AlpVision tech makes foray into footwear sector

AlpVision has started the first pilot projects of its Fingerprint technology in the footwear sector, in a further expansion of the platform in the area of authenticating moulded products.

The Fingerprint system relies on scanning a specific area of a product and comparing the digital image produced with images of the original product taken at the time of manufacture. Importantly, it does not require the addition of any marker or taggant.

Fingerprint is already used in the authentication of packaging and moulded medical components such as vials and containers, and AlpVision is now road-testing the technology with shoe manufacturers.

The approach "applies to a wide variety of footwear items, including shoes, boots and sandals that have a rubber or plastic sole," says the company.

The process requires capturing a digital image of the matte-finished sole during or post-production, which is then used as a reference to perform product authentication. A regular iPhone equipped with AlpVision’s product authentication application can be used to verify the shoe, it adds.

According to the National Chamber Foundation, the estimated annual industry loss due to footwear counterfeiting in the US is $12bn, according to AlpVision.

…taps third-party for authentication app deployment

Meanwhile, AlpVision has revealed a new partnership with mobile IT specialist MobileIron to help customers adopt its iPhone-based authentication platform which - as it is designed to be covert - is not available on Apple's App Store.

The company says it has designed a specific application package deployable via MobileIron that provides an additional layer of access control, preventing its use by unauthorised personnel. The package is available on-premise or over the cloud and can be tailored for scale.

"Brand owners can control who gets access to AlpVision’s application, customize it, and remote uninstall and update it," notes AlpVision.


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