Amazon reportedly working on hand recognition payment system

According to the New York Post, Amazon is developing a payment system that involves the scanning and recognition of human hands. According to the report, the company intends to implement the system at its Whole Foods supermarket chain in the USA in coming months. The technology is using computer vision and depth geometry to scan and recognise a hand’s shape, size, and other features to identify the customer and allow charging his/her credit card. Unlike fingerprints scanners, the technology does not require customers to actually touch a scanning surface, thus is more similar to facial recognition technology (FRT). The hand recognition payment system aims to speed up payment and check-out processes in stores. It is also said that Amazon is developing the hand recognition technology as an alternative to FRT, as its Rekognition system has been under the spotlight over privacy and bias concerns.