Biometric sensors that can be papered on a wall? It would seem so

Metamaterials are being applied to biometrics and the results are likely to include surveillance and ID verification systems that are cheaper, more efficient and stealthier than anything on the market.

Metamaterials are those devised to operate in ways that seem to mock physical laws. Assembled into devices, they typically deal with waves – such as seismic, acoustic and electromagnetic.

Electromagnetic waves are being experimented with in Taiwanese labs to create surveillance systems that are startling in how they operate and what they can do.

First, a metamaterials do not need lenses. In this experiment, a so-called metasurface was used to scan the face of a polished stone bust in three dimensions.

The researchers projected 45,700 infrared dots from a metasurface that measured 297 µm. That is 1.43 times more lens-projected dots than an iPhone can create. It’s also 233 times smaller than an iPhone sensor.

And the device used five to 10 times less electrical power than the vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser arrays used in high-speed networking.

The biometric surveillance boom was made possible by better chip design and cheaper manufacturing. It is likely to become an almost unrecognizable industry if virtually any solid surface can be a sensor with a small investment.

Article Topics

biometric sensors  |  biometrics  |  metamaterials  |  research and development