This might look like a relatively ordinary scanner, but this new technology, from Oxford Multispectral, can do a lot more than just copy your documents.
Originally developed to help Oxford researchers study ancient Egyptian papyri, the uses of this scanner have proved to go far beyond that.
Combining six different light wavelengths, from Infra Red to Ultra Violet, this simple-looking A4 device can analyse any document in numerous ways that the human eye would never be capable of.
From differences in paper and ink, to detection of alteration, the portable scanner is able to compare any manuscript to a vast database and uncover, in just a few minutes, whether something is real or fake.
So whether it is detecting art forgery, exposing voter fraud or utilising facial recognition on a passport photo, the Oxford scanner looks set to fundamentally change the way that documents are studied, verified and understood.
What’s more, in the future the technology is likely to find its way onto smartphones and security systems, meaning we could process multi-spectral images on the go with the former, and identify people no matter how much makeup or prosthetics they have on with the latter – bad news for Eddie Murphy films!
All in all, it puts the scanner in the corner of your office to shame!