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Technology giant Google has been successful in its filing of a patent for its latest design, a contact lens that uses biometric scanning for authentication purposes. The device will fit over a persons eye, exactly like a contact lens would do, and then scans the persons iris as a method to identify the person wearing it as a convenient and secure method of authentication.
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has confirmed the application and acceptance of Google's iris scanning technology, and the online behemoth identified a number of implementations for the new biometric scanner in its patent request:
- The iris scanner will offer a method of identification biometrically
- A contact lens that will aid iris scanning
- The device will allow for a method of conducting biometric iris recognition
- And finally, a device that can help facilitate biometric identification
One particular use for the device was outlined by Google themselves as flashes of science fiction and the film Minority Report seem to intertwine with reality. This use was described as a contact lens that covers part or all of the iris, consisting of a transparent substrate containing a circuit. The circuit, would then, in very simple terms, analyse light that is filtered through the iris via light sensors. A power component would also be present in order to power the readout circuitry. They then continued to propose uses for such a device and included methods of identification and authentication as possible and probable uses.