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"Apple has filed a patent application in the US for a security system that would involve users unlocking their device using a photo.  Currently, Apple operates a &amp;quot;slide-to-unlock&amp;quot; bar on iPhones and iPads to unlock the device, and then users can set up a PIN code password for additional security.   But Wired reports an Apple patent application, numbered 20130036461 and filed in August 2011, that covers an image-based authentication system.  The patent details a system that would require users to identify one or more persons or objects in images taken from the iDevice.  According to the patent, the user of the device would set up the images to be presented through iPhoto or cloud storage solution iCloud.  The patent filing abstract says: &amp;quot;Techniques for authenticating a user of a computing device (e.g., handheld, desktop, laptop) are provided. In order to grant access to any of the services provided by the computing device, the computing device displays, to the user, one or more images that are stored on the computing device.  &amp;quot;The user is required to accurately identify one or more objects depicted in the one or more images in order to gain access to the computing device. The computing device is not required to be connected to any network at the time of authentication. Authentication data that is associated with object(s) in each displayed image may have been established previously by another computing device and then provided to the computing device.&amp;quot; Apple has explored various different alternative methods for unlocking iPhones and iPads, including patents and patent applications for facial recognition and and finger-print sensors, along with the purchase of biometric security firm Authentec in 2011.  By contrast, the photo unlock method detailed above is rather basic. But Apple&amp;#039;s proposed system would use less power than facial recognition or a finger print scanners, and would not necessitate a data connection, as with some systems.  Microsoft included a system in the Windows 8 operating system that involved users tracing a pattern of touch gestures on a photo, such as tapping on a person&amp;#039;s face and then circling another.  But as with all patent applications, Apple&amp;#039;s filing could just be for speculative technology that it will never actually release.  "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.digitalspy.com/tech/apple/news/a457430/apple-seeks-patent-on-iphone-ipad-photo-unlock-system/>