From pressing menu and star key in our old phones to passwords and then pattern locks, and then to biometric authentications, we are the generation that has seen how in matter of a decade, our smartphone became intelligent and creative in confirming that you are the one you claim to be.
Now, we are about to see another unlocking feature in our smartphones. And this time, its way more creative or awkward or whatever you feel about this method once you know it completely.
I recently studied a patent application filed by Samsung that discloses a way to unlock our smartphones by providing us a taste sensation. Yes! The Seoul based tech giant wants to give a smartphone user a sensation of sour, salty, bitter or sweet taste to confirm that he is the real owner of the smartphone.
The patent application also discloses a pen that has a taste sensation provider at its one end. The sensation provider has a silver electrode in it. When you put it into your mouth, it sends current signals that give you sensation of four different kind of taste viz. sour, salty, bitter or sweet.
How will Samsung new method unlock your smartphone
Like you set a pattern in a maze lock, here you have to make a pattern of taste. Let’s say you set a taste pattern of salty, sweet, bitter and sour.
Now you want to unlock your smartphone. You have your pen in your mouth. It will change the intensity of current to give you sensation of different tastes in a random order. And you have to press your smartphone screen for a taste in an order set by you earlier.
There are products already like Brainport that gives you exact taste of your virtual food. Not only this, a team of researchers at the National University of Singapore has developed an electric lollipop, too.
This, really, is going to be fun. We have seen selfie phenomenon going wild. Every other person was taking selfie at every other place. Now, image a train full of people a pen in their mouth trying to unlock their smartphone.
Imagine the weird faces they will be making for bitter and sour taste! I don’t know but I’ll feel a tickle when this pen will give me a sour sensation.
Besides this method, an amazing fact is that Samsung filed too many patents for unlocking a smartphone, after its patent dispute with Apple for swipe-to-unlock.