Fingerprint identification or facial recognition is a thing of the past! Apple now wants to go further and has just filed a patent application as innovative as it is intriguing. To protect the privacy of AirPods users, the firm is now relying on ear canal identification. Yes, just that.
Apple is working on an ultrasound-based system to secure its famous AirPods. The goal? Prevent malicious people from accessing the personal information of its users via these wireless headphones.
Identify ear canals with ultrasound
In a recent patent application, Apple highlighted a potential security issue. Currently, it is possible with any AirPods to access the personal information of their owner, and even to give orders to Siri.
To avoid this, the firm is innovating in its authentication processes and is currently working on a system for detecting the shape of the auditory canal, based on ultrasound technology. Each ear is, in fact, unique, and the sound reverberation inside the canals can be detected and analyzed to identify a person.
The AirPods would also be likely to use other information, such as the way of walking, or the voice of their owner. All of this would allow the devices to determine a similarity score and confirm the identity of their wearer.
Everything being in the patent state, we do not yet know if this function will be available soon or not. To be continued, then!
On the same subject :
Apple: planned for the end of 2022, will the AirPods Pro 2 support lossless audio?
Source: 9to5Mac
8