Amazon is testing out a system — code-named “Orville” — that allows customers to scan their hands to pay for their purchases, the New York Post reports.
![Tech companies are betting that skin is the next frontier in the checkout aisle](https://20627419.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hub/20627419/hubfs/The%20Hustle/Assets/Images/586398952-Spunky-Brief_2019-09-05T062542.358Z-1.webp?width=595&height=400&name=586398952-Spunky-Brief_2019-09-05T062542.358Z-1.webp)
Orville, which Amazon hopes to roll out at Whole Foods in the next several months, is a way for e-Goliath to speed up checkout at its stores.
So, how does it work?
The system scans hands using computer vision and depth geometry to make a distinct profile of each customer’s hand — like a fingerprint, but touch-free.
Then ol’ Orville charges the credit card on file that’s associated with that hand’s Prime membership-holding owner. Amazon employees are testing the system in the company’s New York offices by hand-buying snacks from vending machines.
Right now, Orville is accurate at identifying hands to within 1/10,000 of 1% (Amazon plans to improve accuracy to within 1/1,000,000 of 1% before public launch).
But if you think Big Bad Bezos is the only one testing out skin-tech, then may you be haunted by the ghost of Steve Jobs…
Cuz you better believe Apple’s also got skin in the game
This week, Apple patented a Watch band that IDs people using their wrist skin.
Apple likely doesn’t have definite plans for its skin-ID strap yet. But, like Amazon, Apple wants to make authentication frictionless — smooth, like a baby’s bottom — so it can process payments that much faster.
Credit card transactions typically take 3 to 4 seconds. Amazon’s new Orville system, on the other hand, can process a payment in 300 milliseconds — 10x faster.