No matter if you are logging into a work computer, money account or even something as simple as unlocking any type of device – passwords are a necessary and often highly frustrating complication of everyday life.We already have fingerprint scanners, facial recognition technology, and even retinal scanners, but Dr. Karl Martin, Nymi’s CEO and co-founder, wants to take the concept of user authentication further, making the process simpler than ever before.
Nymi analyzes and stores a person’s ECG, a measure of not only your heart rate but also the electrical activity generated by the heart, and then uses this information to authenticate access through the Nymi armband, all via a low energy Bluetooth connection.
“The core technology around the recognition was researched at the University of Toronto. I had a co-founder at the time who was working on the technology and we started Bionym. We started with the technology without a concept of how to use it, but there was a concept that came out of that research — continuous authentication ECG,” says Martin.
He thinks Nymi’s ECG technology could be used for a variety of purposes, ranging from giving the wearer instant access to their smartphone, logging into a PC user account or even turning on a vehicle, all authenticated by wearing the Nymi.
“We were really looking to license this technology and its algorithms, but about two years into the business we realized, well, number one, we want to bring a product to market and that the real power of the concepts was the continuous persistence of knowing who this person is (through ECG). We very quickly realized that to enable this we needed something wearable — something on the body. Because if it’s just your phone or something in your pocket, there’s really no mechanism to always ensure that it’s you that’s with it.”
The Nymi continuously monitors the wearer’s ECG, so if the device is cut off or the clasp opens, it deactivates immediately.Essentially, taping the Nymi creates a complete circuit and allows the device to obtain the information it needs, in turn identifying and authenticating the user. The Nymi makes sure you are who you say you are, and in order to combat variable heart rates, records data over the course of various days to ensure you’ll still be able to access the device you’re unlocking even if your ECG signal is a little abnormal.
Nymi is currently shipping what the company is calling its “Discover Kit,” a relatively early build of Nymi’s technology focused on encouraging creators to come up with new ways to take advantage of the Nymi. When developers get their hands on the Nymi, they’re able to download the armband’s companion application (right now it’s only available on Windows devices, but will be coming to other platforms), a simple computer unlock program, and development apk., a file format used to distribute and install Android application software.
During a visit to Nymi’s office, Martin showed off the armband’s ECG capabilities, unlocking a Windows-based computer using only the Nymi, after going through the device’s surprisingly simple initial setup process. Without entering a single password, Martin was able to log into his computer only by taping the Nymi on his wrist.
“We’re seeing a lot of creative things in hackathons. Some of them are pretty wacky like there was one that won a hackathon that used a Muse headband to detect if you’re drunk and then your Nymi band, which lets you start your car, won’t let you start the vehicle if you’re intoxicated. That’s the kind of stuff that’s obviously not being commercialized tomorrow.”
Martin said Nymi’s authentication component isn’t an application in itself really, and instead he envisions the concept enabling developers to create new, more interesting experiences with his company’s technology. Moving forward the Nymi’s focus is currently enterprise business use, primarily because security and authentication is often linked closely to that world.
