Digital watermarking maps and signs, and related navigational tools
First Claim
1. An apparatus to read two or more digital watermarks embedded within a map, each of the two or more digital watermarks includes location information for a respective map location, the two or more digital watermarks are embedded through alterations to data representing the map, the alterations are generally imperceptible to a human observer of the map, said apparatus comprising:
- a global positioning system receiver to determine a physical location of said apparatus;
an input to receive data corresponding to at least a portion of the respective map location;
a processor or electronic processing circuitry to extract location information from received data and to correlate the physical location with extracted location information; and
an output to output an indication of a relative correlation between the physical location and watermark location information.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Maps and/or signs are embedded with plural-bit data in the form of digital watermarks. In one implementation, an apparatus is provided to read two or more digital watermarks embedded within a map. Each of the two or more digital watermarks includes location information for a respective map location. The two or more digital watermarks are embedded through alterations to data representing the map; the alterations are generally imperceptible to a human observer of the map. The apparatus includes: a global positioning system receiver to determine a physical location of said apparatus; an input to receive data corresponding to at least a portion of the respective map area; a processor or electronic processing circuitry to extract the location information from the input data and to correlate the physical location with the extracted location information; and an output to output an indication of a relative correlation between the physical location and watermark location information. Other implementations are provided and claimed as well.
159 Citations
19 Claims
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1. An apparatus to read two or more digital watermarks embedded within a map, each of the two or more digital watermarks includes location information for a respective map location, the two or more digital watermarks are embedded through alterations to data representing the map, the alterations are generally imperceptible to a human observer of the map, said apparatus comprising:
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a global positioning system receiver to determine a physical location of said apparatus; an input to receive data corresponding to at least a portion of the respective map location; a processor or electronic processing circuitry to extract location information from received data and to correlate the physical location with extracted location information; and an output to output an indication of a relative correlation between the physical location and watermark location information.
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2. A method comprising:
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accessing a database comprising information; retrieving a subset of the database information; storing the retrieved subset of database information in a handheld computing device, the handheld device including an input device; capturing a portion of a map by the input device, the portion including at least one digital watermark hidden therein through alterations to data representing the portion, the alterations being generally imperceptible to a human observer of the portion of the map, the digital watermark including map location information; in the handheld computing device, determining which of the retrieved subset of the database information corresponds to the map location information; and providing corresponding retrieved subset database information as feedback. - View Dependent Claims (3, 4, 5, 6)
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- 7. A road or informational sign having plural bit data steganographically encoded thereon in the form of a digital watermark, the data comprising a unique identifier, the steganographic encoding being introduced to the sign through alterations to data representing at least a portion of the sign, the alterations being generally imperceptible to a human observer of the sign, the unique identifier conveying a location of the sign or information associated with the sign.
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11. A method comprising:
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capturing an image of a road or informational sign; extracting a digital watermark from the captured image, the watermark including plural-bit data, the digital watermark being introduced to the sign through alterations to data representing at least a portion of the sign, the alterations being generally imperceptible to a human observer of the sign; and outputting a response in accordance with the plural-bit data. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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Specification