A REAL LOOKER: Peering into the future (
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That’s one eye-catching phone!
Manhattan-based tech firm EyeLock Corp. expects to see a smartphone equipped with iris-recognition technology next year.
The feature would allow the owner to unlock the device just by looking at it, eliminating the need for a password.
“You would look at a front-facing camera and it would do the authentication,” said Chief Marketing Officer Anthony Antolino.
EyeLock is in advanced talks with what it said is a major wireless provider about adding the know-how. It is also teaming with computer and electronics companies to introduce similar systems for PCs and tablets.
It refused to name the companies.
While the feature won’t stop cellphone theft, it could make it tougher for thieves to fence the stolen property. Smartphone theft hit a high in the Big Apple last year, prompting the NYPD to launch a program to register devices and help track them.
Besides working with tech companies, EyeLock is partnering with banks to upgrade their ATMs with the technology. “You’ll see EyeLock in banking later this year,” Antolino forecast.
An iris has 240 identifying marks, making a person’s iris very hard to replicate, he said.
While it sounds futuristic, execs say it’s not as Big Brother as it might appear.
“It is not like the movie ‘Minority Report’ as it is an opt-in product,” Antolino said. “If you close your eyes or wear thick glasses, it will not capture you.”
Samsung grabbed headlines this month with its Galaxy S4, which allows users to save their fingers and operate the phone with their eyes, such as pausing a video by turning away from the screen.
But EyeLock is about security — not replacing the touchscreen.
“The technology is very different,” Antolino said, although he said EyeLock and eye-tracking could work together in the same phone.
The company, which counts Shad Azimi, founder and managing partner of Manhattan-based Vanterra Capital, among its backers, plans to move many of its products beyond the research and development phase this year and into commercial applications.
EyeLock does some business overseas, including in the city of Leon, Mexico, which “eye prints” people when they are arrested.