Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in
Book cover

Biometric-Based Physical and Cybersecurity Systems pp 355–386Cite as

Biometric Authentication for Wearables

  • Chapter
  • First Online:

Abstract

Wearable technology has seen a substantial growth over the last decade, largely due to the improvements in technology and the realization of its potential applications. Wearable technology includes devices such as smartwatches, smart eyewear, smart bands, smart fabrics, and smart jewelry. These devices are having a significant impact in the fields of healthcare, fitness and sports, education, entertainment, corporate enterprise, military, and law enforcement. One of the most important features of this technology is the communication capability it has with the wearer as well as other devices. Wearable devices are now equipped with sensors such as touch screen, 3-axis accelerometer, gyroscope, and electrocardiogram (ECG) and electroencephalogram (EEG) monitors.

We present an overview of the current state of the art in biometric authentication for wearable technologies. We explore the use of wearables to capture data from both traditional and new biometric modalities. We present several application scenarios that could exploit biometric authentication techniques using wearables. We review system architectures, including the use of cloud computing to off-load the processing and data storage. Finally, we discuss user privacy and security issues associated with biometric authentication for wearables.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.

Chapter
USD   29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD   129.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD   169.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD   169.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Learn about institutional subscriptions

References

  1. E.O. Thorp, The invention of the first wearable computer, in Digest of Papers. Second International Symposium on Wearable Computers (Cat. No.98EX215), (1998), pp. 4–8

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  2. S. Mann, An historical account of the “WearComp” and “WearCam” inventions developed for applications in “personal imaging”, in Digest of Papers. First International Symposium on Wearable Computers, (1997), pp. 66–73

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  3. WearTech.org, WearComp.org, WearCam.org, EyeTap Digital Eye Glass, WearTech (TM) Wearable Technologies/research/consulting/public speaking/inventing/philosophy. [Online]. Available: http://wearcam.org/. Accessed 04 Apr 2017

  4. M. Lamming, M. Flynn, Forget-me-not: Intimate computing in support of human memory, in Procedings of FRIEND21, 1994 International Symposium on Next Generation Human Interface, (1994), p. 4

    Google Scholar 

  5. Wearable technology and wearable devices: everything you need to know, wearable devices [Online]. Available http://www.wearabledevices.com/what-is-a-wearable-device/

  6. Microsoft presents Smart Personal Objects Technology (SPOT)-based wristwatches at CES, News Center, 09-Jan-2003 [Online]. Available https://news.microsoft.com/2003/01/09/microsoft-presents-smart-personal-objects-technology-spot-based-wristwatches-at-ces/

  7. Garmin and G. L. or its subsidiaries, ‘Forerunner® 101’, Garmin. [Online]. Available: https://buy.garmin.com/en-US/US/p/231. Accessed 07 Apr 2017

  8. Fitbit Zip™ Wireless activity tracker. [Online]. Available: https://www.fitbit.com/uk/zip. Accessed 07 Apr 2017

  9. Fitness trackers in the lead as wearables market grows 3.1% in the third quarter, according to IDC, www.idc.com. [Online]. Available: http://www.idc.com/getdoc.jsp?containerId=prUS41996116. Accessed 12 Apr 2017

  10. Wearables aren’t dead, they’re just shifting focus as the market grows 16.9% in the Fourth Quarter, According to IDC, www.idc.com. [Online]. Available: http://www.idc.com/getdoc.jsp?containerId=prUS42342317. Accessed 12 Apr 2017

  11. C. McGoogan, Fitbit cuts staff as interest in wearables stalls, The Telegraph, 30-Jan-2017 [Online]. Available http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/2017/01/30/fitbit-cuts-staff-interest-wearables-stalls/

  12. Gartner survey shows wearable devices need to be more useful. [Online]. Available: http://www.gartner.com/newsroom/id/3537117. Accessed 13 Apr 2017

  13. Xiaomi and Apple tie for the top position as the wearables market swells 17.9% during the first quarter, according to IDC, www.idc.com. [Online]. Available: http://www.idc.com/getdoc.jsp?containerId=prUS42707517. Accessed 13 Apr 2017

  14. Admin, ‘Wearable technology market 2017 global trend, segmentation and opportunities forecast To 2022 | AB Newswire’

    Google Scholar 

  15. Wristwear dominates the wearables market while clothing and earwear have market-beating growth by 2021, according to IDC’, www.idc.com . [Online]. Available: http://www.idc.com/getdoc.jsp?containerId=prUS42371617. Accessed 15 Apr 2017

