The day has arrived where all the money in the world is at your finger tips. Or rather, all the money in your credit card is in your finger veins. Biometric scanners are popping up everywhere, and now Hitachi has debuted the first vending machine that will accept a finger scan instead of cash or coins. By linking the scan to a credit card account, customers can simply place their finger in the machine and purchase whichever snack goods they desire most. It’s probably the best reward you’ll ever get for giving a vending machine the finger.
Finger goes in, Coke comes out. Easy, huh?
The biometric sensor in Hitachi’s new vending machine uses light to scan and read the number and orientation of veins in your finger tip without directly touching a sensor. This provides a unique code for access to a credit card account that has to be established independently of the vending machine. While the machine is only a prototype, and Hitachi hasn’t yet decided whether or not to make a commercial version, the concept itself is more than enough to be causing a buzz. It’s far from the first use of a biometric sensor, but it has the potential to be the most commonly seen application of the technology.
Even if the vending machine industry doesn’t jump on Hitachi’s band wagon, the biometric sales option is ready to be explored. With credit card companies like Visa and Mastercard already providing a “tap and pay” system for cards, consumers may become more confident with payments that don’t require signatures or even human-human interaction. This means that finger scans could very well become a break-out technology. If you’re willing to tap a card, why not just point your finger instead?
Hollywood movies often portray biometrics as added levels of security for very expensive items or collections. Eye scans to enter bank vaults spring readily to mind. The speed of biometric verification, however, makes it just as sensible to go in the other direction. Need to pay $5? Just let the machine count the veins in your index finger. It’s faster than reaching for your wallet. Which may or may not be a good thing. It’s unclear if the hassle of paying for things has a profound affect on the way we spend money. There may be a lot more impulse purchases when you can pay for things by just tapping your finger.
Amazingly, this isn’t the only way that vending machines are getting complex. There are vendors with LCD display and touch screens, and others with conveyor belts or claws instead of those twisting springs. I think that they serve as a good testing ground for emerging commercial technologies. After all, like new high-tech ATMs, they are one of the few public machines that interact with hundreds or thousands of people each day.
With biometrics looking to identify you through your ear, or even your brain, the finger vein technology from Hitachi seems like a more acceptable option. It will be interesting to see if the concept of linking credit cards to a biometric scanner becomes widely popular. Perhaps it will be adopted somewhere else. iTunes? Kindles? Pay toilets?
Tags: biometrics, credit card, finger, hitachi, scanner, veins, vending machine
Share
Are index fingers truly unique? I always thought it was the set of finger prints together that formed a unique print.
I saw MacGuyver fool one of these things with some pool cue chalk and candle wax… but I’d still trust this tech a million times as much as an RFID chip.
This particular technology reads finger veins under the skin. While I don’t know the exact numbers, veins are supposed to be more unique than prints.
The problem with all biometric equipment is that you must decide how forgiving the technology must be of variation. Too little and on a too hot/too cold day everyone must make six or seven attempts to get recognized too much and Bob accidentally authorities as Harry.
Biometrics are no where near as good as we imagine they are otherwise why would we need paper based passports or drivers licenses that are vulnerable to tampering?
I would not trust such a system with my card details but I’d be willing to spend five minutes to see if I could get a “free” drink.
[...] August 25, 2009 · Leave a Comment singularityhub.com | Aug 24, 2009 [...]
It’s all well and good till somebody cuts off my finger to get a free coke.
the whole thing is ’sceevy’, in my opinion. Recall the mark ‘of the beast’ in the forehead or hand!! If one doesn’t have it, one doesn’t get to buy any food!! It’s not hard to see that this will come in the future. Look at the state of affairs right now!!!
[...] Vending Machines Take Finger Scans Instead of Cash (singularityhub.com) [...]
[...] to purchase a Coke or Mars Bar by jabbing your finger into Hitachi’s vending machine. This machine “uses light to scan and read the number and orientation of veins in your finger tip without [...]
[...] But the restructuring is likely to extend into traditional businesses as well. Not only can a vending machine take a fingerprint as payment, but now we see them supplying farm goods. The machine removes the middleman (distributors, chain [...]
Those are some good points. But, with a lot of competition out there offering very similar items for free, it
[...] get a 100 calories from potato chips versus 100 calories from raisins? Maybe instead of getting smarter vending machines we should just get vending machines that dispense better [...]
[...] Starbucks already had an online system dedicated to tracking and updating their gift cards, so switching from plastic to iPhone (or iPod Touch) wasn’t such a big leap forward. It’s all just digital information. By partnering with another major retailer (Target), Starbucks is attempting a huge roll out of this program. There’s no telling if consumers will actually want the new system. The App may cut down on the amount of plastic you carry, but it isn’t dramatically easier to handle. There is some added security (you can password protect your cards and/or your phone) and you’re less likely to misplace a smart phone. Is that enough incentive to get you to switch? Either way, if the Starbucks Card Mobile App succeeds, expect other major companies to follow soon thereafter. I suspect that other companies with similar card databases (Jamba Juice, Best Buy, etc) could follow suit very easily, and maybe even credit card companies could get in on the action. You wouldn’t need your wallet anymore. Who knows, we may eventually lose the electronics all together and just pay for food with our fingerprints. [...]
[...] Starbucks already had an online system dedicated to tracking and updating their gift cards, so switching from plastic to iPhone (or iPod Touch) wasn’t such a big leap forward. It’s all just digital information. By partnering with another major retailer (Target), Starbucks is attempting a huge roll out of this program. There’s no telling if consumers will actually want the new system. The App may cut down on the amount of plastic you carry, but it isn’t dramatically easier to handle. There is some added security (you can password protect your cards and/or your phone) and you’re less likely to misplace a smart phone. Is that enough incentive to get you to switch? Either way, if the Starbucks Card Mobile App succeeds, expect other major companies to follow soon thereafter. I suspect that other companies with similar card databases (Jamba Juice, Best Buy, etc) could follow suit very easily, and maybe even credit card companies could get in on the action. You wouldn’t need your wallet anymore. Who knows, we may eventually lose the electronics all together and just pay for food with our fingerprints. [...]
I’ve browsed a few articles from your blog and I’d like to say thank you. I like your style and I subscribed to your rss feed. You do update your rss right?