Ambient intelligence integrates computational intelligence into ubiquitous/pervasive computing environments and artifacts. Computers become embedded in our natural surroundings. They move to the background to better provide smart services to humans who perform into the foreground. The humans are helped by simple and effortless interactions, with computers attuned to all their senses, adaptive to their profile and context-sensitive, autonomic and last but not least secure and trustworthy. High-quality computing, communication and quality of service (QOS) access and personalized content must be available to everybody not only at anyplace, anytime, but even more importantly, at the right place, right time and by the right means. This fundamental view changes drastically the development of new technologies, focusing on bringing ‘‘digital intelligence’’ to future electronics products. The objective is to create and deliver new technologies that are more intuitive, intelligent and ‘‘human,’’ in order to allow the delivery of products that are easier to use and thus more helpful for people. Human authentication in ambient intelligence should preferably not be bound to voluntary or conscious user’s interactions with recognition equipment, but rather it should rely on the ability of an underlying control system to automatically and autonomously capture user’s characteristics and use them for identification, verification, and/or surveillance. Biometrics involves the automated authentication from personal physical appearance or behavioral traits. It further provides the needed context and personalization to interface and mediate between ambient intelligence and augmented cognition. Biometrics makes use of different sensory mechanisms to assess both identity and physiological (physical and cognitive) state. Augmented cognition extends users’ abilities in order to improve their performance and to provide for graceful degradation. Augmented cognition can parse both covert and overt communication, and it supports context switching. Augmented cognition provides the upper management layer needed to (a) make appropriate choices for bandwidth, context, and specific functionality; (b) adapt, prioritize and coordinate; (c) reduce the effects of cross-talk (‘‘modal’’) interference; and (d) handle in a flexible way time-varying inputs. Note that both the computer and the human subject have their ‘‘cognitive’’ abilities augmented to enhance their performance. Towards that end, one needs closed-loop control and reliable biometric interfaces, which are aware of subjects’ abilities, behaviors, emotions, intensions, and/ or immediate needs and responds accordingly. There is feedback, the biometric interface is adaptive, and anticipation is driven by predictions. Both context and the subjects’ (mental and physical states) models are attended to or inferred to leverage the connections between personal appearance, cognitive state, and behavior, in order to deliver smart services and logistic support. Though there has recently been a great deal of progress in biometrics, their use as interfaces between ambient intelligence and augmented cognition still lags behind. There is, however, a growing need to determine in a robust fashion both the physical and cognitive state of human subjects. This need is due, among other, to an aging population that requires health care management, intelligent infrastructures to alleviate cognitive overload, e.g., air traffic control and intelligent highways, education and training, and social networks. Towards that end, biometrics can assess among others awareness (vs. confusion), involvement and interest, understanding, and inner feelings and emotions, e.g., such as satisfaction. M. Nappi (&) H. Wechsler Fisciano, Italy e-mail: mnappi@unisa.it