Scientists Win Grant from National Science Foundation to Study Thumb Biometrics

Researchers have secured a grant of over $700,000 from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to develop a new behavioral biometric that tracks the movements of the user’s thumbs while using a smartphone, the Illinois State University News reported Tuesday.

“The interactions, such as strokes, that users make with their thumbs when working with smartphones can be very unique,” said Jianwei Lai, an assistant professor at the Illinois State University School of Information Technology and a researcher on the team. “We can use these interactions to identify different users. This is what we call thumb biometrics.”

The $718,000 grant will help Lai and the rest of the research team – based out the University of Maryland – create a new authentication process that can be used by people will visual impairments, the report said.

“We are very connected to technology as a people,” Lai told the Illinois State University News. “So any way we can improve the path to technology for people especially those with special needs, the more connected we all are.”

The grant issued through the NSF’s Division of Computer and Network Systems. Read the original report here.