‘Smart’ Keyboard Could Recognize Who’s Typing

A new keyboard powers itself by generating electricity when a person’s fingertips make contact with its multi-layer plastic materials.

"This has the potential to be a new means for identifying users," says Zhong Lin Wang. "With this system, a compromised password would not allow a cyber-criminal onto the computer. The way each person types even a few words is individual and unique." Sergey Nivens, Shutterstock*

A new keyboard powers itself by generating electricity when a person’s fingertips make contact with its multi-layer plastic materials.

The keyboard could offer a stronger layer of security by analyzing things like the force of a user’s typing and the time between key presses.

“This intelligent keyboard changes the traditional way in which a keyboard is used for information input,” says Zhong Lin Wang, a professor in the School of Materials Science and Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology. “Every punch of the keys produces a complex electrical signal that can be recorded and analyzed.”

Every punch of the keys produces a complex electrical signal that can be recorded and analyzed.

— Zhong Lin Wang