Object processing employing movement

• US 7,949,148 B2
• Filed: 01/19/2007
• Issued: 05/24/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 01/23/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Digimarc Corporation
• Original Assignee: Digimarc Corporation
• Inventors: Rhoads, Geoffrey B., Rodriguez, Tony F., Bradley, Brett A.
• Primary Examiner(s): Akhavannik; Hadi
• Application Number:
  US11/625,162
• Publication Number:
  US 20070214406A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,586 Days
• Field of Search: 382/100
• US Class Current: 382/100
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/211 Schema design and management
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/106 Display of layout of documents; Previewing
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 19/14 the marking being sensed by radiation
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/347 Passive cards
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/388 using mutual authentication without cards, e.g. challenge-response
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 10/60 relating to illumination properties, e.g. using a reflectance or lighting model
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 20/80 Recognising image objects characterised by unique random patterns
• CPC Class Codes: G07D 7/004 using digital security elements, e.g. information coded on a magnetic thread or strip
• CPC Class Codes: G07D 7/12 Visible light, infrared or ultraviolet radiation
• CPC Class Codes: G07D 7/121 Apparatus characterised by sensor details
• CPC Class Codes: G07D 7/2033 Matching unique patterns, i.e. patterns that are unique to each individual paper
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 7/08 by coded identity card or credit card or other personal identification means without personal verification means G07F7/02
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 7/0813 Specific details related to card security
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 7/1008 Active credit-cards provided with means to personalise their use, e.g. with PIN-introduction/comparison system
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 7/1016 Devices or methods for securing the PIN and other transaction-data, e.g. by encryption arrangements for secret communication, see H04L9/00
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 7/125 Offline card verification
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2209/56 Financial cryptography, e.g. electronic payment or e-cash
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2209/608 Watermarking
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2209/805 Lightweight hardware, e.g. radio-frequency identification [RFID] or sensor
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/3278 using physically unclonable functions [PUF]

Abstract

Directional albedo of a particular article, such as an identity card, is measured and stored. When the article is later presented, it can be confirmed to be the same particular article by re-measuring the albedo function, and checking for correspondence against the earlier-stored data. The re-measuring can be performed through us of a handheld optical device, such as a camera-equipped cell phone. The albedo function can serve as random key data in a variety of cryptographic applications. The function can be changed during the life of the article. A variety of other features are also detailed.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

causing relative movement between an object and a camera-equipped cell phone;

capturing plural successive images of the object from different viewpoints said camera-equipped mobile phone;

by reference to data thereby collected, determining a physical function associated with the object; and

making a determination concerning said object, by reference to said determined physical function and previously-stored physical function data;

wherein said determination is made independently of information about positioning of any illumination source relative to the object.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein said object comprises an identity document.

3. The method of claim 1 that includes making a determination concerning identification of said object.

15. The method of claim 1 wherein said determination is made by a processor, configured in accordance with software instructions, and proceeds with reference to information related to surface topology of the object.

4. A method comprising:

waving an article before a 2D optical sensor device along a random track;

by reference to data produced by said device, determining a physical function associated with the object; and

making a determination concerning said article, by reference to said determined physical function and previously-stored physical function data;

wherein said determination is made independently of information about positioning of any illumination source relative to the article.

16. The method of claim 4 wherein said determination is made by a processor, configured in accordance with software instructions, and proceeds with reference to information related to surface topology of the article.

5. A method comprising:

causing relative movement between an identity card and a 2D optical sensor;

capturing plural frames of image data during said movement, said frames including image data corresponding to said identity card;

determining relative position data for each of plural frames;

decoding a steganographically encoded data signal conveyed by said card;

processing said captured image data, in conjunction with said position data, to determine a physical function associated with said card; and

checking previously-stored physical function data with said determined physical function, for correspondence;

wherein said processing is done independently of information about positioning of any illumination source relative to the identity card.

6. The method of claim 5 that includes, by reference to the decoded data signal, identifying a record in a database purportedly corresponding to said card, and obtaining said previously-stored physical function data therefrom.

7. The method of claim 5 wherein said determining position data proceeds by reference to a steganographically encoded reference signal conveyed by said card.

8. The method of claim 5 wherein said physical function has a directional aspect.

9. The method of claim 5 that further comprises checking previously-stored physical function data with said determined physical function, for correlation.

17. The method of claim 5 wherein said processing is performed by a processor, configured in accordance with software instructions, and proceeds with reference to information related to surface topology of the identity card.

10. A method that includes:

causing relative movement between an object and a 2D optical sensor;

generating object-related physical function data, said generating including capturing a frame of image data during said movement, said frame of image data including at least some image data corresponding to said object, and determining relative position data associated with said captured frame of image data;

sensing a machine-readable identifier from the object;

accessing a remote data store containing previously-stored physical function data associated with said sensed identifier; and

checking the previously-stored physical function data from said remote data store with said object-related physical function data for correspondence;

wherein said method proceeds independently of information about positioning of any illumination source relative to the object.

11. The method of claim 10 that includes checking the data from said remote data store with said object-related data for correlation.

12. The method of claim 10 in which the object comprises an identity card.

13. The method of claim 10 in which said act of generating object-related data includes capturing plural frames of image data during said movement, and determining relative position data associated with each of said captured frames.

14. The method of claim 10 wherein said capturing a frame of image data comprises capturing with a 2D optical sensor in a camera-equipped telephone.

18. The method of claim 10 wherein said generating is performed by a processor, configured in accordance with software instructions, and proceeds with reference to information related to surface topology of the object.

19. A computer readable medium containing non-transitory instructions for causing a process programmed thereby to perform the following acts:

control the capturing of image data from an article;

process the image data to obtain position data relating to positioning of the article;

by reference to the image data and the position data, determine physical function data associated with the object; and

make a determination concerning the authenticity of the article by reference to said determined physical function data and previously-stored physical function data, said determination being made independently of information about positioning of any illumination source relative to the article.

20. A method that includes:

collecting plural frames of image data of an object, each with a different perspective;

step for checking a match between said object to a reference object, through use of previously-stored physical function data, and independently of information about positioning of any illumination source relative to the article; and

providing an indication to a user if a match is found.

21. The method of claim 20 wherein said step comprises performing a correlation operation using a computer.