A new laser can identify individuals by their heartbeats from a distance of more than 600 ft.

Using a laser vibrometry technique, the Jetson laser can detect surface movement created by a heartbeat. Jetson situates an invisible, quarter-sized laser spot on a target individual for roughly 30 seconds. Though the device can capture a cardiac signature through thin layers of clothing, the target must be seated or standing still. Once biometric data is captured, algorithms extract a cardiac signature from the laser signals. The device possesses a 95% accuracy rate.

The technology development was commissioned by the U.S. Department of Defense for special forces use.

As an identification biometric, some researchers suggested that cardiac signatures can be more accurate than face and gait recognition. Among those researchers is Wenyao Xu from the State University of New York at Buffalo, who has developed his own cardiac-identification sensor that uses radar.

"Compared with face, cardiac biometrics are more stable and can reach more than 98% accuracy," explained Xu.

This is largely due to the fact that facial recognition requires a full frontal view of a face, which is not always possible. Likewise, face recognition results can be skewed by facial hair, sunglasses, hats and head scarves, according to reports.

However, the only way to ensure that Jetson works is to create a cardiac signature database to compare readings against. Without that, researchers stated there are a number of other applications for the technology, including in the healthcare industry, where doctors could measure a patient's heartbeat without touching them or wirelessly monitor the vitals of a hospital patient. Likewise, the device could grant people badgeless entry into secured buildings.