We all know it's a huge burden using our fingertips or passwords to unlock our smartphones (sarcasm). Can't these things read our minds yet? It's almost silly how accustomed we get to these new technologies just in time for another, new little trick to pop up. The latest “trick” is from Yahoo- biometric authentication for capacitive touchscreens. Yahoo announced the project at the 2015 Computer-Human Interaction Conference (CHI) in Seoul this week. Computer, human, interaction. It's about time we start getting used to those words together.

If you think about it, we unlock our phones so many times a day we wouldn't be able to keep count. That's why Yahoo's team of research scientists at Yahoo labs in Sunnyvale, California believe it should be more convenient and secure. Yahoo's new technology, called Bodyprint, is different than the fingerprint sensors we have been seeing on Apple and Samsung gadgets lately. In fact, it's a cheaper method, as it relies on any smartphone or handset with a touchscreen; and can use other (non-finger) body structures, such as an ear, to authenticate unlocking using the capacitive sensors embedded in the screen. In Yahoo's research, 99.98 percent of the 12 participants who used the biometric authentication system were able to be identified using their body parts (Engadget).

Ears, knuckles, palms, and fingers are all good examples of body parts that the sensors can quickly map the topography of. Of course, since they are unique to every individual, no one can unlock their mobile device but themselves. The feature can also be used to answer phone calls (which, the ear-unlocking option seems the most appropriate for), or other commands for access, such as locking private documents. Christian Holz, along with the rest of his Yahoo team of creators, may have been successful in that small group of 12 subjects, but if we're looking at mainstream, we're going to have to see more research first. Yahoo Labs has not stated whether or not it even intends on commercialization, and is currently focusing on improving the recognition algorithms in Bodyprint (Biometric Update).