Worldcoin, the Sam Altman-backed oddball venture vying to use an eye-scanning metal orb to verify human identities, is reportedly trying to cut back on its creep factor. Taking a page out of Appleās playbook, the company is reportedly planning to release a new version of its iris-scanning orb in multiple colors and form factors later this year according to a TechCrunch interview with Alex Blania, a cofounder of the company developing Worldcoin. Those design changes are reportedly intended to make the at times ominous looking orb appear āmuch more friendlyā and temper the deviceās dystopian perception among some of its critics.Ā Ā
What is Worldcoinās Orb?
Worldcoin imagines a not too distant future where the internet is awash with artificial intelligence-powered spam bots posting and posing as humans online. In that world, reliable identity verification becomes essential in order to differentiate humans from machines.Ā
Worldcoin tries to solve that problem with its basketball-sized āOrbā device, which scans a humanās eyeball and creates a numerical code based on unique features of their iris pattern.Ā That code is then used to generate a one-of-a-kind āWorld ID,ā which Worldcoin envisions being used to login into websites and verify human identity throughout the internet. Humans interested in having their eyes scanned can search for orb locations spread in offices and other places across 11 counties.Access management firm Okta has already begun offering a āSign in with Worldcoinā option on its services.Ā
Worldcoin argues this biometrics-based identity verification method is actually more secure and privacy preserving than other alternatives, such as sign in with Google or Facebook, because the WorldID isnāt linked to other personal identifiers. People trading their eye scans for aĀ World ID can do so without ever providing their name, email, address, or other identifiers that are often targets for…
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