A one-of-a-kind facial recognition system that makes use of not one but two under-display cameras on your smartphone is getting quite close to being figured out by Samsung. It is explained in a patent application that Samsung submitted to the Korea Intellectual Property Rights Information Service (KIPRIS) in March of 2021. The paper in question was made available to the public a week ago, and it was picked up by the media in the Netherlands.

The Samsung patent, which was given the title "Method, Apparatus, and Storage Medium for Authenticating User," explained how the company conceived of installing several under-display cameras beneath the screen of a mobile device. The diagram depicted two UDCs, one located at the top and one located at the bottom, scanning the user's face in order to authenticate them.

The patent outlines how scanning from many angles would offer improved levels of phone security. This is due to the fact that requiring several angles for facial authentication would result in a more dependable process.

Obtaining numerous photos of the user taken from two different angles in order to more accurately generate a 3D model of the face, and then using that model for authentication reasons, is the fundamental concept behind this notion. 

However, Samsung makes a point of mentioning the use of cameras embedded beneath the display, which is noteworthy in and of itself. The South Korean multinational corporation had, up until this point, more or less merely dabbled with the technology on its Galaxy Fold line without making it available to a wider audience.

One hypothesis could be that Samsung is investigating the possibility of using this new dual UDC technology for its foldable. And while that might very well be the case, we feel that the technology has broader ramifications and that the necessity to have the two cameras spaced out as far as possible in order to acquire two separate perspectives of the user is what drives the need to deploy UDC cameras.

Because of this, it may be necessary to position a camera near the bottom of the phone, close to the area where the under-display fingerprint sensors are now located. It's possible that we could combine the two into a single optical module.

"Another things to be discussed"

The patent doesn't really get into a lot of specifics about the invention. Nevertheless, it does show a mockup of a phone that has two Under-Display cameras, one located at the top, and the other located at the bottom. Another thing that is discussed in the patent is measuring the diameter of the pupil. The size of a human's pupil should change based on the amount of light in the environment, according to this theory. 

This might be used as an additional layer of protection against anyone trying to mislead facial authentication systems by utilizing things like photographs or masks.

The idea is intriguing without a doubt; however, it is important to keep in mind that at this point, it is only an idea; there is neither a finished product nor any sign that one is on the way.