  16. A.K. Jain, A. Ross, S. Prabhakar, An introduction to biometric recognition. IEEE Trans. Circuits Syst. Video Technol. 14(1), 4–20 (Jan. 2004)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. L. Wang, X. Geng (eds.), Behavioral Biometrics for Human Identification: Intelligent Applications (Medical Information Science Reference, Hershey, 2010)

    Google Scholar 

  18. Recon Jet. Smart eyewear for sports., Recon Instruments. [Online]. Available: https://www.reconinstruments.com/products/jet/. Accessed 02 Jun 2017

  19. Head mounted display sunglasses for cycling, Solos Wearables. [Online]. Available: http://www.solos-wearables.com/. Accessed 05 May 2017

  20. Spectacles by Snap Inc. (United Kingdom). [Online]. Available: https://www.spectacles.com/uk/. Accessed 12 May 2017

  21. Owlet smart sock & baby care | track heart rate & oxygen levels. [Online]. Available: http://www.owletcare.com/. Accessed 13 May 2017

  22. OMbra - The ultimate running bra that just happens to be smart, OMsignal. [Online]. Available: https://omsignal.com/. Accessed 13 May 2017

  23. Athos. [Online]. Available: https://www.liveathos.com/. Accessed 1 Jun 2017

  24. Pebble 2 + heart rate | Pebble smartwatch | Smartwatch for iPhone & Android, Pebble. [Online]. Available: https://www.pebble.com/pebble-2-smartwatch-features. Accessed 23 Apr 2017

  25. Oculus Rift | Oculus. [Online]. Available: https://www.oculus.com/rift/. Accessed 23 Apr 2017

  26. Microsoft, ‘Microsoft HoloLens’, Microsoft HoloLens. [Online]. Available: https://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/hololens. Accessed 24 Apr 2017

  27. Vive | Discover virtual reality beyond imagination. [Online]. Available: https://www.vive.com/uk/. Accessed 24 Apr 2017

  28. EyeTap personal imaging lab. [Online]. Available: http://www.eyetap.org/research/eyetap.html. Accessed 27 May 2017

  29. Google glass, Wikipedia. 07-Jun-2017 [Online]. Available https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_Glass

  30. Vuzix | view the future. [Online]. Available: https://www.vuzix.eu/. Accessed 12 Jun 2017

  31. Samsung Gear S3 highlights, The official Samsung Galaxy Site. [Online]. Available: http://www.samsung.com/global/galaxy/gear-s3/. Accessed 12 May 2017

  32. Apple Watch Series 2, Apple (United Kingdom). [Online]. Available: https://www.apple.com/uk/apple-watch-series-2/. Accessed 12 May 2017

  33. Garmin and G. L. or its subsidiaries, ‘GPS Running Watch | Forerunner 935’, Garmin. [Online]. Available: https://buy.garmin.com/en-GB/GB/p/564291. Accessed 12 May 2017

  34. Fitbit Charge 2™ Heart rate + fitness wristband. [Online]. Available: https://www.fitbit.com/uk/charge2. Accessed 13 May 2017

  35. Mi Band 2 - Mi Global Home. [Online]. Available: http://www.mi.com/en/miband2/. Accessed 13 May 2017

  36. Garmin and G. L. or its subsidiaries, ‘vívosmart 3 | Garmin | Fitness Tracker’, Garmin. [Online]. Available: https://buy.garmin.com/en-GB/GB/p/567813. Accessed 14 May 2017

  37. RINGLY, ‘Ringly Luxe - Smart Rings’, RINGLY. [Online]. Available: https://ringly.com/products/smart-ring. Accessed 13 Jun 2017

  38. A.K. Dey, K. Wac, D. Ferreira, K. Tassini, J.-H. Hong, J. Ramos, Getting closer: an empirical investigation of the proximity of user to their smart phones, in Proceedings of the 13th international conference on Ubiquitous computing, (2011), pp. 163–172

    Google Scholar 

  39. P. Fernandez-Lopez, J. Liu-Jimenez, C. Sanchez-Redondo, R. Sanchez-Reillo, Gait recognition using smartphone, in 2016 I.E. International Carnahan Conference on Security Technology (ICCST), (2016), pp. 1–7

    Google Scholar 

  40. R. Ferrero, F. Gandino, B. Montrucchio, M. Rebaudengo, A. Velasco, I. Benkhelifa, On gait recognition with smartphone accelerometer, in 2015 4th Mediterranean Conference on Embedded Computing (MECO), (2015), pp. 368–373

