Man Claims He Can Unlock Smartphone With His Severed Thumb

WARNING: CONTAINS PICTURES AND VIDEO OF A SEVERED THUMB WHICH YOU MAY OR MAY NOT FIND QUITE GROSS

Losing a thumb isn't on anyone's bucket list, I imagine. No doubt it makes writing, conveying approval and twiddling more difficult. But it's not all bad though, as you'll still be able to use your severed thumb to unlock your smartphone, according to a bloke in Belarus.

Yuri Vinogradov lost a thumb in a circular saw-based accident three months ago and has stored the severed digit in his freezer since.

The 53-year-old had hoped it might be sewed back on, but due to his age and the fact he has diabetes, doctors advised against this. Presumably desperate to put the frozen thumb to some use, Yuri decided to see if it could still be used to unlock his phone using the sensor.

With the help of his 31-year-old son Pavel, they conducted an experiment in their home in the village of Berezino.

Their initial attempt to unlock the device with the frozen thumb proved unsuccessful, so they then decided to thaw the thumb in warm water, which seemingly worked.

Video shows the device appearing to unlock as Pavel commentates on proceedings.

He says: "It worked. And it worked again.

"Can you open an app? Facebook? It works and the screen reacts to the thumb.

"Can you scroll the Facebook feed? Yes you can."

This may not seem surprising to you, but tech experts and phone makers have previously claimed it isn't possible to unlock a smartphone with a severed digit.

In 2016, Professor Anil Jain, of Michigan State University, was asked by police to unlock a dead man's phone because it contained potentially useful evidence. According to Futurity, he told investigators using the dead man's actual finger wouldn't work because an electrical circuit was required to unlock the phone.

However, technology writer Mike Wehner says the efficacy of disembodied digits depends on the kind of fingerprint sensor the device uses.

Writing for Engadget, he said: "When a lot of folks think of fingerprint-scanning technology, they often assume there's a single way to do it, but nothing could be further from the truth.

"There are actually more than a half-dozen different technologies - and combinations thereof - that various devices employ to read prints, with varying levels of reliability, and yes, some of them would indeed work with a finger you chopped off of a dear friend."

Yuri's phone is an Elephone S8 and LADbible has contacted the manufacturer for comment.

Featured Image Credit: East2West News

Topics: World News, Technology, Weird

Jake Massey

Jake Massey is a journalist at LADbible. He graduated from Newcastle University, where he learnt a bit about media and a lot about living without heating. After spending a few years in Australia and New Zealand, Jake secured a role at an obscure radio station in Norwich, inadvertently becoming a real-life Alan Partridge in the process. From there, Jake became a reporter at the Eastern Daily Press. Jake enjoys playing football, listening to music and writing about himself in the third person.

@jakesmassey