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biometric sensor as power button...thoughts?

D

DirtySanchez

Limp Gawd
Joined
May 7, 2001
Messages
343
as it says in the title, i'm considering using a biometric sensor as a power button. i've never seen anyone do it before, and the thought of thumbprint access makes me wet myself with glee :p i have NO idea where to start, though, or if it's even possible. i'd imagine you could have it set up as wake-on-usb? or would it have to be its own seperate unit with its own power source?

any ideas and input would be greatly appreciated.
 
Similar to the Apple LCDs? You just touch your finger to the power light on the monitor (as in no button, just kinda touch it), and it turns the whole machine on, puts the machine to sleep, or wakes it up. My friend recently got one, and it's quite nifty.

I'd be interested to see what you come up with.
 
I believe he means that it would be turned on by thumbprint identification, and as far as I know apple LCD's dont verify your identity before turning on.

That said, I dont think that this is a very good idea, because it would be really annoying to configure and the like. I would either go for some kind of remote control, or place some kind of power button in a spot that would't be easy to find except by you.
 
Punchbugy: I don't think he's looking for something like Apple's LCDs. He's looking for something that uses a biometric sensor. Here's the definition: A biometric is a measurable, physical characteristic or personal behavioural trait used to recognize the identity or verify the claimed identity of an enrolled user. Physical features typically used for biometric identification are fingerprint, voice, retinal or iris, facial or hand geometry. So, what I think he's looking for is a biometric sensor would read the fingerprint of the person trying to turn the computer on. If it matches, then the computer boots.

DirtySanchez: I believe Windows can use a biometric sensor to log a user in, but I am not sure about using it as a power button. I saw an article a while back about someone who made it so that the user would have to insert a particular punch card in order to turn the machine on, but that was just using LEDs, sensors, and holes in a plastic card - nothing as advanced as a biometric sensor. Maybe you could find a premade unit used to open doors or whatnot and mod it into your case??
 
well if you're going to use it for startup it's going to have to be almost completely independent. It's own processing capability and power. I would say design a system that checks the biometeric and when it has a match simply closes a circuit for a second that you have wired to the power jumper on the mobo. Now getting a biometric system that can do this independently of the computer, that's gonna be the harder part.

Hell, I bet you could find something that does almost all this that's already done, probably going to cost a bit since that's alot of local processing (I think). Maybe some type of door lock system would work.
 
I believe that only XP Pro can "use" that feature. How are you going to supply it power?
 
Twostar nailed it. You need an independent system that can close the monetary connection for pwr_on when it recognizes the finger.
 
Originally posted by marked
Thats why you put the computer in a TXTL-60x6 safe.
Click to expand...

why not just seal the whole thing in steel re-enforced concrete. and cement the keyboard plug into socket.
 
Originally posted by jnex26
this is what you want

http://www.keylesspro.com/biometric.htm

But I recon it's over priced and pretty much worthless as 1 screw driver later the pc could be turned on. or someone could just plug a keyboard with a power button on it in .
Click to expand...

If your that worried about security then I think you could take the time to setup the bios to ignore the ps2 power on function, plus that only works if you're in the right power off mode iirc. Any comp can be booted up with a screw driver if you know what your doing but there are ways to secure the case against entry. Plus I think like anything this is mostly to stop access to the computer by the casual person. If someone really wanted to get the computer started there are always ways to do it.

but that is exactly what I was talking about, now you just need to find it for cheap or build your own. I really have no idea how much local processing that would take though.
 
thanks for the input, guys. i'm currently trying to figure out if a) it would be worth it, and 2) how i would power an independant unit.
 
inst there a car company that has it the doors you could alway use one of them


my problem w/ the hole biometrix thing is this what happens if you cut your finger, changing your hole print?
 
Originally posted by netcoord
my problem w/ the hole biometrix thing is this what happens if you cut your finger, changing your hole print?
Click to expand...

if you created the system, you can get around it, just as others said, anyone wanting access to the computer could get it. plus I would imagine most of these premade units can recognize more than one fingerprint, so you could put them all in there. also, one would need one hell of a cut to mess up a fingerprint.
 
Originally posted by Punchbugy
Similar to the Apple LCDs? You just touch your finger to the power light on the monitor (as in no button, just kinda touch it), and it turns the whole machine on, puts the machine to sleep, or wakes it up. My friend recently got one, and it's quite nifty.

I'd be interested to see what you come up with.
Click to expand...

That works by simply grounding the circuit.

You could make a fairly simple system that would keep the average user out though; have several ground panels in a grid, and wire them in such a way that you have to be touching certain ones all with the same hand in order to turn the machine on.

