Comments on: Identifying people by their footprints http://boingboing.net/2011/09/14/identifying-people-by-their-footprints.html Brain candy for Happy Mutants Sun, 26 May 2013 07:31:00 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.4.1 By: Alissa Mower Clough http://boingboing.net/2011/09/14/identifying-people-by-their-footprints.html#comment-1215997 Alissa Mower Clough Sat, 17 Sep 2011 14:48:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/2011/09/14/identifying-people-by-their-footprints.html#comment-1215997 "But these footprints...his foot is just like mine....if I follow them...Oops!" "Yes. I'm your brother. I'm not dead." --paraphrase from "The Libation Bearers" For more than two thousand effing years, people have been making fun of Euripedes for this. Who's laughing now, eh? “But these footprints…his foot is just like mine….if I follow them…Oops!”
“Yes. I’m your brother. I’m not dead.”
–paraphrase from “The Libation Bearers”

For more than two thousand effing years, people have been making fun of Euripedes for this.
Who’s laughing now, eh?

]]> By: Christopher Lawence http://boingboing.net/2011/09/14/identifying-people-by-their-footprints.html#comment-1213074 Christopher Lawence Thu, 15 Sep 2011 07:42:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/2011/09/14/identifying-people-by-their-footprints.html#comment-1213074 lol, jesus sure had flat feet! lol, jesus sure had flat feet!

]]> By: Antinous / Moderator http://boingboing.net/2011/09/14/identifying-people-by-their-footprints.html#comment-1212619 Antinous / Moderator Wed, 14 Sep 2011 21:13:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/2011/09/14/identifying-people-by-their-footprints.html#comment-1212619 <blockquote>So we're always going to have to take our shoes off after all. Great.</blockquote>We could always ID people by barefootprints. I'm pretty sure that this means pressure patterns through shoes. Like when you sign the pad on the swiper at the cash register, it (apparently) IDs your signature through pressure patterns rather than line analysis.

So we’re always going to have to take our shoes off after all. Great.

We could always ID people by barefootprints. I’m pretty sure that this means pressure patterns through shoes. Like when you sign the pad on the swiper at the cash register, it (apparently) IDs your signature through pressure patterns rather than line analysis.

]]> By: Antinous / Moderator http://boingboing.net/2011/09/14/identifying-people-by-their-footprints.html#comment-1212594 Antinous / Moderator Wed, 14 Sep 2011 21:01:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/2011/09/14/identifying-people-by-their-footprints.html#comment-1212594 <blockquote>I just worry about this kind of thing after seeing the travesties of justice by "experts" claiming to be able to uniquely identify people by bite marks and getting innocent people thrown in jail, as you posted here a few days ago.</blockquote>There was an article on BBC about how Computers Can Tell If You're Lying By Analyzing Your Face!!!  And then in small print down the page....two-thirds of the time.

I just worry about this kind of thing after seeing the travesties of justice by “experts” claiming to be able to uniquely identify people by bite marks and getting innocent people thrown in jail, as you posted here a few days ago.

There was an article on BBC about how Computers Can Tell If You’re Lying By Analyzing Your Face!!!  And then in small print down the page….two-thirds of the time.

]]> By: caitifty http://boingboing.net/2011/09/14/identifying-people-by-their-footprints.html#comment-1212564 caitifty Wed, 14 Sep 2011 20:42:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/2011/09/14/identifying-people-by-their-footprints.html#comment-1212564 Footprints are pretty identifiable to the naked eye - as one tiny example, draw a mental line between the tip of the big toe and the tip of the smallest toe: the pattern people's middle toes make (how far they stick above or below the line, how much further they stick out than the toes on either side) are quite distinct.  Ditto the width of the print at the thinnest part (where the arch of the foot is) relative to the toes and the ball of the heel. If you look at barefoot footprints a lot, you quickly realize they're as identifiable as faces.  I grew up on a small island in the tropics where everyone went barefoot all the time; with a population below 500 for the entire island it was pretty easy to see who'd been to the store or the post office before you that day. Footprints are pretty identifiable to the naked eye – as one tiny example, draw a mental line between the tip of the big toe and the tip of the smallest toe: the pattern people’s middle toes make (how far they stick above or below the line, how much further they stick out than the toes on either side) are quite distinct.  Ditto the width of the print at the thinnest part (where the arch of the foot is) relative to the toes and the ball of the heel. If you look at barefoot footprints a lot, you quickly realize they’re as identifiable as faces.  I grew up on a small island in the tropics where everyone went barefoot all the time; with a population below 500 for the entire island it was pretty easy to see who’d been to the store or the post office before you that day.

