Now, technology that identifies 'brainprints' could let you unlock devices with thoughts

You could soon unlock your computer just by thinking about it. It may sound far-fetched, but scientists have already created a prototype system that is able to do this with 94 per cent accuracy. The technology could some day replace passwords altogether and make accessing gadgets safer and faster, according to its creators.

HOW DOES IT WORK?

People associate different memories to different words - and usually these memories do not change much over time. The researchers based their technology on this premise. They attached a pair of electrodes to a person's scalp and then asked them to read a list of words. Software then analysed their brain waves when each word was read to pick out their unique 'brainprint'. The system is currently 94 per cent accurate and in the future, it could be used to help unlock gadgets just by focusing on certain words. The system were dreamt up by Blair Armstrong of the Basque Center on Cognition, Brain, and Language in Spain. Armstrong discovered that everyone thinks about different words in their own unique way. In a recent study, he recorded the brain signals of 45 volunteers as they read a list of 75 acronyms, including ones like FBI and DVD. Electrical activity was recordede using a pair of electrodes attached to participants' scalps. The human brain is made up of billions of active neurons that have around 105,600 miles (170,000 km) of combined length. Every time you have a thought, your brain produces weak but distinct electrical signals corresponding to it. The electrical impulse is generated by the chemical reaction between neurons, which can be measured with electrodes.