i3 - November/December 2019 - 56

Business

Scott Steinberg

FO RWA R D ST R AT EG I E S

provided. Similarly, HR leaders are
leveraging biometrics to more accurately
track workers' performance on the job,
while top pharmaceutical providers use
them to allow lab technicians contactless access to workstations (and lowering potential health risks in the process).

magine checking into a hotel just by entering the lobby,
purchasing a PC by nodding your head, or withdrawing
cash from an ATM with a single glance. Courtesy of an
ever-growing host of high-tech devices sporting biometrics
technology which uses your voice, face, fingerprints, and
other physical attributes to verify your identity and enable
Futuristic
more intuitive interactions, this future isn't far off.
applications

Projected to be a nearly $60 billion
industry within five years, according to
Grand View Research, enhanced security and more streamlined shopping
transactions are just the start. With
delivering speedier service and better
customer experiences suddenly top priorities for businesses, futuristic applications for this technology are quickly
growing by leaps and bounds.

Uses for Biometrics

From providing better ways to fight fraud
to delivering smarter customer service,
high-tech hardware and software providers are also using these advancements to
pioneer new ways to make high-tech
interactions more human. Biometricsenabled solutions (e.g. those sporting
voice and retina scanners) provide a
faster and more foolproof means of
accessing electronic devices and physical
locations than PIN numbers and keycards. But they also allow for more intelligent, automated, and rapid exchanges
of all kinds, and vast improvements to
the way in which individuals and organizations communicate.
Currently, millions worldwide use
tools like fingerprint scanners and facial
recognition systems to unlock smartphones and tablets. But within years,
they'll also be able to use everyday
household devices - paired with selflearning artificial routines that recognize unique behavioral and speech
patterns - to instantly identify themselves, and share personal preferences,
56

NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2019

A Future Look

Unsurprisingly, studies
by Spiceworks show
that while 62% of
for this
organizations use biotechnology
metric authentication
are quickly
technology, nearly
nine in ten will employ
growing by
it by the end of 2020.
leaps and
Picture TVs and combounds.
puters that will soon
offer the option to buy
the season's hottest
high-tech toys just by
talking to them. Now imagine home, car
and garage doors that recognize as you
approach and unlock your doors without
a key. Drugstores will dispense medicine
without requiring you to speak with a
pharmacist. Football stadiums will know
Facial recognition
at a glance if you've purchased game
will allow contickets to global security checkpoints
sumers to check
into hotels with
that will let you pass just by speaking
just a glance.
your name instead of producing a passport, the sky's the limit. Not to mention
everywhere they go. This means it won't the hundreds of banks, universities and
mortgage lenders using biometrics tools
be long before you can grab items off
to verify students' and clients' identities.
the shelf at your favorite store and walk
Due to the increasing premium that
right out; and access customer support
shoppers are placing on ease of use and
helplines that can predict why you are
convenience, the future clearly lies in
calling the second you dial in.
more natural and lifelike high-tech
Noting this, industry leaders are
interaction. And the more that tomorusing biometrics tools to create comrow's leaders make a point to leverage
petitive advantage by quickly recognizbiometrics technology as a readymade
ing individual shoppers and crafting
means to minimize learning curves and
customized offers or solutions to them.
overall friction associated with their
For instance, myriad airports worldsolutions, the more successful they
wide now use biometrics tools to expewill be. ■
dite security checks. Health care and
hospital providers are also using these
solutions to track patients' progress to
Scott Steinberg is an author and speaker.
ensure that optimal treatment is
Visit AKeynoteSpeaker.com.
I T I S I N N O VAT I O N

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Making All Things HighTech More Human

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i3 - November/December 2019

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