New smartphone uses iris scanning technology to allow unlocking with a glance

A high-tech new smartphone that could be unlocked by users with their eyes alone is set to go on sale in Japan this month.

The new phone comes with recognition technology that allows users to activate the device with only a glance.

The iris scanning technology built into the phone would allow users to unlock passwords with their eyes, sign into apps and authorise payments while shopping.

Fujitsu, the electronics giant which created the device claims to be the first in the world to use ''biometric authentication using iris recognition'' technology, according to NTT Docomo, the mobile phone provider, which would sell the device from the end of this month.

The new eye-scanning security technology allows users to first look at circles on the screen of the phone, before their unique iris pattern was saved and stored, much like fingerprint biometrics.

According to Fujitsu, the iris recognition technology in the phone improves each time it is used.

Key to the new Arrows NX F-04G device was the presence of a miniature front-facing infrared camera and additionally, an infrared LED light which illuminated the eyes of the user in order to identify them via their iris pattern.

According to Mashable, with the technology users could shop "just by looking directly into the front-facing camera."

"Like a fingerprint, everyone's irises are unique, making the very secure for a mobile-payments system," it said.

This was much more secure than the face unlock feature on earlier Samsung Galaxy devices, Mashable added.

It added while the Arrows phone would likely not hit markets outside Japan, the technology could be adopted by other manufacturers if it clicked with the users.

The phone uses Google's Android 5.0 (Lollipop), and has a 5.2-inch QHD screen, 3GB RAM and 32GB built-in storage'