Amazon will soon allow you to place orders with just a blink of an eye. You won’t have to authenticate yourself via your username and password every time you make a purchase, instead just blink an eye and it’s done.

via GIPHY

Amazon filed its well-known and controversial patent for one-click ordering in 1997. The one-click ordering process is behind many present-day purchasing methods that allow us to seamlessly trade over the Internet. Even, the songs you buy on iTunes or the apps you purchase from Apple App Store use Amazon’s one-click ordering process. Last year (in 2017), the one-click ordering patent expired, causing some loss of revenue for Amazon, as many companies (including Apple) paid huge royalty fees to Amazon for licensing the one-click ordering patent.  But the new one-blink ordering patent may allow Amazon to repeat the success of one-click ordering patent and revolutionize the shopping experience once more.

PATENTED TECHNOLOGY

Amazon’s one-blink ordering system includes two phases – a configuration phase and an execution phase.

The configuration phase allows a user to register their face with their Amazon account as shown in the figure above. The user uses his smartphone to capture a photo of his face. In response, Amazon’s one-blink ordering system processes the photo and generates a 3D model of the user’ face. The 3D model of the user’s face is then linked with the user’s Amazon account to be used for the authentication during the execution phase. The user goes through the configuration phase just once.

The execution phase involves authenticating the user when the user tries to order an item. Amazon’s one-blink ordering system uses the camera of the smartphone for the authenticating of the user before initiating the transaction. The one-blink ordering system captures the image of the user, compares the image with the 3D model of the user’s face linked with the user’s account.

If the image of the user matches, then the second level of authentication is initiated. In the second level of authentication, the user is asked to perform an action, such as blink the right eye. If the user performs the correct action, the one-blink ordering system authenticates the user as a real human. Once the user is successfully authenticated by the Amazon’s one-blink ordering system, the transaction is processed automatically and the user is notified as shown in the figure above.

ADVANTAGES

Amazon’s one-blink ordering system not only simplifies the ordering process but it provides additional security as no usernames/passwords are required. Further, the system is robust against the security flaw with existing face recognition systems. The existing facial recognition process can often be spoofed by holding a picture of the user in front of the camera, as the resulting two-dimensional image can look substantially the same whether taken of the user or a picture of the user. However, the one-blink ordering system cannot be spoofed using pictures, as the pictures cannot perform actions like blinking an eye.

WHAT IS YOUR TAKE?

So what do you think about Amazon’s one-blink ordering system? Will it be as successful as the one-click ordering system? Let us know in the comment section below.

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