Japan-based mobile phone makers Fujitsu and NTT Docomo yesterday unveiled a new smartphone that allows users to make payments by scanning their irises.
NTT Docomo is Japan’s largest mobile carrier. Its partnership with Fujitsu has enabled them to create the NX F-04G, which will be the world’s first commercially available smartphone with an iris scanner when it goes on sale later this month.
Fujitsu said it is aiming at implementing the technology into commercial products by March 2016.
Fujitsu has developed a custom compact and high-output infrared LED, and a custom infrared camera. These were combined with camera controller technology and biometric-authentication technology that Fujitsu has been developing for many years.
The result is a system that can reliably authenticate the detailed patterns of the iris and that can be used in most everyday situations, including making digital payments and transactions.
If you are wondering whether there are any health risks with the new technology, don’t be afraid. The pattern of one’s iris does not change much at all after the age of two, making it difficult to injure its surface.
If you are sceptical about the security risks posed by the phone, Fujitsu assure consumers that the system is very difficult to forge by a third party.
Many smartphone developers have already embraced new ways of making payments via a mobile phone. Firms such as Apple and Samsung have developed ways in which customers can use their fingerprints to make mobile payments. Fujitsu however, are the only company who have created an eyeball scanning payment system.
Check out Fujitsu’s promotional video for the NX F-04G.
Whitepapers
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