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The MIT Technology Review highlights new technology that might one day allow fitness tracking bands or smart watches to identify the person who is wearing it, “providing a simple way to control access to your home, car, or office and perhaps dissuading would-be thieves,” writes the Review.

“Technology honed at Dartmouth uses four pairs of electrodes around the wrist,” writes the Review. “Electrical resistance between the electrodes turns out to be a biometric: it is unique to individuals, depending on their body composition, flesh thickness, and bone size. After the device measures the correct levels of resistance, it can wirelessly transmit an ID code confirming your identity,” the Review explains.

Cory Cornelius ’07, who the article notes developed the technology while he was a PhD student at Dartmouth, described the prototype wearable device at the MobiSys conference earlier this week. “If I’m wearing the bracelet, my phone would be unlocked without a PIN code, or I could log into my PC or provide a means of access control,” says Cornelius.

Read the full story, published 6/23/14 by the MIT Technology Review.