Known by the Way We Walk

Facial recognition technology has come a long way since its conception back in the mid-1960s by pioneers Woody Bledsoe, Helen Chan Wolf, and Charles Bisson.

But even with today’s advanced artificial intelligence, face recognition software has its limitations. Anyone who does not wish to be recognized (e.g. a criminal) can cover his face or turn his back to cameras.

To overcome these deficiencies, a startup company in China, Watrix, has developed technology that identifies people by their gait. “Watrix analyses thousands of metrics about a person’s walk, from their body shape and the angle of arm movement to their posture and whether they have a toe-in or toe-out gait.” The software feeds all these individual traits into a database to create a composite, successfully identifying people more than 96% of the time.

Because “gait recognition” analyzes so many different metrics, it still works whether observing a person from different angles. Even if someone tries to disguise their walk by covering their legs or faking a limp, “gait recognition” can still detect their identity.

Watrix only began to market its software in October 2018. Yet it’s already being reviewed by security companies in Singapore, India, Russia, the Netherlands and Czech Republic. Public security officials in China have been using it extensively to identify wanted criminals and solve police cases. More and more, police and security officials are realizing there’s a lot you can tell from the way a person walks.

A Christian’s Walk

Hasn’t the Bible been saying that all along? That we can see what people are by the way they walk?

Conduct and Way of Life

Walking is a metaphor in Scripture to describe a person’s way of life and conduct. Psalm 1:1 tells us, “Blessed is the one who does not walk in the counsel of the ungodly.” 1 John 2:6 tells us, “the one who says he abides in Him ought himself to walk in the same manner as Christ walked.” Indeed, the prophet Micah told us that God expects us to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly before Him (Micah 6:8). Jesus said that all who follow Him, the Light of the world, shall not walk in darkness but will have the light of life (John 8:12). We are assured that if we walk in the light as He is in the light, that blood of Jesus Christ keeps on cleansing us from all sin (1 John 1:7).

Seen by Others

And by our walk we are known by others. Jesus warned us to be on the lookout for false prophets who are wolves in sheep’s clothing. How will we know them? By their walk, by their conduct and behavior, by their fruits. “You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes, nor figs from thistles, are they? Even so, every good tree bears good fruit. But the bad tree bears bad fruit. …so then, you will know them by their fruits” (Matt. 7:15–17, 20). Paul warned Titus about those who profess to know God, but who deny Him by their deeds (Titus 1:16).

This should be a warning to us all. We may have the official education and credentials of a minister. We may bear a title and fill a position. But unless we walk as Christ walked, then our “gait” is sending a totally different message. Our walk reveals our true identity, perhaps as nothing more than a servant of self, my own appetites, this world, or possibly even of Satan himself. May God help us and humble us to walk before Him in sincerity, humility, and love.

PRAYER:

Dear Father in heaven, You have searched me and known me. You know my frailty, faults, and hypocrisy. Please, dear Father, cleanse and revive my sin-sick soul. Fill me with Your presence and conform me into the image of Your holy Son. Help me to walk as He Himself walked. Amen.