Wristband that Acts as an EKG – Your Heartbeat is the Password

Being introduced by a Bionym Inc. called Nymi, based in Toronto, is a wristband that measures the electrical activity transmitted by the wearer’s heart and subsequently identifies the wearer.  So what goes into the measurement?  I’m not someone who knows many details pertaining to the medical field; in fact, I didn’t even think that people’s heartbeats were so unique that every individual has a distinct pattern they could be identified by.  However, you certainly can be identified this way.  Things that an EKG measures is heart rate, heart stress, heart position, size, and electrical signals.  All of things factored in cause a unique wave transmitted by the heart. 

The way the Nymi wristband works is that it take the initial reading of the owners EKG and makes that reading the persistent data on the device, and every time the owner wears the band it records the heart wave.  Now, this wristband will not be transmitting any information to the user – it is for identification purposes only. 

The point of having this wristband and the goal Nymi is hoping to achieve is to make this wristband a key of sorts to use on their devices, garage, security systems, etc.  There is a broad spectrum of possibilities.  This can be accomplished through Bluetooth signals. 

The idea is pretty interesting, and sounds like a much more secure way of keeping your belongings and privacy safe, rather than using a password that can be hacked.  This is much like using a fingerprint as a password – because much like your heartbeat, a fingerprint can’t be faked very.  It is you, or it’s not. 

This new technology is said to hit stores by June 2014!  Already, 6,000+ individuals have applied for the Nymi Software Development Kit;  sounds like this wristband is going to be a big hit.  

 

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