14 DAY TRIAL // Microsoft has recently been granted a patent for a fingerprint scanner that looks and works a lot like the one installed on Google’s Pixel phone and which supports gestures.
Simply called “Biometric Gestures,” the new patent discovered by PatentlyApple describes a fingerprint scanner integrated into the screen that would allow users to perform three different gestures for a series of pre-defined tasks.
Fingerprint sensor integrated into the screen?
Tap, tap and hold, and tap and swipe are the supported gestures that can be performed right on the screen, which is mostly likely an indication that Microsoft also has the necessary technology to integrate the fingerprint scanner right into the display - a thing that both Apple and Samsung are said to be working on for their next-generation phones.
“A computing device includes a biometric sensor, such as a fingerprint touch sensor, that is configured to detect gesture input. When gesture input is received from a user, the biometric sensor detects biometric characteristics (e.g., a fingerprint) of the user and determines a gesture (e.g., a tap, touch and hold, or swipe) based on the gesture input,” Microsoft explains in the abstract section of the patent.
“The user is authenticated if the biometric characteristics correspond to an authorized user of the device. If the user is authenticated, the device transitions to an authenticated user state that is associated with the type of gesture, such as by displaying personal information on a lockscreen of the computing device or opening a quick action center.”
Although the patent does exist, it’s not clear if Microsoft wants to bring it on its devices. Redmond is expected to launch its eagerly-anticipated Surface Phone next year and such a feature would really make sense, despite the similarities to Google’s own fingerprint reader.
For the moment, however, these are all just patents showing that Microsoft has a lot of potential in the mobile market with technologies that would easily push its devices closer to those of rivals. The only thing that’s left is to actually bring these to production.