So, say you had a grid like this:

1234
5678
9ABC

You could wire it so you had to be touching 1, 7, 8 and B in order to ground the circuit, and activate the switch. That would be neat :p
 
If its for the cool factor, I say do it, and just get a cheap one. If you want it for hardcore security, then you are looking at >$500.

And isn't the physical power button an electrical switch, while a biometric reader would be a software thing? How does it get the power to constantly check for a fingerprint?
 
Originally posted by lorcani

And isn't the physical power button an electrical switch, while a biometric reader would be a software thing? How does it get the power to constantly check for a fingerprint?
Click to expand...

Yes, that's the problem. A biometric switch requires it's own computational system to run. In most "home user" cases, that computational system would be your computer; simply touch your thumb to the biometric reader, and windows will log you in. However, doing it while the computer is off requires reading and comparing your thumbprint via some other method. I don't think you'll be able to do it for very cheap.
 
hmm, get a via Epia and toss it in the case with another small PSU to run the biometric software... hmmm.
 
You may have already gotten your answer. But since I didn't read up above, I figured I'd weigh in. If you do some google searches you may find the USB ones. They use NT to load Windows. Instead of typing your name, you scan your finger, the finger is then matched in the background against the user list, if it matches, it logs you in automaticly. If not, you're rejected.

I'm sure they make ones that control the power. And I'm sure you could probably rig it up to "wake on USB" or something.

Forgot the exact price, but I think they cost around $90 per unit.
 
yeah, i'm going for cool factor, not security. i think i'm gonna rule out the biometric sensor and just do something like the touch-sensitive buttons on the ipod.
 
Wise decision man. All the commercial biometric devices I've seen are really crappy. At least if you go touch sensitive you have the cool factor still.
 
There was an option in old cases that you could use any input device as a power button. You press any key, click on the mouse; your computer turns on. You had to get that with jumpers (as those were the MASS JUMPER PWNAGE days) I don't know if that still exists (just like the Turbo button) but, if it does, then that means that the bio thingie is an input device, and theoretically, you could make it power on when you press your thumb to it. Although pressing space would do just as well. On second, though you might want to modify the power button itself, as opposed to exploiting any power features your mobo/case might have. Try figuring out how the power button works, and then connecting the fingerprint thing to those wires, and making it produce the same result. You'd have to be good with electronics though. Or find someone who is.
 
Originally posted by DirtySanchez
yeah, i'm going for cool factor, not security. i think i'm gonna rule out the biometric sensor and just do something like the touch-sensitive buttons on the ipod.
Click to expand...

Smart move man. The touch sensitive button is a kick ass idea. However, a few thoughts on your idea.

1) Security: nothing beats puting a case lock *a secure one, not those cheezy ones chieftech puts onto the side of the access pannel* plus putting a password on bios. You dont know the bios password, you computer will not boot. Simple, yet effective. And for further security, use an old diamond panel gym locker *the open air kind*, attach it to the desk, mod the back of it to accept cables, and lock the case in it. Now your pc is completely secure.

2) If, you were completely dead set on doing a biometric power on system, get a biometric scanner than is a stand alone unit. Build it into a box that can mount to the top of your pc. For power, put an ac adapter on the mount box and run a power cord to it. Yes, the power cord can be removed, but Im sure you could think of other ways to power it.


Anyway, just my 2 cents on the current thread.
 
Originally posted by Tanis143
And for further security, use an old diamond panel gym locker *the open air kind*, attach it to the desk, mod the back of it to accept cables, and lock the case in it. Now your pc is completely secure.
Click to expand...

Thats a pretty good idea. However, wouldn't the case fans made it resonate like crazy?
 
related to the whole biometric scanning thing have you guys ever seen this. Found this flipping through my cyberguys.com catalog
http://www.biostik.com/
Portable USB storage device with biometric scanning to access the data.
 
You could always use two panels... or be tricker yet, and use a really sensitive micro switch under the bio panel, so when you press the panel it turns on the pc, and when you fingerprint it logs you in.
 
Originally posted by Heath
Portable USB storage device with biometric scanning to access the data.
Click to expand...

Good idea, but bad implementation. I bet that scanner could be activated with my fucking elbow: thats not what I call secure. The better ones are the (IIRC) samsung thumb drives, which come with software to divide the drive into 2 regions: a public region, and a private region. You need a password to view the private region. And, since the software is built into the drive, it will always work. I wouldn't trust that scanner to protect my vacation pictures, let alone financial information or any "mission-critical" files.
 
Originally posted by lorcani
Thats a pretty good idea. However, wouldn't the case fans made it resonate like crazy?
Click to expand...

No, not really. As long as the case doesnt vibrate like crazy the open air lockers dont reverbrate sound. And if you have a vibrating computer case *mindful your wife/girlfriend does not like to sit on it :eek: * then just put rubber feet around the case so it doesnt bounce metal to metal.
 
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