EEG-Based Human Recognition Using Steady-State AEPs and Subject-Unique Spatial Filters

In recent years, brainwaves (EEG) have gained increasing attention in the field of biometric authentication because they feature vital advantages being more secure and impossible to replicate. In this paper, a new approach for the EEG-based biometric recognition system is proposed using steady-state Auditory Evoked Potentials (AEPs). This class of modular brainwaves adds extra features to the system like cancelability and two-step authentication. To investigate the biometric potential of AEPs, brainwaves from 40 subjects were recorded while being stimulated by multiple auditory tones modulated at two frequency bands; 40 Hz (m-40) and 80 Hz (m-80). Each subject participated in two sessions on two different days for time-permanence evaluation. Brain-Computer Interface (BCI) techniques were adopted here for the rapid estimation of the AEPs using canonical correlation analysis. The energy distribution of the AEPs in different frequency bands represented the subject-unique features. For intra-session setup, correct recognition rates up to 96.46% and equal error rates as low as 0% were achieved using the m-80 stimulation over all the 40 subjects. Moreover, results across different sessions showed high recognition rates (94.5 - 96.5%) and low error rates (2 - 4%) over the same number of subjects. These results show that AEPs carry subject discriminating features allowing the possibility of employing AEPs as a biometric trait.