MEANS FOR USING MICROSTRUCTURE OF MATERIALS SURFACE AS A UNIQUE IDENTIFIER

The present application concerns the visual identification of materials or documents for tracking or authentication purposes.It describes methods to automatically authenticate an object by comparing some object images with reference images, the object images being characterized by the fact that visual elements used for comparison are non-disturbing for the naked eye. In some described approaches it provides the operator with visible features to locate the area to be imaged. It also proposes ways for real-time implementation enabling user friendly detection using mobile devices like smart phones.