We use our smartphones to take photos, do our banking, play our favorite tunes, send emails and texts―and—occasionally make an actual phone call. Now, there’s another use—validating whether merchandise is real or counterfeit.
Two researchers from the University of Copenhagen’s Nano-Science Center have developed a labelling system they consider to be fully pirate-proof. The system assigns each individual item a label, a so-called ‘tag’ that corresponds with a unique fingerprint. After nearly 10,000 tests, the researchers have proved that their method works.
“You can put it on a wine bottle, a gold watch, a painting—whatever. The label needn’t be larger than a comma. And, it is impossible to copy because the probability that two items share the same fingerprint is nil,” says UCPH researcher and associate professor Thomas Just Sorensen. Sorensen developed the anti-counterfeiting system with fellow researcher Riikka Arppe-Tabbara.
The fingerprint, or ‘tag’, comprises a bit transparent ink containing various microparticles, sprayed upon a bar code on paper for example. When applied, the particles form a random, completely unique pattern of tiny white dots. As there is no chance of creating identical patterns using this method, it is impossible to copy.
Because the ink can be sprayed over any type of bar code and onto many types of materials, the tags are inexpensive to mass-produce. The system works in such a way that each product leaving a factory receives its own fingerprint, which is then registered in a database.
The system’s intelligence comes in handy when purchasing merchandise. Consumers can validate their product using an ordinary smartphone that, through an app, scans an item’s fingerprint and checks for a matching database image.
During their 9720 tests, which included various types of mobile phones handled by various users, the researchers encountered zero false positives. The researchers also tested the system together with companies that produce packaging and labels, for everything from pain relievers and bottles of wine, to sneakers and tins of biscuits.
The University of Copenhagen has taken out a patent on the system, which is now only missing the software component. The researchers expect the app to be completed within a year. The result has been published in the journal ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces.