Have you ever thought about how you might unlock your Google Glass, should you ever own one? After all, it’s supposed to be like smartphone for your eye, and you lock and unlock your phone.

We may have the answer in a patent granted to Google today. That answer, if it is indeed the route Google is taking, is eye tracking. The patent is “Unlocking a screen using eye tracking information.” The abstract says:

Methods and systems for unlocking a screen using eye tracking information are described. A computing system may include a display screen. The computing system may be in a locked mode of operation after a period of inactivity by a user. Locked mode of operation may include a locked screen and reduced functionality of the computing system. The user may attempt to unlock the screen. The computing system may generate a display of a moving object on the display screen of the computing system. An eye tracking system may be coupled to the computing system. The eye tracking system may track eye movement of the user. The computing system may determine that a path associated with the eye movement of the user substantially matches a path associated with the moving object on the display and switch to be in an unlocked mode of operation including unlocking the screen.

The following diagram from the patent explains an example process of how this could work:

If you want to read a lot of patent jargon, you can do so here.

[via Hot Hardware]