h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Google has filed a patent for a new security device on Android phones. To unlock the device you have to pull a silly face:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-22790221

The implications are enormous.

For a start, I'll only have to glance at my phone for it to flash up with "Phone unlocked!"

And will we start to see a subclass of ugly-faced phone thieves developing?

Where is this heading?

I have a face recognition security lock on my phone. Sometimes it says "can't find a face". Am I that ugly?

<BB<

Looks like we're all too scared to answer that one.

Mind you, what did you expect in this place? Hundreds of people to jump to your defence?

I think you just unlocked the Bank of England with that one, Lil.

As a victim of prosopagnosia, I find this development revolting.

I had another thought, though. This is going to be like the password business.

Amazingly, lots of people pick 'password' as their password. Or other obvious things.

Now, think about it: what gestures/facial expressions will they usually use?

Are fingers going to be involved?

I have a friend who invariably forgot their password; and kept getting the message 'your password is incorrect' so decided to use 'incorrect' as the password.

Nice one!

Dmitri, there is help for your prosopagnosia. Soon you will simply have to point your phone camera at the stranger looming towards you and ask 'who's this?'

At present, you have to ask the owner of the face, which, I agree, may be embarrassing.

We are getting closer and closer to the world fo Minority Report.

I never saw the movie, but this Guardian journalist did, and he agrees with you:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2010/jun/16/minority-report-technology-comes-true

I was looking at the spec on an Android phone the other day, and I'm sure it said it was able to 'look' at it, and it'd unlock itself I'm still trying to get to grips with my new toothbrush, though, which seems to 'know' better than I do, when I've brushed my teeth enough.... I try to trick it where I can, as I'm not utterly convinced by the notion of my toothbrush knowing better than I do... I can't face facing my phone, until I've rectified my toothbrush technology problem first...