Samsung has some pretty crazy ideas like the modular tv and S6 Edge. A new patent filing unearthed by fast company shows Samsung’s idea of a smartwatch that has the ability to scan your vein.
So what are its practical purposes?
This vein scanning watch has no relation to the health care system. Actually Samsung intends this smartwatch to scan your vein to authenticate the user. Fingerprint sensor like the touch id on the iPhone is pretty good but not everyone wants to share their fingerprint with a tech company.
Samsung is providing a new way to unlock you phone by scanning the veins on the back of your hand by a smartwatch. this is as secure as the fingerprint scanner but has little security issues.
The smartwatch initially captures your “vein structure and characteristics,” and stores it in a secured database. When the user request to authenticate, it will scan the vein structuring and matches it with the one in the database.
To scan the vein, Samsung wants to fit the watch with 2 light sources and a camera sensor.
There are other uses apart from unlocking a parent device. This wearable device could be used to control many things such as the ignition of a car or unlocking of your home. With the authentication system in place, it would not be possible for anyone to perform these actions without your vein scanning.
But not every patent turns into reality. Many tech companies have thousands of patents that are not used in any product or a service. This is an interesting patent and it would be more interesting if Samsung decides to build such as wearable device.
