A keyboard that generates electricity when typing a key and can also distinguish a person who operated it

Various methods have been devised to enhance the security of computers, but it is also effective to detect and shut down people who are not authorized. Developed by research teams such as Georgia Institute of Technology and several Chinese universitiesIntelligent keyboard(IKB) "is a keyboard that operates with a new mechanism, the act of operating a keyboard generates electricity, and it is also possible to determine who is operating the keyboard without using a camera.

Scientists Make Energy-Generating Keyboard That Knows Who's Typing On It | TechCrunch
http://techcrunch.com/2015/01/21/touch-sensing-energy-generating-keyboard/

The appearance of the created IKB does not change very much from a general keyboard. IKB is a touch type keyboard which does not have a mechanical mechanism.


IKB has a main structurePET resin(Red), conductive material ·ITO(yellow·Indium tin oxide), And becomes a charged layer thereonFEP(Light blue / fluorinated ethylene propylene) on top of each other.


On the surface of the FEP where fingers actually touchIon EtchingIt is also the point that fine nanowires are formed by.


The mechanism that IKB generates electricity is like this. When the key is not touched, the surface FEP is negatively charged (a in the image below). When a finger of a positively charged person approaches here, free electrons move from ITO on the bottom side to ITO on the upper side and current is generated (b). No current is generated while the finger is touching the FEP (c). And when the finger moves away from FEP, the same principle causes current in the opposite direction (d). When generating electricity based on this current, it seems that it becomes possible to generate all the electric power necessary for driving IKB on its own.


Moreover, by measuring the state of this current, it becomes possible to judge whether or not the key was actually pressed.


In experiments, we have been able to sound an alarm when a specific key is pressed or to actually type letters on a computer.


Furthermore, by precisely tracking the current, it is also possible to analyze the difference in waveform between people. As shown in the figure below,A,B,CI entered the same letters, respectively,Wavelet transformationYou can see that the waveforms analyzed by using are completely different.


According to the research team, by using this technology, it is possible to build a new security system by preliminarily registering the user's waveform pattern in the system so that it is sensed when a third party attempts illegal operation I can do it.

Papers by the research team can be referred to from the following links.

Personalized Keystroke Dynamics for Self-Powered Human? Machine Interfacing - ACS Nano (ACS Publications)
http://pubs.acs.org/stoken/presspac/presspac/full/10.1021/nn506832w