SID – An exploration of super identity

Researchers in EDA are embarking on new project to address the issue of ‘who we are’ through the development of a Super-Identity model (SID) in which multiple signallers of identity, including physical/real-world/biometric information and cyber identifiers are combined. The result will be a rich concept of identity with which individuals are content, and in which users have confidence.
The cross-disciplinary research project represents a £1.9M investment by EPSRC under their Global Uncertainties Programme and is a collaboration between the universities of Kent, Bath, Dundee, Leicester, Oxford and Southampton in the UK and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in the US. The project also has representation from several governmental and industrial stakeholders. The research work at Kent (receiving £343k of the funding) will focus on the computer-based evaluation of biometric indicators of identity. Specifically, biometric measures will be evaluated from a range of modalities and assess identity factor correlations building upon parallel work within the psychological and anatomical communities. The work is being led by Dr Richard Guest, Senior Lecturer in the Image and Information Engineering Group.