Acoustic ear-scanning will make iPods, mobile phone theft-proof

Melbourne, July 29 (ANI): Do you want your iPod and mobile phone to be theft-proof? Well, then listen up: scientists have found a way of using the "acoustic fingerprint" of a person's ear to make sure that personal portables are well-protected.

Boffins have found that they can pinpoint individuals from the unique sounds of the ear chamber. They sent a barely audible tone using an earphone that stimulates the hair cells beyond the inner ear into producing a minute sound of their own, reports News.com.au.

An individual's eardrum, ear bones and the shape of the ear canal gives sound a unique "fingerprint".

An iPod, mobile phone or any other device fitted with an anti-theft acoustic fingerprint detector would instantly detect this biometric "pin number".

Electronics engineer, Arthur Rapos of the Elektra company, believes biometric mapping will eventually lead to microchip implants in humans.

"The sound the inside of our ear makes is not the only unique thing about an individual. Think of a tree where no two leaves are the same," Rapos says.

"It's the same principle with the human body that has hundreds of features unique to an individual.

"It isn't a flight of fancy to imagine someone being implanted with a removable microchip that records that person's unique biological features before travelling overseas," he added. (ANI)