Listen carefully to the footsteps, and you can work out who is walking. The features commonly used to identify people are faces and fingerprints. But the way they walk is also a giveaway.
Researchers have used video cameras and computers to analyze people’s gaits. But translating such knowledge into a practical identification system can be tricky. Cameras are often visible? require good lighting and may have their view blocked by other people. A team led by Dr. Ozanyan and Dr. Scully have been looking for a better way to recognize gaits. Their answer: pressure-sensitive mats.
Such mats are nothing new. They have been part of security systems. But Ozanyan and Scully use a complicated version that can record the amount of pressure applied in different places as someone walks across it. The researchers turn to an artificial intelligence system to recognize such patterns. In a study in 2018, they tested the system on a database of footsteps of 127 people. They found its error rate in identifying who was a mere 0.7%. And Scully says even without a database of footsteps, the system can determine someone’s sex and a subject’s age.
One application of the mat-based gait-recognition system might be in health care, particularly for the elderly. A mat placed in a nursing home or an old person’s own residence could monitor changes in an individual’s gait that indicate certain illnesses. That would provide early warning of someone being at greater risk of falling over. Gait analysis might also be used as a security measure in the workplace, monitoring access to restricted areas, such as parts of military bases, server farms or laboratories dealing with dangerous materials. Perhaps the most interesting use of the mats, though, would be in public places, such as airports.
【小题1】What does the underlined word “giveaway” in paragraph 1 mean?| A．A present for free. | B．A research of pressure. |
| C．An unintentional leak. | D．An unidentified object. |
| A．Collecting data. | B．Ensuring safety. |
| C．Determining age. | D．Decreasing pressure. |
| A．Monitoring security work progress. | B．Detecting potential health problems. |
| C．Keeping track of travelling frequency. | D．Warning passengers of possible dangers. |
| A．To compare different ways to identify people. |
| B．To show people the importance of technology. |
| C．To persuade people to buy the mat. |
| D．To inform people of something about pressure-sensitive mats. |
