At a time when security is a major concern, a team of three engineering students from Birla Institute of Technology and Science (BITS), Pilani is working on an innovative way for human recognition using gait and other body features which can be used in major security prone areas like defence, research labs, government offices, banks and other institutions that have predefined people using the system.
Gait is a systematic study of animal locomotion or specifically, a study of human motion, using eye and the brain of observers. This is augmented by instrumentation for body mechanics, measuring body movements, and the activity of the muscles.
The technique is also commonly used in sports biomechanics to help athletes run more efficiently and to identify posture-related or movement-related problems in people with injuries.
Headed by Chandradeo Arya, a third year computer science student, the team is working towards a reliable way of human recognition which provides an alternative way to currently established system based on face, fingerprint and iris. The project was submitted under the synopsis- 'Human recognition using gait analysis and other body features based on Microsoft Kinect sensor'.
"It will act as an additional alternative to the currently used systems based on fingerprint and facial recognition due to its non-intrusive, reliable nature and will enable better bio-metric data privacy," says Arya whose team is one of the three to win 'Ericsson Innovation Awards India' held at Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Delhi here.
The final product is set to be a complete software solution which will require kinect (a sensor) and one small computing device, a computer system and an embedded system in coming time which can recognise people from distance without requiring them to stop and follow the checkpoint.
"This will be a system which cannot be spoofed and even if
the system is hacked, it cannot be used for unauthenticated entry. It could prove to be a big asset for maintaining sharp vigil and surveillance at high security zones like international airports, railways stations and even border areas prone to infiltration," says Arya.
Under the second edition of Ericsson Innovation Awards, the Swedish multinational corporation is financially assisting each of the winning teams with Rs 13 lakh towards incubating the winning ideas at any IIT approved technology business incubators.
"Ericsson is at the forefront of innovation in its history of 140 years and by encouraging and inculcating the spirit of innovation amongst the student community of India, we wish to identify innovators of tomorrow and help them shape the solutions that will further define the networked society," says Paolo Colella, Head of Region India, Ericsson.
The projects were submitted by students working in different domains including web design, cloud computing, storage and networking, human-machine interface, embedded and hardware system design as well as research.
Seven proposals were shortlisted and each was given an incentive by Ericsson to complete the initial prototype within two months. The winning projects were selected by the jury in front of an audience comprising of students, faculty, innovators and industry leaders.
The other two winning projects were 'LED Beacon and Receiver Module' submitted by IIT Bombay and 'Advanced Breathalyzer Helmet' proposed by IIT Varanasi.
While the team from IIT Bombay has come up with the idea of using an LED Beacon to broadcast data in a particular area and illuminating it at the same time, their IIT Varanasi counterpart seeks to make Indian roads safer for both riders as well as pedestrians, through their project.
The latter is working on a smart helmet which is integrated with a two wheeler that will keep both the driver as well as the vehicle safe and secure by making it mandatory for the driver to put on the helmet and have a permissible alcohol breath level so as to be able to start the vehicle.
