stride and comparing it against that stored in its memory. If the phone suspects it has fallen into the wrong hands, it will prompt the user for a password when the user attempts to make a call or access its memory. However, the system has its limitations. It works best when attached to a user's belt, rather than carried in a bag or purse. Wearing high heels, suffering a foot injury, and, especially, drinking alcohol are activities likely to set the device off by accident.

Iris on the Move

It is said that the eyes are the windows to the soul. Soon, certain agencies, once equipped with iris-recognition systems, may also see your credit, medical, criminal, and other history, when you walk into their buildings. Princeton, New Jersey-based Sarnoff has unveiled the world's first iris-recognition system designed to identify people on the move. Similar in shape to an airport metal detector, the Iris on the Move system can identify 20 people a minute as they file through it. This makes it far more efficient than existing systems, which can take several minutes to complete a single scan. Iris on the Move uses a high-resolution camera and extra-bright infrared LEDs to illuminate the subject. A newly developed algorithm separates the image of the eye from the rest of the face. Conventional iris-recognition software then separates the iris from the pupil, eyelashes, and eyelid, and converts the image into a 2048-bit code. In the near future, you may be asked to remove your glasses and look straight ahead without blinking as you enter airports, banks, and government buildings.