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They keep our accounts secure, but passwords can be a pain to remember.

One password user, Judy Martin, said, “I have my kids’ school, my bank account, my work, my credit card company,” she said.

Terri Montgomery, another password user, said, “I have three I use every single day. I have 20 I use intermittently, so I have an Excel spreadsheet to keep track of those.”

Now researchers are studying eye-tracking technology that one day could replace passwords.

“It checks where you’re looking 120 times per second,” said Michael Brooks, a doctoral student in engineering at the University of Washington in Seattle.

As a person follows words on a screen, the technology bounces invisible infrared light from the eyes back to infrared-detecting cameras that pick up information on the unique way a person’s eyes move.

The eye-tracker can detect movement in someone who wears glasses, but it sometimes has difficulty with reading through contact lenses.

“Instead of signing your name, you can type on a screen with your eyes,” said lead researcher Cecilia Aragon, an engineer at the University of Washington.

The technology could be used on just about any device including phones, computers, ATMs and alarm systems. It’s also more secure than fingerprinting, the researchers said.

“It’s harder to steal it from someone whereas someone can pretty easily capture your fingerprint and reuse that,” said Brooks.

The technology was tested on an ATM-like screen. In their tests, researchers learned that users want speed, accuracy and helpful error messages.

“An authentication method really will not be successful unless people will adopt it,” said Aragon.

But if they do, remembering and typing passwords could become an annoyance of the past.

The researchers said this technology is a couple of years away from being available for widespread use. For now, they are working on making the system faster.

Get Inside The Science:

Eye-Tracking Could Outshine Passwords if Made User-Friendly

Scientific Collaboration and Creativity Lab

Cecilia Aragon , University of Washington