Automatic Identification and Data Capture Defined

Automatic Identification and Data Capture (AIDC) is a broad category of technologies used to collect information from an individual, object, image or sound without manual data entry.  AIDC systems are used to manage inventory, delivery, assets, security and documents.

When AIDC technologies collect data, it is automatically stored in a computer system, where it is then categorized and, depending on the software, is aggregated.

To capture data, a transducer is employed which converts the actual image or a sound into a digital file. The file is then stored and at a later time it can be analyzed by a computer, or compared with other files in a database to verify identity or to provide authorization to enter a secured system. Capturing of data can be done in various ways; the best method depends on application.

Current AIDC technologies and methods include:

• Barcodes
• Magnetic stripes, which are typically seen on credit cards, debit cards, key cards and swipe cards.
• Smart cards, which are plastic cards about the size of a credit card with an embedded microchip.
• Optical character recognition(OCR), which is the recognition of printed or written text characters by a computer.
• Radio frequency identification(RFID) systems.
• Various biometrics applications, such as fingerprints, voice characteristics and iris patterns, against stored data for that individual.