QR code and Artificial Intelligence: a label to combat counterfeiting

A new technology in the fight against counterfeiting has emerged from the collaboration between Fondazione Bruno Kessler and the Istituto Poligrafico e Zecca dello Stato (IPZS), the Italian State Printing Works and Mint: a labeling system featuring a QR code that integrates security fibrils and artificial intelligence, designed to protect citizens and businesses through simple and reliable verification tools.

The system is based on fibrils, i.e. security elements similar to textile fibers visible to the naked eye and inserted in the labels, whose arrangement and composition create a unique imprint. A QR code is printed at the center of the label, which, when scanned with the camera of any smartphone, allows users to verify its authenticity.

The verification focuses on two different aspects of the fibrils. The first concerns material authenticity: a module based on artificial intelligence determines whether the fibril is actually the one produced during the printing process and therefore truly authentic. The second aspect concerns the arrangement: at the time of printing, dedicated algorithms record a descriptor of the fibrils’ positions, which becomes a kind of unique and non-replicable fingerprint.