]]> By: Guest http://boingboing.net/2011/09/14/identifying-people-by-their-footprints.html#comment-1212560 Guest Wed, 14 Sep 2011 20:39:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/2011/09/14/identifying-people-by-their-footprints.html#comment-1212560 So we're always going to have to take our shoes off after all. Great. So we’re always going to have to take our shoes off after all. Great.

]]> By: The Hamster King http://boingboing.net/2011/09/14/identifying-people-by-their-footprints.html#comment-1212554 The Hamster King Wed, 14 Sep 2011 20:33:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/2011/09/14/identifying-people-by-their-footprints.html#comment-1212554 SmartShoes that recognize their owners!  Stop shoe theft in its tracks! SmartShoes that recognize their owners!  Stop shoe theft in its tracks!

]]> By: pepik http://boingboing.net/2011/09/14/identifying-people-by-their-footprints.html#comment-1212552 pepik Wed, 14 Sep 2011 20:32:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/2011/09/14/identifying-people-by-their-footprints.html#comment-1212552 I believe Cory's main character in Little Brother got around this system at his school by putting a pebble in his shoe. Talk about easy to defeat security.... I believe Cory’s main character in Little Brother got around this system at his school by putting a pebble in his shoe. Talk about easy to defeat security….

]]> By: lese http://boingboing.net/2011/09/14/identifying-people-by-their-footprints.html#comment-1212528 lese Wed, 14 Sep 2011 20:13:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/2011/09/14/identifying-people-by-their-footprints.html#comment-1212528 Back when I did community theater I'd remove my glasses for performances (period pieces &I hated contacts) and found that even if I couldn't the other actor's faces, I could identify people pretty accurately from their gait..... Back when I did community theater I’d remove my glasses for performances (period pieces &I hated contacts) and found that even if I couldn’t the other actor’s faces, I could identify people pretty accurately from their gait…..

]]> By: SamSam http://boingboing.net/2011/09/14/identifying-people-by-their-footprints.html#comment-1212496 SamSam Wed, 14 Sep 2011 19:38:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/2011/09/14/identifying-people-by-their-footprints.html#comment-1212496 That's interesting, but I worry about their "wide implications for the security industries." If they want to even bring this up in court, they'd better be able to show that they can accurately identify one person out of several million by their gait, not one out of 104. Heck, their "in-floor systems" could easily distinguish all 104 people by something as non-unique as weight alone. I just worry about this kind of thing after seeing the travesties of justice by "experts" claiming to be able to uniquely identify people by bite marks and getting innocent people thrown in jail, as you posted here a few days ago. That’s interesting, but I worry about their “wide implications for the security industries.” If they want to even bring this up in court, they’d better be able to show that they can accurately identify one person out of several million by their gait, not one out of 104. Heck, their “in-floor systems” could easily distinguish all 104 people by something as non-unique as weight alone.

I just worry about this kind of thing after seeing the travesties of justice by “experts” claiming to be able to uniquely identify people by bite marks and getting innocent people thrown in jail, as you posted here a few days ago.

]]> By: Harvey http://boingboing.net/2011/09/14/identifying-people-by-their-footprints.html#comment-1212456 Harvey Wed, 14 Sep 2011 19:19:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/2011/09/14/identifying-people-by-their-footprints.html#comment-1212456 Judging by that picture, Jesus had some messed up feet. Judging by that picture, Jesus had some messed up feet.

]]> By: awjt http://boingboing.net/2011/09/14/identifying-people-by-their-footprints.html#comment-1212451 awjt Wed, 14 Sep 2011 19:16:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/2011/09/14/identifying-people-by-their-footprints.html#comment-1212451 Tom Brown can do this by eye for people with their shoes on. Tom Brown can do this by eye for people with their shoes on.

]]> By: Kyle Reynolds Conway http://boingboing.net/2011/09/14/identifying-people-by-their-footprints.html#comment-1212446 Kyle Reynolds Conway Wed, 14 Sep 2011 19:12:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/2011/09/14/identifying-people-by-their-footprints.html#comment-1212446 I remember reading somewhere about... http://craphound.com/littlebrother/ I remember reading somewhere about… http://craphound.com/littlebrother/

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