SECURITY IN ACTION
The IHMA’s Dr Paul Dunn says the use of smartphone technology takes holograms to levels of brand protection and anti-counterfeiting.
Smartphone technology calls in holograms Dr Paul Dunn, chair of the International Hologram Manufacturers Association, considers new possibilities for brand protection and anti-counterfeiting created by hologram validation using smartphone technology.
H
olography has helped to bring smartphone digital interaction in the brand protection and authentication space closer as the security technology discovers new outlets and innovative applications. In turn, this is driving continued expansion as increasing numbers of organisations accept the advantages that holograms offer and invest in digital-based interactive solutions for their products to protect against global brand piracy and counterfeiters. In particular, we are seeing myriad opportunities appearing for brand
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SECURITY FOCUS AFRICA MAY 2022
protection and anti-counterfeiting through hologram validation using computer vision on smartphones; the use of smartphones with integrated cameras has been transformative and image and video content captured on these devices dominates so much of contemporary life through social media, entertainment, recognition and validation. So called ‘computer vision’ has become both ubiquitous and familiar; a powerful tool for the validation and recognition of holograms. For example, the consumer can validate the integrity of a
holographic tax stamp on a wine bottle while a unique identifier links it to an information system (track and trace) which will confirm the authenticity – or not – of the product. The use of a mobile app in the consumer’s smartphone ‘interrogates’ the hologram and searches for all the embedded security elements by examining the interaction via reflected light.
securityfocusafrica.com
