Mementos as Document Retrieval Keys

Dekaner writes "The BBC is running a story that BT has demonstrated a scanner that can be used to retrieve digital documents by associating them with a physical object. When the digital files are stored on the server, they are associated with a scanned image of the object, for example a seashell. Later, when the user wants to retrieve the files, the memento is again placed on the scanner. The resulting image is used as the retrieval key."

Comments

Re:The bane of the photocopier...

[grishnav]

You utter lack of appreciation for sarcasm notwithstanding, "home-use" style scanners with resolutions in the order of 2000+dpi are not uncommon, and resolution is only getting better. I know from personal experience that 1600 dpi can easily capture a persons fingerprint, with detail easily surpassing traditional inkpad methods.

Johnny Mneumonic: True in the Movie, not the story

[Nova Express]

"I associate it because in the beginning of the movie, they're going to store 80 gigs of information (about as much as I have in /usr/home/) in Just Johnny's head. They use three random images from the television to associate with and encrypt the information. These images are then faxed to the recipient. Obviously the bits aren't being used because they would change in faxing."

While this is true of the movie, this is not true of the original William Gibson story of the same name it was based on. There the mnemonic trigger was "Christian White and his Aryan Reggea Band."

>In the world of the future, it will be corporations, not governments, that will oppress the people.

Yeah, well, when you find a corporation which has killed 100 million people the way communism has, be sure to let us know...