When it comes to technology that makes shopping easier, Amazon is continuously coming out with innovative approaches for its large marketplace. Its latest novelty, called Amazon One, is a contactless service that uses your unique palm signature to validate purchases or authorize you to enter gated areas, such as housing communities, offices, stadiums, and gyms.
Amazon One will first be launched at two of Amazon’s physical retail stores in Washington and Seattle. Then, in the following months, the company plans to add the service to its other stores in New York, Chicago, and San Francisco.
Amazon describes the system as a “fast, convenient, contactless identity service that uses your palm – an alternative to other biometric identifiers such as fingerprint, iris or facial recognition – just hover to enter, identify, and pay.”
How It Works
Users will need to register on their first visit by inserting a credit card or, in the case of a gate – an identification card. Then, the user will be asked to place the palm of their hand on the device and follow the screen’s instructions to link the two together. Computer vision technology processes information in real-time to produce the link; and voilà! The setup is complete.
Once users are logged into Amazon One, everything is simple. Each time customers go to the store, they only need to hover their palm over the device for a few seconds to recognize users, then allow them to enter the stores and pay for products.
Information Protection
Users who have enrolled on an Amazon One device don’t have to worry about their information, as it’s not stored on the device and is protected at all times, both in-transit and at rest.
If a user wants to remove themselves from the system and wants their data deleted, they can request the deletion of the data via the device or through the online customer service site.
Paying Methods Of The Future
A significant number of companies are experimenting with using biometric recognition systems to identify their users, including fingerprint, eye, or facial recognition. Amazon’s hand scanning technology could add to the list of biometric identifiers as a way to identify ourselves or make payments in the future.
