Nod and pay a virtual reality with Alibaba
Alibaba has revealed a new payment service that lets virtual reality (VR) shoppers pay just by nodding their heads.
Called VR Pay, it’s been developed by Ant Financial’s (Alibaba’s financial arm) incubator F Lab, and it’s another innovation in the lively and overcrowded payments arena.
With the tech, shoppers (bovine at the best of times) can use VR goggles to browse VR shopping malls. Never leave your home again! Just nod or look instead.
The usual checks are in place. It would be a surprise if they weren’t. User identity can be verified by account logins on connected devices or by voice print technology that recognises each individual’s unique voice.
Passwords are not history yet as they will be needed for authentication, which the user can also enter with head movements, touch, or by staring at a point on a virtual display for more than 1.5 seconds.
The new system is expected to be ready for commercial launch by the end of this year.
Ant Financial operates China’s largest online payments service Alipay with more than 450 million daily users.
