When it comes to authenticating the user on a mobile device, the most common recourse would be to rely on a password – the more secure, the better, of course. Well, apart from that, facial recognition as well as pattern swipes have been used, but how about scanning the veins on your palm? This is what Fujitsu decided to do, and their most recent palm vein sensor that measures just 5mm thin is tiny enough to fit onto a tablet without any issues whatsoever. Known more exactly as the Palm Vein Biometric Authentication Sensor, it is touted to be the smallest and thinnest of its kind in the world.
This is made possible thanks to new designs in the optical components used such as the image sensor, allowing Fujitsu to arrive at similar performance levels compared to what they have done in the past, albeit at a far smaller form factor. Fujitsu says, “Palm vein sensors utilize the way blood absorbs near-infrared light. This technology confirms a person’s identity by recognizing patterns from blood vessels, which appear black under near-infrared illumination. What’s important here is, a sensor that used to be 3 cm in size is now just 16 mm square and 5 mm thick. We’re moving ahead with R&D, to enable this sensor to be used in mobile devices that sensors couldn’t be built into before.”
Prototypes have already been made by Fujitsu, although it will still take some time before they have a chance of going mainstream in tablets down the road.
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