ViewSonic is making a smart phone with Iris Recognition Technology

Security for smart phone has always been a concern whether it is to protect your data or simply to deter your friends from hijacking your Facebook feed. While fingerprint scanning on smart phones have become mainstream, nobody has actually implemented eye scanning security until now. ViewSonic, a very unlikely brand for smart phones is probably the first to do so with iris recognition biometric security.

The new ViewSonic V55 claims to offer a next generation iris recognition technology that scans your eye for unique patterns as a form of ID. Similar to fingerprints, each person’s iris is unique and it could be safer as it is tougher to duplicate compared to fingerprints.

The scanner appears to be located at the top right of the device and it is concealed by a sliding cover. It slides open with an LED light which indicates that scanning is in progress. This can be use not just to unlock your device, but also to protect folders, apps and possibly authorise payments as well.

In terms of specs, the front screen is mentioned to be a 5.5″ Full HD display and it runs on a 1.4GHz Quad-Core Snapdragon 410 processor with 2GB of RAM. It gets a choice of either 16GB or 32GB of storage as well. The back has a 13MP camera from Sony and ViewSonic has made the V55 lens customisable with a variety of screw-on lens.

There’s no pricing yet but the launch is expected to be sometime this year in 2015. If you look closely at some screenshots, it is shown running on Xiaomi’s MIUI. The only concern is how long does it take for it to authenticate and whether it works under low light conditions especially indoors.

Would you prefer iris scanning over fingerprint? Leave your thoughts in the comments below.

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