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from the the-next-generation-of-forensics dept.
High definition scans and image recognition are combined to produce a unique signature for any part:
Everything needed to trace, track or certify any individual manufactured part is already present on the part itself, according to Brian Crowley, CEO of Alitheon, a startup company focused on object traceability. The surface detail of a manufactured part is unique in the same way fingerprints are, he says. And, importantly, off-the-shelf imaging technology — notably including the cameras in our phones — is now capable of accurately capturing this distinctive surface-level detail. The result is a new possibility for identifying parts, arguably better and more reliable than serial numbers. Alitheon’s technology for using this surface detail for part ID is called “FeaturePrint.”
Sorry if this seems like a soylvertizement--I don't have any connection to the company, it just seemed like an interesting new technology, with wide-ranging consequences. While initially this might be used internal to factories that need to track every part of an assembly and avoid bad parts or counterfeits slipping into production, other applications seem possible. For example, there is no point in filing the serial number off that gun, unless you also deface all the surfaces on *all* the external and internal parts.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Booga1 on Wednesday June 10 2020, @05:34AM (8 children)
List of issues:
- It can't be typed into a form on a website.
- Your camera sucks, we can't find your item in our database.
- Your item isn't found in our database. It must be counterfeit.
- Your item is damaged and can no longer be verified as authentic.
- Your item has been tampered with and the warranty is now void.
I'm sure there are plenty more scenarios that could mangle things.
(Score: 2, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday June 10 2020, @05:53AM (6 children)
To add to this on the gun side:
Your gun has been rattling around a toolbox for the last three years, it is unserialised.
You've taken it hunting, it's been rained on, snowed on, dragged over hill and dale, bled on and slept on. It doesn't look the same.
You've had it breathed on by a gunsmith for accuracy. It's not the same.
You've swapped out grips, slide, trigger group, barrel and had it engraved. It's not the same.
It's been in a holster, carried daily, for years. It's had all sorts of road grit on it, and simple holster burn has polished it. It's not the same.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday June 10 2020, @06:13AM (1 child)
Well, according to the article, they did every single one of those tests and they can still figure this out.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by bradley13 on Wednesday June 10 2020, @08:05AM
The only test in the article that actually made any sense was the "grit blasting". This was tested on a titanium part, which is obviously not representative of most products, and they don't say how they test was carried out.
All criticism aside: if the required level of photography really is within the reach of the average cell-phone camera, this technology is pretty impressive. It's just not going to replace serial numbers, but might have other applications, for example, in forensics.
Everyone is somebody else's weirdo.
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday June 10 2020, @06:48AM (3 children)
Their claim is that so long as a minimum of 10% of any of the surface features identified as being present in the original scan exist, they can still identify the item...one wonders if the face recognition mob have looked at this, considering that we've all got a legitimate excuse now to wander around in public masked up...
(Score: 3, Funny) by Pslytely Psycho on Wednesday June 10 2020, @09:04AM
Interesting point in light of the fact that in open carry states a lot of people now look like they are heading out to rob a stagecoach...
Alex Jones lawyer inspires new TV series: CSI Moron Division.
(Score: 2) by mhajicek on Wednesday June 10 2020, @05:58PM (1 child)
Parts produced sequentially on modern CNC equipment can share at least 99% of tooling marks, and have all features within .0001" of each other. Can it distinguish between those parts?
The spacelike surfaces of time foliations can have a cusp at the surface of discontinuity. - P. Hajicek
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday June 10 2020, @06:20PM
.... after they've been cerakoted?
Or case hardened?
Or etched?
(Score: 3, Insightful) by bradley13 on Wednesday June 10 2020, @07:58AM
I modded you up, because those are pretty much all killer issues. Plus two more:
- Any object subject to surface wear (the phone in your pocket, for example) will change its characteristics over time.
- Any object that has been repaired - had an externally visible part replaced - will no longer match its image.
I can see a limited application of this technology as an anti-counterfeiting measure in addition to a printed serial number. What products are high-value, often counterfeited, and not subject to external wear that would make them unrecognizable?
For everything else, a serial number is a lot easier and more practical. If you just have to capture that serial number in a photograph, that's on you.
Everyone is somebody else's weirdo.