A survey on biometric recognition using wearable devices

•A survey covering all biometric traits recordable using wearable devices is presented.•Recent works, with half of referenced papers from the past 2 years, are reported.•Studies using consumer-grade, not medical, wearable devices, are mainly considered.•A critical analysis of current literature, focused on technology readiness, is given.•Aspects to be evaluated to unveil the potential of wearable biometrics are suggested. Thanks to their ability to monitor physical activity and health-related parameters, wearable devices are becoming more and more popular. In addition to what they already offer, an interesting capability achievable through such devices is biometric recognition. The physiological traits recorded by wearable devices may in fact possess distinctive properties which could allow to recognize their legitimate users, and detect unauthorized usage. In this paper, the most recent advances accomplished in this field are reviewed, and a critical analysis on the current state of the art, as well as on the issues still open, is provided.