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How it works

Three questions, one scan

A Spark Labs reader asks every item three things: does it glow the right way, which crystals are in it, and is this the exact piece on record. A copy has to get all three right, and it cannot.

Watch a card get checkedSee the pen

1 · Visible proof

The reader fires a short pulse of ultraviolet light, then a pulse of infrared, again and again. The crystals answer each one in a different color: a red spark for ultraviolet, a green spark for infrared. Ordinary inks, dyes and glow paints do not turn infrared into visible light, so a counterfeit stays dark on half the test.

  • Two lights, two colors. The item has to answer both, in the right color for each.
  • The glow keeps time. Each crystal fades at its own rate. The reader times the fade, and a copy that glows too long or too short fails.
  • Under a second. The full exchange of pulses takes a fraction of a second.
Glow Time UV pulse IR pulse Red spark, slow fade Green spark, faster fade Ordinary glow ink: wrong clock, no answer to infrared Illustration, slowed down about a thousand times

2 · Forensic proof

Spark Labs blends different crystal recipes in set proportions, the way a paint store mixes a color. Each athlete, team, card set or tour gets its own blend. The reader measures which crystals are present and how much of each, and matches the blend to the program it belongs to.

  • A code nobody can see. The blend reads as plain ink, thread or plastic to the eye.
  • Matched to the source. A jersey made for one team will not read as another team’s, even if it looks identical.
  • Room for every program. Recipes and proportions combine into a very large number of distinct codes. Spin the combination wheel on the NovaVera site ↗
Measured on the item Blends on record Team A Team B ✓ Team C Match: Team B Each color is one crystal recipe. Illustration

3 · The Forever record

A blend says which program an item belongs to. The fingerprint says which item it is. When a player signs or a piece is made, crystals and reflective flakes land at random, like stars in a night sky. The reader captures that pattern, and the Forever library stores it one-to-one with the item’s origin and every scan that follows.

  • One of one. Two autographs from the same player, on the same day, with the same pen, still have different patterns.
  • History that follows the item. Each authentication, grading or sale can be added to the record.
  • Impractical to fake after the fact. Nobody can scatter crystals by hand into the same random pattern.
  1. Signing session at the ballpark
    Pattern captured, witnessed by the authenticator on site.
  2. Authentication
    Glow, blend and pattern all match.
  3. Third-party grading
    Scanned before it was sealed in its case.
  4. Auction
    The buyer scanned it on arrival. Same pattern, same record.

Example record for one signed baseball.

More that Spark Labs protects

AutographsThe pen: ink that proves the signature. Trading cardsProof in every layer of every card. Apparel & game-wornJerseys, tags, numbers and caps. Guitars & musicStage-played guitars, picks and tour gear. Art, prints & gearPosters, prints, photos and game gear. Lightfast.

Put proof inside the piece.

Athletes, teams, leagues, card makers, instrument makers, authenticators and auction houses: tell us what you want to protect, and we will show you a reader on it.

Talk to Spark Labs