Could your heartbeat be your password? [Video]

With all the concern (and liability) hospitals and their partners face to keep patient medical data secure and private, one new biometric security innovation could offer an interesting alternative to the typical password. This wristband grants users access to their devices by identifying the wearer by their heartbeat.

A Popular Science article said Toronto-based startup Bionym wants to manufacture its Nymi wristband and sell it for nearly $80 when it is scheduled to hit the market next year. According to CEO Karl Martin, it will be able to unlock PCs, Macs, iPhones and Android phones and tablets. But he also sees its relevance wherever passwords and PINs are required.

Here’s the article’s description of how it works:

When wearers put the Nymi on, sensors in the wristband will take the person’s ECG. Although all healthy hearts make roughly the same spiky shapes in an ECG sensor, there are enough differences in the graph to tell different people apart, several …