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> We selected palm recognition for a few important reasons. One reason was that palm recognition is considered more private than some biometric alternatives bec

> We selected palm recognition for a few important reasons. One reason was that palm recognition is considered more private than some biometric alternatives because you can’t determine a person’s identity by looking at an image of their palm. > When you hold your palm over the Amazon One device, the technology evaluates multiple aspects of your palm. No two palms are alike, so we analyze all these aspects with our vision technology and select the most distinct identifiers on your palm to create your palm signature. Can someone ELI5 this to me? Is there some biological thing I am missing here or is it just as simple as, unlike fingerprints which are commonplace, other organisations tend not to have images of your palms?

jclulow 6y ago
One imagines once Amazon starts cataloguing palms, quite a few government and law enforcement agencies will suddenly tend to have quite a lot of images of palms! I expect they were trying to contrast with face recognition, though.
- alfonsodev 6y ago
  > I expect they were trying to contrast with face recognition, though. That's how I understand it too, I think this is just UX, by the time you check out they know who you are and what did you pick up, so I think the palm is just a gesture to confirm, maybe confirming by walking away the store with item or with a face was a weird user experience, and they are trying confirmation "by hand". Or I'm curious what happen to the, "you just walk away with your items" experience?
  - deleted 6y ago
    [deleted]
  - riknos314 6y ago
    The experience would be pretty much the same I'm guessing. Current Amazon go experience: Open amznGo app -> hold qr code over reader to gain entry to store -> grab stuff -> walk out Amazon go experience with one: hold palm over reader to gain entry to store -> grab stuff -> walk out
underyx 6y ago
Sounds like palm prints are even easier to harvest from public figures than fingerprints. Take a photo at a speech, you can likely make a silicone mold replicating their palm, and you get to shop for groceries with their card.
- TiltMeSenpai 6y ago
  On the flip side, palm recognition allows you to use infrared-based vein biometrics, which requires special lighting conditions. I don't think this is currently feasible for fingerprints.
gjhr 6y ago
At a guess they are probably saying that a human when looking at a picture of a palm would not be able to tell you who it is, unlike a picture of someone that includes their face or body. Seems a bit of a pointless distinction as the Amazon Go stores heavily rely on cameras to track people when in store.
solatic 6y ago
They're being intentionally vague. Their argument is that they're only mapping from palm to credit card number and mobile phone number, which isn't the same thing as mapping from palm to real identity name (unless you also link to your Amazon account). Which belies the fact that it's much easier to map from a credit card number or mobile phone number to a real identity name.

jclulow 6y ago

One imagines once Amazon starts cataloguing palms, quite a few government and law enforcement agencies will suddenly tend to have quite a lot of images of palms! I expect they were trying to contrast with face recognition, though.

alfonsodev 6y ago
> I expect they were trying to contrast with face recognition, though. That's how I understand it too, I think this is just UX, by the time you check out they know who you are and what did you pick up, so I think the palm is just a gesture to confirm, maybe confirming by walking away the store with item or with a face was a weird user experience, and they are trying confirmation "by hand". Or I'm curious what happen to the, "you just walk away with your items" experience?
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]
- riknos314 6y ago
  The experience would be pretty much the same I'm guessing. Current Amazon go experience: Open amznGo app -> hold qr code over reader to gain entry to store -> grab stuff -> walk out Amazon go experience with one: hold palm over reader to gain entry to store -> grab stuff -> walk out

underyx 6y ago

Sounds like palm prints are even easier to harvest from public figures than fingerprints. Take a photo at a speech, you can likely make a silicone mold replicating their palm, and you get to shop for groceries with their card.

TiltMeSenpai 6y ago
On the flip side, palm recognition allows you to use infrared-based vein biometrics, which requires special lighting conditions. I don't think this is currently feasible for fingerprints.

gjhr 6y ago

At a guess they are probably saying that a human when looking at a picture of a palm would not be able to tell you who it is, unlike a picture of someone that includes their face or body. Seems a bit of a pointless distinction as the Amazon Go stores heavily rely on cameras to track people when in store.

solatic 6y ago

They're being intentionally vague. Their argument is that they're only mapping from palm to credit card number and mobile phone number, which isn't the same thing as mapping from palm to real identity name (unless you also link to your Amazon account). Which belies the fact that it's much easier to map from a credit card number or mobile phone number to a real identity name.