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Futuristic gadget could read fingerprint and blood flow

By Mitch Betts
July 15, 2002 12:00 PM ET

Computerworld -

A working model of the Authorizer.
A biometric gadget the size of a car alarm remote control could not only unlock cars and homes but also validate credit card transactions on the fly, according to Cross Match Technologies Inc. in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.
A working model of the Authorizer, as it's called, is still two and a half years away. The company hopes to lower the price to $50 apiece. The device will read the user's fingerprint and send it wirelessly to a third party for authorization. The Authorizer will have another layer of security as well: It will be able to sense the blood flow in a finger.
That's important, because it means the finger must be attached to a living person (not a cadaver). And if the blood is flowing faster than normal - for example, if the user is being held at gunpoint - the device could void the transaction.

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