Samsung Patent Covers Blood Flow Biometrics

A newly published patent indicates that Samsung has been exploring biometric authentication technology based on blood flow.

As LetsGoDigital reports, the patent details a method of biometric authentication in which specialized sensors, including PPG, ECG, and GSR sensors, are used to track the flow of blood beneath the user’s skin. Patterns in blood flow are thought to be unique for each person to such an extent that they can be used for identity authentication, and Samsung’s system indicates that this authentication method could be applied to a user’s finger, wrist, arm, leg, ankle, chest, or forehead.

The patent application also features graphics indicating the devices that could use this biometric authentication method, including a smartphone, a smartwatch, and a laptop.

Samsung applied for the patent with the World Intellectual Property Organization last summer, with a US patent having been filed a year before that. Of course, just because the company has sought to patent this technology, that doesn’t mean it is actively working to incorporate it into a forthcoming device. Samsung has lately shown a focus on iris recognition as its primary means of biometric authentication on mobile, with fingerprint and facial recognition supplementing it; but there is always a chance that it could experiment with this new modality on something like a smartwatch, where this authentication method could presumably operate more or less constantly and in the background of daily use.

Source: LetsGoDigital

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January 26, 2018 – by Alex Perala