"Open Sesame!": User Perception Of Physical, Biometric, And Behavioural Authentication Concepts To Open Doors

In usable security (e.g., smartphone authentication), a lot of emphasis is put on low-effort authentication and access concepts. Yet, only very few approaches exist where such concepts are applied beyond digital devices. We investigate and explore seamless authentication systems at doors, where most currently used systems for seamless access rely on the use of tokens. In a Wizard-of-Oz study, we investigate three different authentication schemes, namely (1) key, (2) palm vein scanner and (3) gait-based authentication (compare Fig. 1). Most participants in our study (N=15) preferred the palm vein scanner, while ranking unlocking with a key and gait-based recognition second and third. Our results propose that recovery costs for a failed authentication attempt have an impact on user perception. Furthermore, while the participants appreciated seamless authentication via biometrics, they also valued the control they gain from the possession of a physical token.