PASSMEMORY may be described as a "third authentication method" where the task of authentication is conducted not by machines or computers as with biometric or password systems, but rather within the human brain. As such, it represents a paradigm shift from conventional authentication systems.

The basic patent, under the name PASSMEMORY, concerns a system where names of familiar friends or places, old photos, and sounds familiar to users themselves are registered in advance. When the system is used for authentication, registered data is mixed with decoy data, and users are prompted to choose correct answers in rapid succession. The patent is the system itself, as well as in the embedded recording media, such as USB memory.

Kai Corporation has designated The Brains Inc. as its general sales and marketing agent in both Japan and the US. Tokyo-based C4 Technology, Inc. has already received approval through The Brains to implement PASSMEMORY technology from February 2006.

The Brains is now marketing PASSMEMORY in a development kit (server version) that makes it easy to introduce PASSMEMORY authentication, as well as PASSMEMORY Archiver Ver.2.0, a compression and decompression software with PASSMEMORY capability. PASSMEMORY-based systems can also be custom-developed.

"Our technology could become a solution to many authentication problems as privacy has become an increasingly important issue with many security solution providers having to resort to conventional as well as state-of-the-art biometric systems which are based on a part of our body," said Akira Taguchi, president of Kai Corporation. "We're very please to collaborate with our long-time business partner The Brains in our efforts to promote our unique authentication technology in the US where our patent has been approved."

Yasuko Nakazawa, Representative of Brains Inc., said, "We're excited about our new endeavor in marketing this unique human-based authentication system in the US. PASSMEMORY is the only authentication system for which data is not only impossible to forget, but also cannot be stolen or lost. Hardware-free, PASSMEMORY is extremely economical, and consequently is receiving support from both users and administrators."