Scientists working on making smartphones smarter

27 Feb 2015

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A team of scientists is adapting accelerometers, Global Positioning System (GPS) chips, gyroscopes and other sensors to make smartphones that would be able to read a user's mood, eliminate passwords, protect financial transactions and more, IANS reported.

The team led by Nitesh Saxena at the University of Alabama at Birmingham is working on innovations that could be on their way to the smartphone screen.

Saxena, director of the "Spies lab" at the university, plans to gather data from accelerometers, gyroscopes and proximity sensors to chart the characteristic gestures a user made when answering a call or snapping a selfie.

With the software learning users' moves, it could unlock their phone automatically -- or freeze when it detected that it was in the wrong hands.

According to Saxena, a system that tapped into user interactions with multiple connected devices such as Google Glass or the new Apple Watch, would be even more secure.

Newer phones could measure temperature, humidity -- even barometric pressure. He added, a combination of these readings could offer a secure way to log in to one's computer and making passwords obsolete.

Zero-interaction" authentication systems operated much like the keyless entry and starting systems on some cars, relying on Bluetooth or other signals from a smartphone to grant a user access.

"Zero-interaction" authentication systems relied on Bluetooth or other signals from a smartphone to grant a user access PTI reported.

Existing systems were however, vulnerable to relay attacks. A team of criminals - one close to the user, the other near his or her computer - could relay/eavesdrop on the verification process and defeat the system, according to Saxena.

Saxenas' team had found that combining readings from multiple sensors, including GPS, audio, temperature and altitude, could thwart relay attacks.

They have developed an Android-based app, called BlueProximity++, that used the readings to instantly - and securely - unlock laptops and other devices as soon as the user's phone got within range.

Researchers were also working towards making financial transactions safer.

Apple Pay, Google Wallet and other mobile payment systems relied on near-field communications (NFC) technology. With NFC chips, users could make payments by tapping their phones against a reader at retail stores.

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