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Secret Credential and Computing Power


When the computing power was very limited, we were only able to use texts, namely, characters and numbers, as the secret credential for identity authentication.  Now that the computing power is no longer so limited, we could accept non-text credentials such as visual images, audio sounds and tactile sensations where they contribute to better security and/or better usability.

Humans acquired the ability of reading, writing and remembering texts quite recently - a few hundred years ago for the majority of our ancestors. On the other hand, our ability of seeing, watching, finding, distinguishing and remembering visual objects dates back to 5 hundred million years ago. This ability is solidly inscribed at the deep layer of the brains for all of us.

Separately, we know that cognitive science supports that our episodic memory, much of which is visual, is the core of humans’ internal identity.

Would it be possible to not make use of our episodic image memory for our identity assurance?

What if secret credentials are taken away from digital identity?


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