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  41. W. Shi, J. Yang, Y. Jiang, F. Yang, Y. Xiong, SenGuard: Passive user identification on smartphones using multiple sensors, in 2011 I.E. 7th International Conference on Wireless and Mobile Computing, Networking and Communications (WiMob), (2011), pp. 141–148

    Google Scholar 

  42. A.H. Johnston, G.M. Weiss, Smartwatch-based biometric gait recognition, in 2015 I.E. 7th International Conference on Biometrics Theory, Applications and Systems (BTAS), (2015), pp. 1–6

    Google Scholar 

  43. A. Lewis, Y. Li, M. Xie, Real time motion-based authentication for smartwatch, in 2016 I.E. Conference on Communications and Network Security (CNS), (2016), pp. 380–381

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  44. G. Peng, G. Zhou, D.T. Nguyen, X. Qi, Q. Yang, S. Wang, Continuous authentication with touch behavioral biometrics and voice on wearable glasses. IEEE Trans. Hum. Mach. Syst 47(3), 404–416 (Jun. 2017)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  45. Y. Chen, C. Shen, Performance analysis of smartphone-sensor behavior for human activity recognition. IEEE Access 5, 3095–3110 (2017)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  46. N. Alshurafa, J. Eastwood, S. Nyamathi, W. Xu, J.J. Liu, M. Sarrafzadeh, Battery optimization in smartphones for remote health monitoring systems to enhance user adherence, in Proceedings of the 7th international conference on PErvasive Technologies Related to Assistive Environments, (2014), p. 8

    Google Scholar 

  47. S. Majumder, T. Mondal, M.J. Deen, Wearable sensors for remote health monitoring. Sensors 17(1), 130–2017

    Article  Google Scholar 

  48. BIOWATCH | Biometric authentication [Online]. Available https://www.biowatch.ch/web/. Accessed 21 May 2017

  49. Product overview, Nymi. [Online]. Available: https://nymi.com/product_overview. Accessed 25 May 2017

  50. M. Zubair, C. Yoon, H. Kim, J. Kim, J. Kim, Smart wearable band for stress detection, in 2015 5th International Conference on IT Convergence and Security (ICITCS), (2015), pp. 1–4

    Google Scholar 

  51. N. H. S. Choices, Electrocardiogram (ECG) - NHS choices, 24-Nov-2016. [Online]. Available: http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/electrocardiogram/Pages/Introduction.aspx. Accessed 27 May 2017

  52. H.S. Choi, B. Lee, S. Yoon, Biometric authentication using noisy electrocardiograms acquired by mobile sensors. IEEE Access 4, 1266–1273 (2016)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  53. N. H. S. Choices, Electroencephalogram (EEG) - NHS choices, 24-Nov-2016. [Online]. Available: http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/EEG/Pages/Introduction.aspx. Accessed 27 May 2017

  54. M.K. Bashar, I. Chiaki, H. Yoshida, Human identification from brain EEG signals using advanced machine learning method EEG-based biometrics, in 2016 I.E. EMBS Conference on Biomedical Engineering and Sciences (IECBES), (2016), pp. 475–479

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  55. J. Thorpe, P. C. van Oorschot, and A. Somayaji, ‘Pass-Thoughts: Authenticating with our Minds’, 121, 2005

    Book  Google Scholar 

  56. Y. Zeng, A. Pande, J. Zhu, P. Mohapatra, WearIA: Wearable device implicit authentication based on activity information

    Google Scholar 

  57. S. Ojala, J. Keinanen, J. Skytta, Wearable authentication device for transparent login in nomadic applications environment, in 2008 2nd International Conference on Signals, Circuits and Systems, (2008), pp. 1–6

    Google Scholar 

  58. Multi-sensor finger ring for authentication based on 3D signatures (PDF download available)’, ResearchGate. [Online]. Available: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/264083695_Multi-sensor_Finger_Ring_for_Authentication_Based_on_3D_Signatures. Accessed 29 May 2017

  59. B.-R. Cha, S.-H. Lee, S.-B. Park, G.-K. Lee, Y.-K. Ji, Design of Micro-payment to strengthen security by 2 factor authentication with mobile & wearable devices. Adv. Sci. Tech 109, 28–32 (2015)

    Google Scholar 

  60. ‘8 Mind-blowing Uses of Wearable Technology (Seriously…)’. [Online]. Available: http://www.govtech.com/fs/news/8-Mind-blowing-Uses-of-Wearable-Technology-Seriously.html

