The eyeball and fingerprint scans in the movies are always inspiring to watch since they hint at our future. Of course “Mission Impossible” comes to mind, but also the scene in the 1994 movie “True Lies” where the guys are walking down the corridor at their work, and their bodies are scanned to the point of looking like skeletons. I’ve always thought it would be cool to pay for things with a fingerprint scan, and today some lucky university students are doing just that.
We practically operate in a cashless society anyway, so it makes sense to go to a fingerprint system to avoid identity theft and other security loopholes. However, imagine what it would be like to use your fingerprint scan to actually pay for something (not just as a security precaution). It would be like your fingerprint would become your debit card so to speak. How awesome would that be?
At the School of Mines and Technology in South Dakota, there are two stores on campus that are now testing this fingerprint scan payment technology. It completely removes all forms of money from the payment process. The students simply type their birthdays into the scanner, then place their finger inside for a quick scan, and that’s it! They’ve made a purchase. The receipt is then emailed to them. Now that I think about it, maybe this would be too simple for me. It would be really easy to disrespect a budget when making purchases becomes so simple.
Fingerprint payment technology is not new, but what makes this system more sophisticated than any other in the world is that it checks to be sure the person has blood pulsing in his or her finger. Why is that a big deal? Because you know a fingerprint scan payment system that doesn’t check this detail would be hacked almost as fast as it was implemented (or it could encourage people to cut other people’s fingers off to steal their identity). You can read more about this fingerprint scan payment technology here on Huffington Post.
Fingerprint Scan Technology Makes Sure You Have A Pulse
Via: [Popsci]
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