And by main vein I mean the veins in your fingers. Like Fujitsu’s vein-scanning mouse, this biometric security system released by Hitachi at the Tokyo Motor Show will keep your car from starting up until you whip it out — ideally your ring finger — and slap it against the steering wheel.

Different functions can also be assigned to each finger meaning it can double as a switch – one finger could control the set-up (seat, side mirror position, air-conditioning etc.) for the recognized while the other could be used for control of navigation or audio systems – all the while leaving the driver’s eyes on the road and their hands in a fixed position on the wheel.

Wow. It’s amazing how much your vein can do when you push it, push it, push the envelope real good.

Hitachi’s biometric steering wheel technology [Gizmag]