in 2016 iris scanning was included in
the galaxy note 7 in 2017 the iPhone 10
was the first in the Apple lineup to
include face ID both technologies use
our facial data to unlock our phones and
both companies have told us that their
technologies are safe for our health but
when I activated iris scanning on my
Galaxy Note 8 I was greeted with this
scary disclaimer about its use so what's
going on let's take a closer look to see
if face ID and iris scanning are safe
for our health welcome to doc unlock
where we help you make the best
decisions possible about your health so
how exactly does face ID work well the
answer of course is magic well not
exactly magic within that famous notch
in the iPhone 10 there is the infrared
dot projector and infrared flood
illuminator we can't see infrared with
our eyes but if you look with an
infrared camera you can see that there
are thousands of dots projected onto
your face a built-in infrared camera
captures this image Samsung iris
scanning also uses infrared technology
it uses an IR LED to illuminate your eye
and a built-in IR camera to capture an
image of the iris so when it comes to
safety
the real question becomes is there any
harm associated with projecting infrared
light towards our face and what is
infrared light anyway on the
electromagnetic spectrum infrared light
sits right next to visible light
infrared has slightly lower energy than
visible light infrared is all around us
sunlight feels warm because infrared
radiation is absorbed by our skin and
converted into heat even our own body
heat is emitted as infrared radiation
thermal-imaging cameras help us see
infrared light given off by our bodies
and you already have things in your
house that use infrared like your TV
but can infrared directed at your face
cause harm to answer this question I
have read this riveting 26 page document
called the International Commission on
non ionizing radiation protection
guidelines on limits of exposure to
incoherent visible and infrared
radiation well that was a mouthful
anyway the first thing to say is that
infrared radiation is classified as non
ionizing radiation what this means is
that infrared cannot cause cancer the
main effect of infrared on the body is
that it generates heat there are only
two parts of your body that are exposed
to infrared when face ID or iris
scanning are on and that's your skin and
your eyes when infrared hits the skin it
is converted into heat in extreme
amounts infrared can cause a skin to
burn but as you know from using face ID
that you don't feel any heat on your
skin because the amount of infrared is
very low so damage to the skin isn't
really an issue what about the eyes well
we know that extreme amounts of infrared
can damage the eyes people who work in
manufacturing steel or glass are working
with very hot objects that emit a lot of
infrared normally when we look at
something very bright we tend to squint
to help protect our eyes from damage but
because we can't see infrared our
automatic squinting mechanism can't
really help us here in situations of
extreme infrared exposure people can
develop cataracts and even lose some
vision at the front of the eye there is
a cornea lens and iris the lens and
cornea should be transparent to let
light through to the back of the eye but
high amounts of infrared can heat up the
proteins in the lens causing the lens to
become cloudy this is called a cataract
infrared can also affect the back of the
eye called the retina the retina is
responsible for detecting light and
converting it into brain signals hi
infrared exposure can damage this
detection mechanism and cause vision
loss
but here is the important thing it all
comes down to the amount of exposure in
cases of extreme exposure yes infrared
can cause damage to the skin and the
eyes but the amount of infrared that we
get exposed to in daily life like while
cooking or using our TV remote doesn't
really cause us any harm both Apple and
Samsung have to put their products
through a certification process to make
sure that they only emit very low
amounts of infrared radiation but what
about the long-term effects of exposure
to infrared on this point the ICN IRP
says current knowledge suggests that
there are no effects of chronic exposure
to infrared radiation below the exposure
limits provided I have seen articles on
the internet from people who report
discomfort after using iris scanning or
face ID it is possible that some people
are more sensitive to infrared than
others but it is also possible to get
eyestrain from other sources such as
using your phone on high brightness or
using your phone for too long without a
break if you are worried about the
effects of infrared then the simple
solution is to turn off face ID or iris
scanning and see if you notice a
difference there is a bigger picture to
this issue technology is very quickly
becoming part of our daily lives
things like Bluetooth Wi-Fi face ID iris
scanning are everywhere so as consumers
of these products I think it is
important for us to understand these
technologies and remain alert about
potential health effects fortunately you
don't have to do it alone if you have a
health question bugging you let me know
in the comments and I'll do my best to
answer it thanks for watching and I'll
see you in the next one
you