According to the new Apple patent published by the US Patent and Trademark Office, this pulsed laser pointer imaging technology can achieve intravenous or subcutaneous vascular visualization and is applied to biometric functions. The document shows that the patent was filed on November 12, 2015. Apple said that the principle of infrared detection can be used to obtain images of venous blood vessels under the skin and then use it as biometrics, so that the safety and accuracy of identification will be Will become unbeatable.
According to the foreign technology website Patently Apple, the related technologies include optical emitting components and receiving components that can receive pulses from human skin surfaces or subcutaneous blood vessels. The processor can achieve the image recognition effect according to the adjustment of the pulse and the imaging of the subcutaneous blood vessels.
The system consists of an infrared emitter that emits multiple infrared pulses, such as the hand or face, to an area of the user's body, which then penetrates the skin and is reflected by the user's veins, and then the other The receiver that senses the IR light is able to accept the reflected light and then depict the user's vein image. And because the technology uses the principle of infrared reflection, it can also rely on the flight time of light to depict the 3D information of the user's body, one stone and two birds.
Apple said that this system has two major advantages: First, the vein exists inside the body, and there is no second identical vein in the world, so it is impossible to be copied. In contrast, Face ID's 3D face recognition There is still a millionth false positive rate, and there is also the possibility of cracking; secondly, infrared detection is non-contact, which is more hygienic than fingerprints.
I have to admit that non-contact vein detection is a promising direction, because the TrueDepth camera array used by Face ID actually has infrared emitters and receivers. If Apple wants to add vein detection function, there is actually room for adjustment. The difference is that the TrueDepth system uses "3D structured light", while the ray time-of-flight scheme described above is the "ToF principle."
In fact, vein detection has been applied in fingerprint recognition. At that time, manufacturers called it "living fingerprint". Apple also said that this technology has a very mature laser pointer application. However, previous vein tests were mostly "contact detection", and if combined with Face ID, a question mark could be achieved for non-contact detection that is so far away.
Apple has been very active in developing biometrics. Foreign media previously reported that Apple developed an intelligent blood pressure detection system. The system can automatically recommend whether the user should measure blood pressure according to the user's blood pressure status or physiological and psychological state, or propose another set of measurement plans. Applicable to Apple Watch, it can also be applied to smart glasses, smart clothes and other wearable devices.
Foreign media has also previously reported that Apple is also developing a new generation of watch technology, integrating accelerometer, photo-plethysmogram technology, and pulse pressure sensing components and controllers to detect blood pressure fluctuations in the user's wrist. .