Researchers of the University of Science and Technology of China in Hefei have physically demonstrated the quantum fingerprints protocol, which was developed theoretically by QuSoft researchers Harry Buhrman and Ronald de Wolf (CWI) and their colleagues Richard Cleve and John Watrous (University of Calgary) in their 2001 paper.
Quantum fingerprinting uses superposition to compare data from two separate sources , such as checking whether a fingerprint has a match in a police database, more efficiently than would ever be possible on a classic computer. This used to be a theoretical possibility, but now researchers have successfully demonstrated this protocol by using it to compare two GB’s of video data with the exchange of just 1300 photons, about half what would be needed classically.
Source: Physics World