Inventions
Fingerprint Scanner
Computer Engineering
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A fingerprint scanner is a biometric sensor that captures the pattern of ridges on a finger and converts it into digital data a computer can compare against a stored record to identify or authenticate a person. Automated fingerprint identification systems were first developed for law enforcement during the 1960s and 1970s, and the Japanese company NEC delivered one of the earliest such systems to police departments in the mid-1970s, replacing manual matching by trained examiners. Miniaturized capacitive and optical fingerprint sensors later moved from dedicated security equipment into laptops and, from 2011 onward, mainstream smartphones, making fingerprint scanning a routine method of unlocking a personal device.
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