Samsung Patent Shows Iris Scanning Headset, Finger Scanning Wristband

Samsung is considering bringing fingerprint and cardiac sensors to the Gear Fit and iris scanning to the Galaxy VR, if a newly revealed patent filing offers any indication.

As Patently Mobile reports, a recent filing with the US Patent & Trademark Office depicts a wristband device that uses a built-in fingerprint scanner to authenticate a user, and also shows how a pulse sensor could restrict wifi access based on the heart rate of the user. Diagrams illustrate how this kind of biometric authentication could be used to facilitate interoperability between the wristband and connected devices such as a smartphone or a smart home network.

The filing also shows how such interoperability could be regulated via another form of biometric authentication on a different kind of device—namely, iris scanning via a wearable headset. A diagram illustrates iris biometric being used for authentication, but also notes that the device could additionally collect biometric data—presumably cardiac data – from a user’s temples.

Samsung’s extension of iris scanning technology into a headset device doesn’t come as much of a surprise given the company’s emphasis on the modality with its new Note7 smartphone; meanwhile, bringing fingerprint authentication to a wristband device seems a logical extension from the mobile devices upon which such sensors are becoming so ubiquitous. Of course, it isn’t clear when these systems will reach the market in the form of new devices—if they reach it at all. Samsung only filed the patent in January and is presumably still exploring how the technology could be realized.

Source: Patently Mobile