A few months ago, we published a story where Motorola was considering using tattoos or pills to be used in order to allow a person to become a walking password of sorts. The tattoo or pill would allow the person to authenticate themselves with their device, whether it be a computer or mobile device. If you’re the kind of person who would prefer not to be tatted up or digest a pill, something as simple as a bracelet would seem like a more viable option for you.
Dr. Karl Martin has launched a startup called Bionym and will soon be going public with their first device, called the Nymi that has been researched and developed for over 10 years. The way the Nymi works is by measuring a person’s electrocardiogram, or ECG, which is completely unique to every person. The user would tap their Nymi, which would proceed to measure your ECG and continue to authenticate that you are the person who should be wearing the bracelet. The result of this would allow the user to authenticate themselves with their devices around them, ranging from smartphones, computers to even your vehicle or your locked doors at home.
At this point, Dr. Martin and Bionym are currently courting developers to build apps for the device to help integrate it into more devices. The Nymi is expected to be released sometime next year and will retail at $99.