INTRODUCTION
Have you ever wondered how your phone unlocks with just a touch, or how police use fingerprints to catch criminals? The answer lies in the tiny ridges on our fingertips. These ridges form unique patterns that no two people share — not even identical twins! This makes fingerprints a powerful tool for identification and security.
What is a Fingerprint?
A fingerprint is a pattern of ridges and valleys on the tip of your finger. These patterns develop before you are born and stay the same throughout your life. Because they never change and are unique, fingerprints are widely used in technology and law enforcement.
How Fingerprint Recognition Works
- Scanning
When you place your finger on a sensor, it captures an image. There are different types of scanners:
Optical scanners take a photo of your finger.
Capacitive scanners use tiny electrical charges to map your ridges.
Ultrasonic scanners use sound waves to build a 3D image of your fingerprint.
- Converting into Data
The fingerprint image is then converted into a digital pattern.
Instead of saving the whole picture, the system looks for special points called minutiae.
Ridge endings – where a line stops.
*Bifurcations *– where one line splits into two.
Loops and whorls – curved or circular designs.
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