Love the way you walk
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(步态).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：pressuresensitive 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 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 matbased gaitrecognition 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.
语篇解读 脸和指纹常被用来识别人，其实人们走路的方式也可以用来识别人。本文介绍了通过人的步态识别人的“压力感应垫”的工作原理以及使用前景等。
