It seems that lately I’ve been more and more intrigued with what I’ve been calling the “battle for the wrist.” The battle got real earlier this week with Qualcomm and Samsung both announcing their Smartwatch technologies. I’m sure this is just the start of the smartwatch movement.
Today on EMR and HIPAA, I wrote about what I called a Biometrically Controlled Healthcare System. It’s a forward thinking post that considers how our biometric identity could be integrated into our healthcare experience. I’m sure this idea will scare many people, but I find it incredibly exciting.
In response to that post, I got a tweet from suggesting that heart rhythm could be the basis of someone’s biometric identity. Then, she linked me to another wrist based product by Nymi. While not a healthcare specific device, it does make for an interesting extension to the discussions around the battle for the wrist and biometrics. Here’s a video which demos the Nymi heart rhythm product:
I’m not sure I’d buy the story that this is a very good stand alone device. It seems like putting this on is just about as difficult as carrying a key. Although, the built in accelerometer and gyroscope do offer some interesting gesture options. I just don’t see this as a standalone device. Instead, I think one of the smartwatch vendors is likely to snatch up this technology (or recreate it themselves) and integrate it into a much more powerful device.
The idea of a biometric smartwatch that acts as your passwordless key is really interesting. Reminds me of a local Vegas Tech company called LaunchKey which is trying to Kill Passwords opting instead for authentication via your smartphone or tablet.
All of this helps me realize that we’re just at the beginning of smartwatches and biometrics.
