A team of researchers at Rutgers University has created a system that could change how people log in to virtual and augmented reality platforms. No passwords, PINs, or face scans would be required. The software, called Vital ID, uses motion sensors in headsets to track tiny vibrations generated by breathing and heartbeats that travel through the skull. These vibrations are unique to each person, allowing the headset to authenticate users in real time. “A seamless way to authenticate users when they use XR-related, extended reality devices. So, this includes like VR headsets, AR headsets and also AI glasses,” said Yingying Chen, professor and chair of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering in the Rutgers School of Engineering. Sensors inside the headsets pick up these subtle signals, which reflect a person’s skull structure, facial contours and muscle thickness.

“This information will be actually utilized as about unique biometric to reflect human skull information, facial contour and also muscle thickness information, so the unique characteristics will help to authenticate a person in a unique way,” Chen explained. And it doesn’t stop after login.

“And the good thing about it is that it continuously is doing user authentication so because your heart is always pumping and also you’re always breathing," Chen said. The project was recognized with a Distinguished Paper Award at the ACM Conference on Computer and Communications Security in Taipei, Taiwan, and is being developed in collaboration with Cong Shi at NJIT, Yan Wang at Temple University, and Nitesh Saxena at Texas A&M University. In tests, the system correctly identified users more than 95% of the time while blocking unauthorized access. Researchers say this could make logging into XR platforms like VR, AR, and AI glasses more secure, seamless, and convenient.

As they continue to work on this technology, they hope it will be integrated into work places in a year or two.