LG Innotek Is Working on Science Fiction-Like Fingerprint Sensors Underneath Screens

LG has announced that it has designed an under-screen fingerprint sensor. As fingerprint readers have blossomed into near-ubiquity, their presence has challenged industrial designers by forcing them to confront where to put them; Apple, for example, has built its highly-successful reader into the iPhone’s home button. LG’s design on the other hand slots the sensor into a tiny space cut out of the smartphone’s screen, resulting in a completely integrated and (presumably) invisible piece of tech. This allows designers to work around the fingerprint sensor as a design element, resulting in sleeker, water- and scratch-proof final products.

The Korean tech giant promises that it will be commercializing and integrating the sensors into handsets within a year.