At this point, most people are used to unlocking their phones with their fingers. There are different layers of security for each specific phone, but it's all essentially the same thing: you press your finger onto the screen, the phone opens.
It's been that way for years now, and it's a basic function of every smartphone on the market these days. Opening a phone with anything but a finger usually requires some sort of stylus, but few people feel like carrying something extra when their finger does the same thing.
That being said, there are definitely some improvements that can be made. Sure, using a finger makes sense when you're just going to mess around Twitter or Facebook, but what if you're about to make (or receive) a call? It's not as if you're going to continue using your hands, you'll just press the phone up to your ear. Wouldn't it be easier if you could just press the phone up against your ear and unlock it that way?
Well, that might end up being a possibility if Bodyprint has anything to do with it: instead of using your thumb and a pin code to keep your phone secure, Bodyprint is looking to turn your phone into a full-fledged biometric scanner.
For years, most people have had to rely on basic four-digit passcodes to protect their smart devices. Despite the fact that these passwords are relatively easy to forget, there just haven't been all that many alternative options; smartphone touchscreens just aren't sensitive enough to pick up a fingerprint, and external peripherals aren't cost-efficient or convenient.
However, while smartphones may not be sensitive enough to pick up someone's fingerprint, they can definitely handle something a bit bigger — say, your "earprint." That's exactly what Bodyprint aims to do: by pressing your ear to the touchscreen, the app is able to decode said input through a biometric scanner, where it becomes a basic black-and-white image. If the scan matches up with the data stored in your device, the phone unlocks.
It's almost surprising that something like this hasn't been developed before. Nobody likes four-digit pins or pattern locks, so why not use something that's impossible to forget? It's not as if you can misplace an ear, and there's no way someone would be able to replicate it. On top of that, any concerns about the app failing to unlock the phone are already being squashed, even this early on in development: Bodyprint is currently sitting at a 99.8 percent success rate.
As it stands, Bodyprint is still in the early stages of development: the team is currently working on the app's recognition algorithms (which could open up even more possibilities with the scanner) before moving on to more widespread testing. Basically, don't expect to see it sitting on the App Store anytime soon — it's still got a ways to go before it's ready for a commercial release.
Regardless, it looks like that four-digit passcode you keep forgetting may just be a thing of the past ...
For more info on Bodyprint, check out the team's official project page.
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