Abstract or Summary:
The modern world increasingly requires us to prove our identity. When this has to be done remotely, as is the case when people make use of web sites, the most popular technique is the password. Unfortunately the profusion of web sites and the associated passwords reduces their efficacy and puts severe strain on users’ limited cognitive resources. There is clearly a need for some creativity in terms of providing viable alternatives to passwords. This paper reports experiences of the use of a musical password, one composed of melodies instead of alphanumerics. Music is universal all over the globe and humans have superior memory for music. We report here on the evaluation of a prototype of such a musical password system, which demonstrates superior memorability and acceptance by users and is particularly useful to those with impaired memory or cognitive function.