The 2025 edition of Optical & Digital Document Security™ (ODDS), held in Warsaw, Poland (15-17 September), once again confirmed its position as the world’s leading forum for the science and technology of secure documents. The range of technical papers emphasised the strong cross-fertilisation across the sector, which makes innovations in banknote protection equally useful in passports, identity cards, driving licences and civil registrations.
From the keynote address to the closing remarks, ODDS 2025 reinforced the message that all secure documents are ‘genius’ because they blend science, design and digital architecture to protect identity, enable commerce and safeguard trust.
Several presentations showcased advances in materials and optics for identity credentials. Mengli Liu of Zhongchao Security Technology introduced 3D light-field imaging based on microlens arrays, creating photorealistic depth and floating visuals visible to the naked eye. Such features promise a compelling first- line authentication tool for passports and national IDs.
SURYS IN Groupe followed with work on zero-order diffractive structures, which generate structural colours resistant to replication. Already used in French passports, these are now being developed into components that merge strong counterfeit resilience with the visual appeal of diffractive animation.
China Banknote Printing Technology Research Institute presented two materials innovations: a paper-plastic composite substrate that creates translucent, fluorescent windows, and flexible OLED-based security elements, ultra-thin and wirelessly powered by smartphones. Both approaches suggest new possibilities for windows and laminates in ID documents, making them more active and intuitive to verify.
In the conference’s digital section, NANOSILIKHAN unveiled an electrically controlled reflective film that alters both colour and gloss to display dynamic, serialised information. This technology opens the way for optically variable tags that can also serve as digital identifiers in passports and smart cards.
Orell Füssli and Scantrust presented Jaguar, a smartphone-readable copy detection pattern initially developed for banknotes. Its principle – public verification with a standard mobile phone – could equally be applied to ID cards and driving licences.
Meanwhile, researchers from inIT Germany highlighted weaknesses in AI-based document authentication, showing how adversarial attacks can mislead neural networks into classifying counterfeit IDs as genuine. Their warning underlined the urgent need for robust, manipulationresistant AI models as digital verification becomes more popular.
FaceTec demonstrated the UR Code protocol, a cryptographically signed biometric barcode in a familiar QR-like format. By embedding signed face data into physical or mobile credentials, UR Codes enable low-cost identity-binding that preserves privacy for both in-person and remote checks.
The most forward-looking developments at ODDS 2025 were those blending physical and digital elements into ‘phygital’ security.
Here, substrates, optics, and cryptography intersect to create credentials that can be checked both visually and electronically, by humans and by machines.
The convergence is clear: microlens arrays, OLED windows, zero-order diffractive structures, and reflective films enhance physical inspection; cryptographic barcodes and smartphone-readable features support digital verification.
Together they point to a new generation of hybrid ID credentials designed to resist the full spectrum of threats – from traditional counterfeiting to AI-driven manipulation.
The conference itself carries a distinguished history. From its origins in the Optical Security & Counterfeit Deterrence Techniques meetings in the 1990s, through the Optical Document Security events launched in 2008, it evolved into ODDS in 2022 to reflect the increasing interplay of optical and digital protection. ODDS 2025, held in Warsaw, was the fourth edition in this format.
As delegates said their goodbyes, discussions turned to the next meeting. ODDS 2027 will take place in Berlin, Germany, in January/February. The city’s standing as a hub of scientific innovation and European identity policy makes it a fitting stage for the next chapter in the evolution of secure documents.
