More Info

Ear Biometrics
An ear impression is the most obvious biometric to use for smartphone security. Facial recognition is hindered by the ever-changing nature of expressions, cosmetics, hairstyles, facial hair and the unreliability of light and shadow on the target. Fingerprint and iris recognition technology are the most widely used and well-known biometrics but have several practical limitations when it comes to device security. Most notably, they are expensive to capture, store, retrieve and compare, which explains why they tend to be used exclusively by law enforcement. While voice recognition is also natural and intuitive, it too suffers from a number of practical limitations. These systems need to be “trained” to understand and recognize a user’s unique speech pattern, cannot be used reliability in a noisy environment, and are easily overheard by others in the vicinity.

Adjustable Security
ERGO™ provides users with the ability to adjust their security level to meet their unique requirements. There is an obvious trade-off between device security and convenience. If device security is set too high users may be prompted to submit more than one scan to unlock their device. Conversely, if device security is set too low users run the risk of having their smartphone unlocked by an unauthorized user.

Intelligent User Profile
ERGO™ profiles users with the ability to add scans to their profile to strengthen their security. Every time a user attempts to authenticate the submitted scan is compared to every scan stored in their profile. If the profile contains fewer than 10 scans additional scans will automatically be added to the user’s profile if the submitted scan exceeds the quality of the stored scans.

Locally Stored
ERGO™ stores the user’s profile on the device, not in the Cloud or on a remote server. Unlike a fingerprint, there is no criminal stigma associated with an ear impression. Users are reluctant to use a fingerprint to secure their mobile device because of the threat of losing their fingerprint – lose your fingerprint and you run the risk of permanently losing your identity. Unlike fingerprints (see IAFIS), there is no national database of ear imprints.

Natural and Intuitive Phone Gesture
The convenience and ease of use of ear biometrics for mobile device security is not easily matched – an individual user simply lifts their device to their ear and presses their ear to the touch screen to authenticate and unlock their device.

No Additional Hardware
ERGO™ leverages the capacitive touchscreen to capture a user’s unique ear impression. In addition to the touch points, ERGO™ relies on a number of other sensors embedded in most smartphones. As these sensors improve, the capabilities of ERGO™ will also improve.

HELP / FAQs

How do I enable or disable the ERGO™ lockscreen?
If a profile has been established, open the ERGO application and tap the large circular button. You may touch this button to toggle between “Enabled” and “Disabled”. If this button instead says “Create Profile” – a profile has not been set.

How do I reset my PIN/password/profile?
From any screen, open the drawer by tapping “ERGO” in the top left corner and select the settings option. From the settings screen you can update your PIN, password, or biometric profile. You can also reset your profile which will remove any previously captured scans.

Why do I need to set a PIN and password?
A PIN is set as a convenience for those times when you’re unable to authenticate with your ear. The password, is also an alternative to the scanner/PIN but is also what secures your device properly. If you’re unable to enter your scan or PIN, exit ERGO by tapping the home button and enter your password.

How do I add another scan to my profile?
Open the settings drawer by tapping on “ERGO” in the top left corner and opening “Profile.” The Profile page will tell you the number of scan currently in the profile. To strengthen your profile you can add more scans from this screen by tapping on the “+” icon. The recommended number of scans in your profile is between 5 and 15.

Why isn’t my screen locking immediately?
A confusing problem can often be that your phone does not immediately lock when shutting off the screen. To adjust how long your screen must be off for before locking, open your phone’s settings menu and open “Security.” From here you can set you screen to lock immediately or after a set duration of time.

Why won’t ERGO™ uninstall?
By enabling device administrator, Android ensures the application cannot be deleted until device admin has been disabled. To disable device admin, open your phone’s settings and navigate to Security. From here you can manage your list of applications that have device admin access. Disable and ERGO and uninstall the app as usual.

Why does ERGO™ need device administrator privileges?
The device administrator privilege is required to properly secure your phone with the default Android locking mechanisms. This ensures that your phone is always secure. We never wipe your data or and you can always bypass ERGO with the password you’ve set during enrollment.

ERGO™ didn’t start, how do I unlock my phone?
Not to worry, ERGO™ is simply a layer over the standard Android password lock screen. The reason you set a password is so that you have a failsafe for entering the phone in the even ERGO fails to load. ERGO™ provides you with three different means of access to your device: biometric scanner, a PIN and a password.