Microsoft has received approval for a patent combining fingerprint scanning with slide-to-unlock gestures, according to a new report from Patently Mobile.
While many smartphones prompt users to start unlocking their devices by sliding a finger along the lock screen, and biometric fingerprint scanning is now a more or less standard feature on smartphones, few if any have combined the two. Google has brought a directional swipe component into the fingerprint sensor of its Pixel smartphones allowing users to get quick access to notifications — a feature that Samsung appears keen to emulate — but Microsoft’s system is unusual in that it appears to revolve around interaction with the device’s display itself. As Patently Mobile explains, a user’s finger would be scanned as she swiped to unlock the device, and swiping in different directions could authenticate for different apps or levels of access.
That system would require Microsoft to overcome a whole other technological hurdle: Integrating a fingerprint sensor into the device display. While the industry is moving in this direction with the emergence of sensors that can be placed under glass, an in-display sensor would still be a considerable leap forward.
As such, it’s not at all clear when this system will arrive in a new Microsoft device, if at all. But the company first filed the patent in June of last year, so it has presumably had some time to explore the idea.
Source: Patently Mobile
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