2020 Review

Physical and Digital – Combining the Best of Both Worlds for Robust Authentication

by Pete Smallwood

In a time when there is increasing demand for digital authentication, we will look at the importance of combining smart phone authentication with new holographic origination features, and why both now play a fundamental role in the ongoing fight against counterfeits.

With a focus on case studies, the presentation will look at how strong level-one features have been used in the pharmaceutical industry in Russia to allow practitioner authentication and regain confidence in prescribing.

In addition, the development of a Romanian Wine Stamp project will look at how security labels have been enhanced through the evolution of new origination techniques; and how the integration of smartphone authentication has been possible alongside the benefits of physical holographic security.

By reviewing the impact on revenues, the overall effectiveness of the combination of physical and digital technologies for the end customer will be shown, providing the best of both worlds for brand protection and authentication programmes.

Pete Smallwood

Pete Smallwood – Business Development Manager Eltronis

Pete has a wealth of experience in delivering authentication programs in a wide range of sectors from ID and Passports to Brand and revenue protection programs. Specializing in holographic protection Pete will try and bring a fresh view to the effects of counterfeiting and how holograms can be included with emerging digital technologies to engage the end user as an integral part of anti-counterfeit solutions.

Outside work, Pete is a competitive sailor, keen canoeist and experienced mountaineer and volunteers to run Junior Sailing programs and is an active leader in his local Scout groups.

Smart Holograms – Electronic Holograms for Smartphone-Based Verification

by Jan Thiele

Since many years we see the trend to more and more complex holograms. But on the other side, a lot of end-users have the problem that they don’t know how the real hologram should look like. This is especially a problem considering the fact, that nowadays already very sophisticated holograms can be ordered online by everyone.

We at Prismade Labs have developed a solution which enables end-users to verify holograms digitally with the own smartphone. Thus, no more reliance on the end-user’s knowledge of the hologram feature is necessary. The technology is based on capacitive sensing and requires just some minor adaptions at the hologram design. Our software decoder can be embedded in any app or website to make sure that the “smart hologram” can be securely verified on any smartphone. Unlike camera-based systems, this new approach is more secure and easier to access.

For B2C applications, smart holograms offer a new way for customers and citizens to verify products and documents. Additionally, they serve as a key to connect to digital services, enabling new business models for product-, document- or hologram manufacturers.

For B2B applications, Prismade offers an additional proprietary scanning device, adding an additional security feature for professionals to check product and document authenticity and origin.

Prismade (Printed Smart Devices) is a technology developer with more than 10 years of experience in printed electronics. Prismade licenses the patented smart hologram technology, including the design know how to upgrade existing holograms and a cloud-based machine learning software service to authenticate the smart holograms and its new applications.

Jan Thiele

Jan Thiele has been an entrepreneur in the field of printed electronics for more than 10 years. In 2007 he co-founded Printechnologics, a pioneering company that was among the first worldwide to develop and sell fully printed electronic technologies on a large scale. In the following years Jan’s work resulted in several strategic investments and partnerships with globally leading brands. In 2016 he co-founded Prismade Labs (Printed Smart Devices) to develop a breakthrough approach for electronic identification that seamlessly connects with smartphones. In 2018 Prismade became part of the edding group to ensure a global distribution under a strong brand. Today, as co-CEO at Prismade, Jan is responsible for the strategic aspects of the business, focusing on applications for secure and interactive documents.

When Digital Enhances the Physical Experience

by Alex Lewis

Invented by Denis GABOR in 1948, holograms have been an endless source of innovation ever since. Holograms can contain variable elements that can be visually authenticated or automatically checked. In an ever changing world where technologies are rapidly evolving, it is a powerful instrument in the fight against counterfeiting. Over the last few years, the hologram has also undergone its digital transformation and has once again proved its legitimacy and complementarity with new technologies. In today’s world, holograms can be associated with advanced digital technologies to facilitate authentication, tracking and traceability and give access to online services. This presentation aims to review the many benefits of the use of the holograms as the link between the physical and the digital worlds, and how an optical chip can help taking today challenges.

Digital Authentication Using Photopolymer Holograms

by Brett Nelson

Leaders in the holographic industry continue to break new ground in developing and evolving holographic origination techniques, visual effects, and robust authentication features that span all levels of authentication. These innovations protect the position of holographic technologies as one of the most recognized and widely used technologies for authentication to protect brands, products, consumers and documents of value. Indeed, holograms in their various forms remain one of the most reliable and robust Level 1 authentication tools on the market today. However, one theme that is becoming increasingly common, in the fight against the counterfeiter, is the increasing use of advanced holographic technologies that not only increase complexity and barriers to counterfeit, but often require greater consumer education and higher levels of sophistication. Fortunately, the advent of deep machine learning and the ubiquity of smartphones enables the burden of complexity to be shifted onto our preferred smartphone digital devices, turning the average consumer into the most sophisticated holographic inspector. The use of smartphones as digital authentication devices combined with the latest holographic innovations facilitates a broad industry desire to retain the familiarity and usability of holograms whilst staying ahead of those who would attempt to deceive.
In this paper De La Rue outlines the latest innovations in digital authentication methods using the De La Rue Validate software platform combined with the photopolymer holographic IZON™ products.