  61. “ok glass,” - Google glass help. [Online]. Available: https://support.google.com/glass/answer/3079305?hl=en. Accessed 08 Jun 2017

  62. E. H. L. com J. 4, 2014, and 10:26 Am, ‘U.S. military biosensors could reveal science of sweat’. [Online]. Available: http://www.cbsnews.com/news/u-s-militarys-skin-sensors-could-reveal-science-of-sweat/. Accessed 05 Jun 2017

  63. C4ISRNET, ‘Wearable sensors could prevent troops from overheating’, C4ISRNET. [Online]. Available: http://www.c4isrnet.com/articles/mit-marine-team-developing-sensors-to-avoid-overheating-troops. Accessed 05 Jun 2017

  64. Ankle monitor, Wikipedia. 04-Jun-2017 [Online]. Available https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ankle_monitor

  65. Security flaw allows criminals to hack and escape from house arrest devices, The Stack, 14-Aug-2015 [Online]. Available https://thestack.com/security/2015/08/14/security-flaw-allows-criminals-to-hack-and-escape-from-house-arrest-devices/

  66. M. Khoso, How much data is produced every day?, Level Blog, 13-May-2016 [Online]. Available http://www.northeastern.edu/levelblog/2016/05/13/how-much-data-produced-every-day/

  67. Working with wearables and Bluemix. [Online]. Available: https://www.ibm.com/developerworks/library/ba-bluemix-wearables/index.html. Accessed 09 Jul 2017

  68. Automatically unlock your Mac with your Apple Watch, Apple Support. [Online]. Available: https://support.apple.com/en-gb/HT206995. Accessed 12 Jun 2017

  69. Nymi Whitepaper 08-Nov-2015 [Online]. Available https://nymi.com/sites/default/files/Nymi%20Whitepaper.pdf. Accessed 01 Jun 2017

  70. L. Goode, Don’t expect battery life miracles in wearables anytime soon, The Verge, 15-Jan-2016. [Online]. Available: https://www.theverge.com/2016/1/15/10775660/fitness-tracker-smartwatch-battery-problems-apple-motorola-lumo. Accessed 30 May 2017

  71. Moto 360 by Motorola - Smartwatch powered by android wear, Motorola. [Online]. Available: https://www.motorola.com/us/products/moto-360. Accessed 27 Apr 2017

  72. A. R. M. Ltd, ‘Markets | Wearables – ARM’, ARM | The architecture for the digital world. [Online]. Available: https://www.arm.com/markets/wearables. Accessed 10 Jun 2017

  73. S. Zeadally, S.U. Khan, N. Chilamkurti, Energy-efficient networking: Past, present, and future. J. Supercomput. 62(3), 1093–1118 (Dec. 2012)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  74. A. Perez, S. Zeadally, Privacy issues and solutions for consumer wearables. IT Prof 99, 1–1 (2017)

    Google Scholar 

  75. A.J. Perez, S. Zeadally, S. Griffith, Bystanders’ Privacy’. IT Prof 19(3), 61–65 (2017)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  76. S. Mann, ‘Eye am a camera: Surveillance and Sousveillance in the Glassage’, Time 02-Nov-2012 [Online]. Available http://techland.time.com/2012/11/02/eye-am-a-camera-surveillance-and-sousveillance-in-the-glassage/. Accessed 30 May 2017

  77. Bree~commonswiki. (2006) [online]. Available https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bewakingsbollen_station_Aarschot.JPG. Accessed 30 May 2017

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Applied Computing, University of Buckingham, Buckingham, UK

    Harin Sellahewa & Nasiru Ibrahim

  2. College of Communication and Information, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY, USA

    Sherali Zeadally

Authors
  1. Harin Sellahewa
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Nasiru Ibrahim
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Sherali Zeadally
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Harin Sellahewa .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. ECE Department, Nazrabayev University, Astana, Kazakhstan

    Mohammad S. Obaidat

  2. Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Victoria – UVIC, Victoria, BC, Canada

    Issa Traore

  3. Department of Computer Science, Ryerson University, Toronto, ON, Canada

    Isaac Woungang

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2019 Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Sellahewa, H., Ibrahim, N., Zeadally, S. (2019). Biometric Authentication for Wearables. In: Obaidat, M., Traore, I., Woungang, I. (eds) Biometric-Based Physical and Cybersecurity Systems. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-98734-7_14

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-98734-7_14

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-98733-0

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-98734-7

  • eBook Packages: EngineeringEngineering (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation