The way you smile could uniquely identify you, and provide a basis for new facial recognition technology.

Physicists at Stony Brook University in New York have developed a facial recognition technique, which relies on the pattern of muscle movement beneath the skin, rather than matching surface characteristics.

Traditional techniques can easily be fooled, according to E Guan, who heads the Stony Brook team. They rely on measuring distance between the eyes, and the eyes and mouth, for example, which means simple makeup or dark glasses can throw off the system.

[ Read more ]