article: You could soon unlock your phone simply by holding it up to the side of your face. Researchers have created a sensor that can recognise the unique shape of your ear, your palm or any other body part you want to use to access your device. Called Bodyprint, the technology turns a standard touchscreen into a biometric scanner removing the need to specialist hardware such as fingerprint readers or infrared cameras. Scroll down for video . Researchers at Yahoo Labs in California have created a sensor that can recognise the shape of your ear or any other body part you want to access your device (shown) Bodyprint was devised by Christian Holz, Senaka Buthpitiya, and Marius Knaust from the California-based Yahoo Labs. Details of its algorithm are included in their paper, Bodyprint: Biometric User Identification on Mobile Devices Using the Capacitive Touchscreen to Scan Body Parts. The Salt card is designed to end the tiresome task of manually unlocking a smartphone or tablet by automatically making it come to life whenever the user is nearby. The credit card-sized gadget also locks devices again as soon as a user moves out of range at a distance of ten feet (three metres). Salt connects to an app on a user’s Android handset or iPhone via Bluetooth and also tells them if they have strayed too far from their wallet, where the firm suggests the Salt card is stored. The card was created by Illinois-based duo Joel Paglione and Niko Zistakis.. They claim it will save people around 53 hours over a year, based on the belief that the average phone user unlocks their phone 150 times a day. 'Recent mobile phones integrate fingerprint scanners to authenticate users biometrically and replace passwords, making authentication more convenient for users,' explained the researchers. 'However, due to their cost, capacitive fingerprint scanners have been limited to top-of-the-line phones, a result of the required resolution and quality of the sensor.' They continued that while the input resolution of a touchscreen is around six dots per inch (dpi) - meaning it can't capture the level of detail in a fingerprint - the surface area is larger than a more advanced reader. This allows the touch sensor 'to scan users’ body parts, such as ears, fingers, fists, and palms by pressing them against the display.' To accept an incoming call, users would only need to press their ear against the phone. During tests with 12 participants, Bodyprint classified body parts with 99.98 per cent accuracy and identified users with 99.52 per cent accuracy. This accuracy was highest when scanning the ear due to its more unique shape and size. It’s not just ears that could be used for identification – your first, phalanges (in your fingers), palm or just your fingertips could also be used (shown). This means that just gripping the phone could unlock it for you . A video demonstrating the technology revealed Bioprint can also be used to add multiple users to a single device. So, for example, if something required dual identification then both people could provide it. It’s not just ears that could be used for identification - your fist, phalanges (in your fingers), palm or your fingertips could also be used. This means that just gripping the phone could unlock it for you. There's no news yet on when the feature might be made available to manufacturers, but the team says their next step is to continue testing. To accept an incoming call, users would only need to press their ear against the phone (example shown). During tests with 12 participants, Bodyprint classified body parts with 99.98 per cent accuracy and identified users with 99.52 per cent accuracy .
highlights: Yahoo Labs in California reveals new method to unlock your phone .
  Simply by holding it to your head, their technology can recognise your ear .
  It can also use other body parts like a fist or a palm to access your device .
  It removes the need for specialist hardware like fingerprint readers .
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