Researchers in the US are developing a shooter identification system that is sufficient to identify the person holding the gun in the fraction of a second he pulls the trigger
Anne Eisenberg, New York Times, Haaretz, News and Walla!
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The computerized circuits of music players, cell phones and handheld computers may in the future find their way into another line of devices. Researchers at the New Jersey Institute of Technology in Newark are working on developing a gun that fires only when it recognizes the person holding it.
In the last decade, many attempts have been made to develop guns that recognize the fingerprints of those holding them or those that recognize a wireless signal from a device carried by the shooter. Michael Ressa and Timothy Chang chose to go in a different direction. The sensors developed by the two are designed to identify the shooter according to the force applied when pressing the trigger. Dr. Rasa who developed the software said that it takes a tenth of a second to press the trigger, a very short time, but enough for the sensors and the computer to stop the action.
Professor Chang who designed the hardware to detect the click said that they "can build a brain inside the gun". According to him, "technology is becoming so cheap that not only can you put a computer in every house, you can also put a computer in every gun." Chang used existing electronic components to create the sensors needed for the detection system.
The main goal of the system is of course to differentiate between a licensed shooter and, for example, a child who found his father's gun in a drawer at home. The technology inside the gun can also include GPS receivers and other sensors that can be used as a kind of black box that can record the time and direction of the shot and help in the reconstruction of crimes.
The system, which can contain the details of several authorized shooters, evaluates the pressure exerted on the trigger and the butt when pressed, then the signals are converted from analog data to digital and then they are checked by the processor. Rasa said that computer analysis shows that each person has a unique grip. "A person's grip on a tennis racket, a pen or a golf club is unique and consistent." Currently, the system manages to identify the shooter in about 90% of cases.
The system is still being tested with live ammunition. Right now the software and electronics are on a laptop to which the guns in the experiment are connected. Michael Tucci, a police officer who watched a recent test, said the computer could be seen to flash a green light when the shooter was authorized and a red light when someone else tried to shoot.
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