A fingerprint scanner is one device that most people have probably not given much thought to. Most of us do not even consider just how intricate and unique our fingerprints are. We don't realize how many aspects of life our fingerprints could influence. Our fingerprints could be used to not only identify who we are but also where we work, where we attend school, where we live, how much money we have, what kind of car we drive and many other things. Fingerprint scanners are something we used to only see in movies or television shows. Now, these scanners are popping up in many places such as the workplace and schools. You can even purchase computer keyboards equipped with fingerprint scanners to protect your system. It is expected that in the future fingerprint scanners will become an integral part of our lives.
In the article "How Fingerprint Scanners Work", I read that there are many types of fingerprint scanners but there are two types that are the most common. The first discussed is the optical scanner. The optical scanner works much like a digital camera or camcorder. It operates on a light sensor system called a CCD or charge coupled device. A CCD is made up of photosites. These photosites generate electrical signals. The photosites then use the electrical signals to capture and record many pixels that all together form the image of a fingerprint. The second type of fingerprint scanner discussed is the capacitance scanner. The capacitance scanner is much like the optical scanner with the exception that capacitance scanners use electrical currents instead of light to produce an image. The capacitive scanners, however, tend to be more compact due to the fact that they use a semiconductor chip which is much smaller than the CCD unit in an optical scanner.
As with anything else, there are good aspects of using a fingerprint scanner and there are bad aspects. The good thing about using fingerprint scanners as a means of security or identification is that most people do not misplace their fingers, no one can "guess" your fingerprint pattern, and no two people have fingerprints alike.