What if you could pay for your groceries using your veins?Amazon filed a patent for technology that could identify you by scanning the wrinkles in the palm of your hand and by using a light to see beneath your skin to your blood vessels. The resulting images could be used to identify you as a shopper at Amazon Go stores.It was previously reported that the Seattle-based tech giant might install these hi-tech scanners in Whole Foods grocery stores. However, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office published an application on Thursday that suggests the e-commerce behemoth sets its sites on Amazon Go stores.Many of the inventors named on the application include Amazon Go executives such as vice president Dili Kumar and senior manager Manoj Aggarwal. Engineer Nikolai Orlov, who previously lead Amazon Go projects, was also listed as an inventor.How does vein scanning work?While fingerprint scanners have been around for years, Amazon hopes to innovate by developing a personal identification system that you don't have to touch.
Imagine hovering your hand in front of an infrared light as a camera snaps two images — one from the surface, and one that looks for "deeper characteristics such as veins." An internal computer system would then identify you based on that information....
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Okay, so gloves in the summer it is.
And fortunately, rather than having to spend a half hour putting on makeup, just to descend to the lobby:
There are now glasses that use some of the principles developed by the Hong Kong protesters:
