Windows Hello is one of the many new features of Microsoft's latest operating system, Windows 10. The feature is a new security measure, that eliminates the use of passwords, and takes advantage of facial recognition technology to login to a Windows 10 PC.

The new feature simply scans a person's face when logging in. However, the system apparently cannot be fooled, as it uses upgraded camera technology, so using a picture of a PC's owner cannot be used to log in. But one question was recently asked by The Australian: Can Windows Hello tell very identical twins apart?

The website conducted an experiment between six sets of identical twins, hailing from both Melbourne and Sydney. One twin would register a Windows account using a Lenovo ThinkPad laptop, and then go through the Windows Hello face registration system. Participants were also allowed to enhance the system's accuracy by varying their appearance, like wearing glasses. The other half of the twin will then try to see if the system will login using their face, and not with the former.

Twins Anabelle and Miriam Jeffrey

The first pair, Anabelle and Miriam Jeffrey, was unsuccessful in fooling the said security feature, telling them apart easily. “It could distinguish between us two quite easily,” Miriam said. “It’s a little surprising, I thought it would have failed, but no, it was really good, it was really quick.”

Another example was between twins Sharon and Nicole Tay. While being unable to get facial recognition to work on the first try, Sharon eventually succeeded, preventing Nicole from logging in to the system as her. While there were cases when Hello took some time to identify a twin, the same result was discovered on three other pairs included in the study.

Twins Isabelle and Natalie Brown

However, there was one instance in the research where Windows Hello failed. Isabelle and Natalie Brown were rejected access to the system, as the security feature was not able to identify who was who between the twins. Despite this, there were no recorded cases that the facial recognition system mistakenly logged in an incorrect person.

With these results, it can be seen that Microsoft has taken the extra steps towards making the security system extra accurate. While the accuracy extent of the system remains to be seen, Windows Hello is one of today's newest security features that can help keep unwanted people from using our computers.

Source & Twin images via The Australian