THE ROVING EYE.

As if Staples Center's stark oval design and spacey purple glow aren't enough to convince visitors that they're having a 21st century experience, attendants at the VIP entrances are sporting green lasers on their index fingers.

The laser -- known as a Fantm III ring scanner -- employs basically the same technology used by a checker at a grocery market. The wireless scanners come with a visual display unit and an earpiece that relays a computer-generated voice response, providing double protection against fraud and faux pas alike.

"It help's us legitimize each ticket," said Larry Chu Staples box office director. "It will identify tickets for' the wrong game or tickets that have been lost or stolen."

At the main entrances to Staples, patrons place their tickets in a turnstile that scans them as they pass through. For those in the expensive seats, arena officials thought that individual attention -- and thus the ring scanners -- would be a nice touch.

The ring scanners, which emit a bright green light, were developed by Ticketmaster and Symbol Technologies. They are finding their way into more and more venues nationwide, said Ron Tuck, Ticketmaster client services manager. Staples Center began using the devices, which are lightweight and attach to a belt unit, during last year's basketball season.

"It's a very functional piece. Basically, we can stop fraud at the door," Tuck said. "At the Limp Bizkit concert at the Anaheim Pond in November, we caught a number of counterfeit tickets."