Recently, Amazon has filed an application to the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office to patent Pay By Selfie System. If the ecommerce giant manages to follow through on its patent application, then soon its customers will be able to do shopping via action-oriented selfies.

According to the patent application filed by Amazon, the company has developed an image-based authentication system for shopping. The system utilizes facial recognition technology and sensors to sense an action, like the blinking of an eye to verify a user’s identity before finalizing the transaction.

The final step is included so that the hackers can’t fool the system with a still photo or even a video of the registered shopper. The system could ask you to perform any gesture or movement.

Benefits of Amazon’s Pay By Selfie System

Shopping using selfie might sound ridiculous to some people. But it might be a good idea as it can solve many problems faced by shoppers today. For instance, passwords used by shoppers online can be stolen, guessed, or even simply watched over their shoulders.

If you turn away to enter your password while sitting with friends, it can be a source of social friction. Your friends might find it rude. At times, you can simply forget your password you used to set up the account. It can prove costly for retailers as you can abandon the cart altogether to avoid the password retrieval process.

This simple, gesture based authentication system will end all this annoyance for the shoppers. This system will end the frustration level of shoppers who avoid to type password repeatedly or who don’t want to save passwords on their system due to security reasons.

Disadvantages of using this authentication system

You can face a few issues while using this Pay-By-Selfie system. For instance, if you’re trying to do shopping in the middle of a boring class, meeting or presentation, holding up your phone and winking might not be possible for you.

Performing all these gestures will also not be possible by someone who recently suffered from a stroke. There are a number of other conditions and situations, which can make it difficult to do these gestures.

Concluding Words

Amazon’s pay by selfie system is aimed at making shopping easier for people. It could be a breakthrough technology if the company successfully implements the system. Shopping can be made more fun and easier by this image-based authentication system.

What are your views regarding this new system by Amazon? You can share your views with us in the comments below.