Towards The Use Of Brain-Computer Interface And Gestural Technologies As A Potential Alternative To Pin Authentication

This article describes an exploratory study which examined the use of Brain-Computer Interface (BCI) and gestural technologies generated from a BCI headset as a novel potential alternative to a 4-digit PIN code for authentication. Unlike other input modalities, many of these tokens (i.e., push, lift, excitement), can overcome some of the security vulnerabilities associated with PIN authentication (e.g., observations from third parties). Participants engaged in a controlled study where they performed five, 4-token authentication tasks on a simulated authentication screen. The percentage of completed BCI and gestural input tasks, as well as input time and accuracy, was compared to the 4-digit PIN task. The results showed that while authentication using a BCI headset is currently not as complete, fast, or accurate as that of a 4-digit PIN code, users felt that such a system would represent greater security over PIN-based authentication. In addition, mental commands, which might be perceived as the most secure from the standpoint of inconspicuous detection, were found to offer disappointing results both in terms of completion percentage and completion time.