The inkblot research is four-years-old, but linking it with Web-based single sign-on (SSO) is where users see benefit.
You create ONE really strong password using the inkblots and use it to log into an OpenID provider and then the OID provider validates your authentication to any OID-compliant site on the Web where you have a password-protected account (not just MS sites).
That means you don' t have to create a password for each Web site you visit because the Web site trusts the OID provider to do that authentication. So the benefit is you don't have all those passwords for different sites. You don't have to do the "remember password" thing and then have the password in clear text stored in your in-box folder.
Of course, the one password system requires the user have a strong password (hence the inkblot method) because it is a single point of failure. If someone cracks that password they can get into all your accounts.
For this marriage to be effective, however, OID has to become more widely accepted. It is picking up steam, MS supports it in CardSpace, and version 2.0 of Open ID was just released.
Also, inkblot has to become more than a research project. But for now, the testing will show if this has legs or if it needs to go back to the drawing board.