Samsung may soon replace its iris scanning technology with a new biometric camera, if a recently granted patent is an indication. 3D facial recognition technology is one of the most secure authentication used to unlock smart phones, but Samsung phones do not have it yet. Apple had Face ID on its iPhone X for some time, and according to a new report, Samsung plans to have something similar soon. Last month it was rumored that the electronics giant was working on a 3D facial recognition technology for its next-generation Galaxy S10 smartphone. As it now turns out, the rumor could have some formal basis, since the patent application has been approved by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

According to a Patently Apple report, Samsung had filed a patent in 2014 covering 3D detection for facial recognition, and now it has been granted. This means that Samsung is working on a smartphone feature that is similar to Apple’s Face ID, but was patented before its release. According to the report, the biometric camera integrated in a mobile device will have the recognition of the iris that will be used to scan the user’s iris through the front camera. The patent document discloses that the biometric camera system includes a NIR (near infrared) light source in the mobile device when it captures an image to address ambient light challenges.

The patent also shows that the camera will come with an extended depth of field lens (EDOF), a bandpass filter to filter ambient light and an image sensor to convert the optical image of an object into a signal electronics for processing. In addition, it will also be equipped with a processor designed to receive video images of the iris of a user of the sensor that attempts to pair it with previously recorded images stored in an iris database, where if a match is found, the user is authenticated. [19659002] In addition, the new biometric camera could also perform functions such as “proximity sensor, night vision camera, 3D time-of-flight sensor, eye position and gaze tracking camera, and structured light for 3D detection” . Interestingly, apart from mobile phones, biometric technology would also be used for televisions, notebooks or desktop computers, according to the patent.

So far, there is no information about the availability of this technology on Samsung phones. You may be able to see it on the Samsung Galaxy S10, which will be released next year. It is also possible that Samsung will not use this 2014 patent at all. Companies use patent presentations to ensure a particular design for their future products. It depends on the companies to keep them or discard them. It should be noted that Oppo Find X and Xiaomi Mi 8 Explorer Edition are the two smartphones, apart from the iPhone X, that come with 3D facial recognition technology.