A team of South Korean researchers has developed a means of making artificial micro fingerprints that they claim are impossible to duplicate, according to a BusinessKorea article by Jung Suk-yee. It’s the product of a joint research team between individuals from Seoul National University and Kyunghee University.
The idea is essentially to have these micro fingerprints replace barcodes and other duplicable identifiers on various products and devices. The artificial fingerprints have patterns as small as “tenths or hundredths of a millimeter”, the article says, and are created using a silica-coated substance called Polyethylene (glycol) Diacrylate (PEGDA), which contracts as it dries, creating the shrivelled-raisin patterns that resemble human fingerprints. The researchers have also found a way to control the wrinkles via polymer particles, which means the security of the fingerprints can be improved by manipulating the number of minutia per print.
Remarkably, the researchers claim that these artificial fingerprints can be read by standard fingerprint scanners and even smartphones. That could mean that in addition to scanning fingerprints to identify criminals, police could soon be able to scan these artificial fingerprints to identify missing or stolen goods.
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March 25, 2015 – by Alex Perala
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