Car thieves of the future had better hope they have exactly the same build as you, otherwise they won't be getting very far.

It's already difficult enough to steal modern cars, but according to TechCrunch (via Digital Trends), Japanese engineers have been working on a car seat that won't let anyone but its regular drivers start it.

That means the shadier types in society could steal your keys and still not steal your car, unless they were lucky enough to depress the 360 pressure sensors in exactly the same way your own derriere does.

The technology is fairly simple. Using those 360 pressure sensors positioned under the seat, a computer works out whether it's you sitting there, or someone else. If it's not you, then it won't let the car start. It's even sophisticated enough to differentiate between sets of buttocks whatever clothing is being worn.

Pressure-sensitive security car seat

Pressure-sensitive security car seat

The system is apparently accurate enough to determine the correct driver 98 percent of the time. That sounds great, until you realize that in every hundred car journeys you'll be left stranded twice...

If the success rate can be raised to 100 percent, there's every chance the selective seat could make it into production cars as a future security method.