Imagine one day strapping on a wristband in the morning and then opening your smartphone and laptop without passwords, getting into your car without a key and even boarding a plane without your ID or a boarding pass.
That's the future imagined by Andrew D'Souza, president of Bionym Inc., a Toronto-based company working on what he says will be the world's first wearable authentication device.
D'Souza talked about the Nymi, which verifies a person's identity using their unique heart beat, at MIT Technology Review's EmTech conference in Cambridge this week.
"This is pretty unique," D'Souza said in an interview. "Every time your muscles expand and contract there are electrical pulses produced and this allows us to identify a person based on the electrical signals based in the heart.... We're trying to solve the identity problem."
Bionym, a startup that just closed a $14 million Series A round of funding this week, is on track to release the Nymi, which has been in a small beta test, later this fall. According to D'Souza, the company has already presold about 10,000 of them.
If done right, the Nymi could be part of the answer to dealing with the problem of passwords. Too many people still don't use strong passwords, use the same password for every application or service or simply don't use passwords at all.
A wearable authentication device, which communicates with devices and apps via Bluetooth, could get around that issue, said Jeff Kagan, an independent analyst. "Passwords, which we still use today, are yesterday's answer to security," said Kagan. "We need new technology going forward. This sounds like an interesting company trying to solve a growing problem that we're all experiencing."
The Nymi, though, could go beyond getting you into your smartphone or your Facebook account.
According to D'Souza, it also could be used instead of keys. With smart locks, it could work on the front door of your house or the door of your car. It could replace your ID and grant access to company's offices or serve as your ID and boarding pass at the airport.
The wearable also could work with a smart home, alerting devices like a thermostat, music player or coffee maker that you've arrived and they need to change the temperature, play your favorite band or make a cup of joe.
"Our goal is to say if identity could be easy, what types of experiences could we enable?" asked D'Souza. "Make identity easy to make trust easy. Right now, it's hard to establish trust and identity. You won't have to prove who you are anymore."
He noted that the company has been in talks with MasterCard and its partner banks, a few airlines, hotel chains, auto makers and even government agencies.
The device works by checking for the electrical signals from your heart the second you put it on. The electrical signals based in the heart -- different from your heart rate - are unique for each person, like a fingerprint.
"It can tell that it's you wearing the device and then it goes into an authentication state," D'Souza explained. "It becomes secure. It confirms it's on your wrist and it's you wearing the device so it authenticates your security."
If the clasp on the wristband opens or if the wristband is cut, the authentication ends, adding a layer of security to the device.
As for privacy, D'Souza said the user decides what apps and devices the Nymi can connect with. If you don't want the airline or your car to know you're there, they won't.
"This is the future of authentication, taking body signals or markers that only one person has," said Patrick Moorhead, an analyst with Moor Insights & Strategy. "Fingerprint, retinal and vein identifications are here, but require clunky machines to make them work. Wristbands are much more convenient."
The convenience of being able to move about your day without remembering passwords or carrying keys, a credit card or ID might interest a lot of people. "Consumers would flock to a device on their wrists that would securely let them in doors, breeze through airport security and get into your PCs," said Moorhead.
Though he noted concerns about what happens if someone hacks into the device, he still thinks it could limit human mistakes and provide more security than a password -- especially poorly done passwords.
Kagan expects many authentication devices to hit the market in the next several years.
"I don't think any single idea is going to satisfy the entire marketplace," he said. "I think over the next decade we will be playing around with many different solutions. What we will eventually decide on for everyone is still a big question. We will have to wait and see. However, there is a big and growing market, so if it's a good idea, and it works well, and it's priced well, it stands a good chance of succeeding as one slice of the pie."