Giesecke & Devrient (G&D) has developed FEEL-ID, an interactive feature that’s designed to combine multiple security technologies in order to achieve maximum protection against counterfeiting. FEEL-ID is a feature that reacts to changes in temperature by utilizing the thermochromic properties of the materials employed.
Identity documents such as national ID cards, driver’s licenses and passports can be authenticated rapidly and reliably using techniques as simple as rubbing them with your finger. This new product is due to be presented at this year’s CARTES & IDentification exhibition and congress in Paris.
The designation FEEL refers to a secure feature that G&D has deployed in the field of banknote printing. The basis of FEEL-ID is STEP, a semi-transparent, optically variable special-effect ink incorporating a three-dimensional structure. Two different colors can be seen depending on the viewing angle, and neither the change in color nor the optical 3-D effect can be copied.
The area beneath the special-effect ink is printed in a dark background color which changes its opacity depending on temperature. Heat causes the characteristics of this printed layer to change, making it transparent and revealing the information incorporated in the card body under the special-effect thermochromic ink.
This could comprise static information such as a country code, or personalized information in the form of a “ghost image” – a second picture of the cardholder in a miniaturized format that is laser-engraved in the style of a silhouette.
Both the special-effect inks are transparent to infrared light. As a result, the information incorporated under the layer of ink can be machine-verified and processed at border inspection posts using a reader, thereby ensuring reliable identification.
FEEL-ID is suitable for use in all kinds of high security documents, including national ID cards, driver’s licenses and passports with a PECSEC or polycarbonate data page. The level of temperature sensitivity of the security feature is individually scalable and can be precisely tailored to the thermal environmental conditions found in each specific country. ![[end]](/resources/bullet/secureidnews-4.gif)
