I read something in a newspaper yesterday: a new sports complex is being built near where I live and will be opened in the year 2010. The year 2010?!! "That's the future!" I thought to myself. Well, yes, obviously it's the future, but it sounds so futuristic. Growing up, I thought I would be zooming around with a jetpack by then. So, with the future looming, we need some futuristic technology to go with it. Enter Fujitsu's Palm Vein technology. Park your hoverbuggy in the local skyport, teleport into the mall and add items to your hypercart. To pay for your shopping, simply place your hand above the scanner. Above the scanner? Yes, grandad, this isn't your old-fashioned fingerprint recognition. Fujitsu has realised that germaphobia is at an all time high, so has therefore created a contactless palm vein scanner. Here's the process: You go into your bank where they take a scan of one of your hands. The scan reads your unique vein pattern (essentially a map of the veins in your hand), and stores it on your ATM card. Then when you go to use your card to make a purchase or take cash out, all you have to do is place your hand above the scanner. The ATM then compares its scan with the scan stored on your card. If they match then authorisation is complete. Some banks in Japan have already been equipped with this technology, and Fujitsu isn't limiting it there. Akira Kuroki, general manager of Fujitsu’s Ubiquitous Systems Group said "You could also use it to get into your house, and to access your PC or terminal". That's handy.

Read the press release here.