TOKYO, May 15 (UPI) -- Fujitsu has unveiled a smartphone that reads the windows to the soul – your eyes.
The Arrows NX F-04G from the Japanese technology company unlocks after recognizing the user's iris – the colored ring of the eye, The Independent reported Friday.
During a product launch, Fujitsu's chief executive showed how the phone uses iris-recognition technology to unlock, sign users into apps and authorize online transactions – including a pizza order.
The Guardian reported the technology lapsed a couple of seconds before recognizing the user's biological identity, but according to NTT Docomo Chief Executive Kaoru Kato, the scanner is expected to improve each time a person uses the technology.
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The Fujitsu phone recognizes the unique pattern of the iris that remains unchanged from age 2. Its shape is also easier to recognize for its relative flatness – but high-quality images of the iris have fooled scanners in the past.
An infrared LED faces the user to highlight the iris and snap a likeness of the user's biological specifics.
Iris-recognition technology is used worldwide, but not commercially. The United Arab Emirates implemented iris recognition at airports and sea ports in 2001. Britain phased out iris-recognition for immigration purposes in 2013, but had been using the technology for almost a decade.
Fingerprint scanners have been used on computers since 2000, and high-end Samsung, Huawei and Apple phones have used fingerprint recognition.
But like Fujitsu, Chinese and South Korean phone manufacturers are developing iris-recognition technology – with Samsung filing a patent for iris recognition, according to The Guardian.
Iris recognition is one of many biometric identification systems that are driving personal technology. Other innovations, such as the Nymi wrist device, can use the signature of the user's heartbeat to unlock all devices within proximity.
