Earlier this week at Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona, Japanese tech giant Fujitsu upped the ante for biometric security in mobile phones with the unveiling of a smartphone equipped with iris authentication. It provides a unique – and tougher to crack – alternative to the increasingly popular thumb scanners now standard on Apple and Samsung’s flagships.
Apple debuted its Touch ID fingerprint sensor in 2013 in the iPhone 5S, promising an easy and secure way to keep your iPhone’s data out of the hands of thieves (or jealous lovers). While not 100 percent safe from enterprising hackers, Touch ID introduced millions of Apple users around the world to pocketable biometric security.
Fujitsu’s prototype allows a user to unlock the phone by simply looking at the screen. That’s made possible by the addition of an infrared camera, coupled with an infrared LED light, at the top of the device. The infrared light safely and painlessly shines into a user’s eyes, while the camera captures their iris pattern. Human irises, the colored ring around your pupils, are unique to each individual and generally don’t change past the age of two. Fujitsu explains that, unlike fingers and thumbs, irises are less prone to injury and almost impossible to forge. There’s also the added bonus of being able to unlock Fujitsu’s phone with gloves on.
Low failure rate
“Our iris authentication technology is very safe and secure,” Rishad Marquardt, a Fujitsu spokesperson, tells Tech in Asia. “In terms of safety, we have passed International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) regulated photobiological safety tests. The typical false acceptance rate for iris authentication is one out of 1.25 million, proving the high-security level of this technology. Unlocking the phone is simplified because the user doesn’t need to use their hand to interact with the screen in any way to unlock it.”
But what about those of us who wear contacts?
“People with contact lenses can use this technology without any problem whatsoever,” Marquardt adds. “What’s more, as this technology utilizes infrared, it can be used in the dark.”
Fujitsu worked for years to miniaturize the necessary components for use in a phone, and plans to implement it in a future Fujitsu product “sometime in fiscal 2015,” according to Marquardt. He declined to say whether the company would eventually license the tech out to other companies.
In addition to deployment in smartphones, Fujitsu’s iris authentication could also be used to log into web services without having to input an ID or password, potentially speeding up the process for ordering something on Amazon or accessing your social media accounts.
Fujitsu handsets are relatively common in Japan but are rarely seen elsewhere in the world. The company is notorious for its so-called “infidelity phones,” with stealth privacy settings that allow a user to hide phone calls and messages from specific users. Last June, Fujitsubrought a senior citizen-focused smartphone to France – symbolic of the aging, shrinking population crisis its home market is currently facing.
Source: techinasia.com
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