This technology is a system for extracting information encoded by variations in light intensity from displayed images.
Current strategies to provide additional information, such as an associated URL, with displayed images are often limited by imposed requirements on viewer proximity and position, or overreliance on manual copying by the user. Thus, there is a need for alternative mechanisms to conveniently and reliably delivery supplementary information alongside displayed images.
By temporally modulating a display’s brightness at high frequencies, messages can be coded into displayed images in a way that is imperceptible to the human eye. This technology uses a rolling shutter camera to capture the image and convert the modulated incident light into a spatial flicker pattern, which can be subsequently decoded to extract the embedded information. This method is compatible with the standard camera sensors found on most mobile devices and can be readily applied to any backlit display or advertisement, as well as illumination shone on an object, such as artwork at a museum. By digitally encoding the data in light intensity, this technology allows data to be transmitted with high accuracy regardless of any hindrances such as blurring, motion, or occlusion. Moreover, since the signal is invisible to the human eye, aesthetic design of the advertisement or visual aid is not impeded. A multitude of information can be embedded in a single image using this approach, increasing simplicity and efficiency for both advertisers and consumers.
This technology has been validated through physical simulations of a mobile phone camera with a flickering LED illumination signal in a variety of real-world settings.
Tech Ventures Reference:
IR CU14328
Licensing Contact: Satish Rao
