Samsung patents lots of ideas and inventions and they don't necessarily feature in all of its products but the patents do give us a glimpse at all of the new and interesting things that the company is working on. It has quite a few wearable technology patents, Samsung is actually the biggest patent filer for wearable technology, and the latest addition to that list describes a smartwatch that uses veins to establish identity. Basically it will read the wearer's veins to determine if an authorized or unauthorized person is trying to access the device.
The patent details that a camera sensor and two light sources on either side will be mounted on the forward edge of the wearable device to scan an area on the back of the wearer's hand to capture the structure of veins. Whenever it needs to establish identity it will take an image and compare it with the one in its memory, not all that different from how a fingerprint sensor compares the print to the one in its memory. Once positive identification is established the smartwatch can then bring up the owner's data.
This type of authentication will also prove to be useful for enabling users to access other high-security things like smart door locks, hotel rooms or even cars. The technology may even be used for authentication of secure mobile payments made through the smartwatch. The possibilities are endless but they won't really be useful to us unless Samsung decides to bring this technology to market. Who knows if and when that will happen.
