After seeing a demo of Vidoop at Web 2.0 Expo it seems like a safe bet that the traditional password is on its way to extinction.

Vidoop is one smart application. It solves the problem of passwords and security by taking a totally different approach than the accepted norm. Traditional text based passwords are replaced with a collection of image captchas. The captcha technology is paired with the concept of user defined categories that they use to create their personal security pattern. When they go to authenticate they are presented with a matrix of images and associated characters. The user will enter the character that is associated with their specific categories of imagery in order to authenticate. Each time the matrix of images is presented to the user they are presented with new imagery and a different combination of characters. Vidoop claims that this highly dynamic interaction that depends alot on human cognition is superior against keyloggers, brute force attacks, and the current crop of text based password flaws.

In addition to some very interesting technology, they have also come up with an ingenious sponsorship model that allows for sponsorship of the various image captcha categories. As of today, Smart (the car company) is sponsoring the automotive category of imagery in the Vidoop system. It’s a very neat twist on sponsorship and monetization.

The best part about Vidoop is that it took about 3 seconds before everyone in the audience “just got it”. It’s simple, straight forward, and solves a very real problem in a very creative way. It’s only a matter of time before someone out there buys up the Vidoop IP and we start to see it appear in many many places.