Media objects are transformed into active, connected objects via identifiers embedded into them or their containers. In the context of a user's playback experience, a decoding process extracts the identifier from a media object and possibly additional context information and forwards it to a server. The server, in turn, maps the identifier to an action, such as returning metadata, re-directing the request to one or more other servers, requesting information from another server to identify the media object, etc. The linking process applies to broadcast objects as well as objects transmitted over networks in streaming and compressed file formats.

Connected audio and other media objects

A watermark system includes an embedder, detector, and reader. The watermark embedder encodes a watermark signal in a host signal to create a combined signal. The detector looks for the watermark signal in a potentially corrupted version of the combined signal, and computes its orientation. Finally, a reader extracts a message in the watermark signal from the combined signal using the orientation to approximate the original state of the combined signal. While adapted for images, video and audio, the watermark system applies to other electronic and physical media. For example, it can be applied to mark graphical models, blank paper, film and other substrates, texturing objects for ID purposes, etc.

Watermark embedder and reader

Various improvements to steganographic systems, and applications therefore, are disclosed. The improvements include facilitating scale and rotation registration for steganographic decoding by use of rotationally symmetric steganographically embedded patterns and subliminal digital graticules; improved techniques for decoding without access to unencoded originals; improving robustness of steganographic coding in motion pictures and/or in the presence of lossy compression/decompression; and representing data by patterned bit cells whose energy in the spatial domain facilitates decoding registration. Applications include enhanced-security financial transactions, counterfeit resistant identification cards, fraud deterrent systems for cellular telephony, covert modem channels in video transmissions, photo duplication kiosks with automatic copyright detection, and hotlinked image objects (e.g. with embedded URLs) for use on the internet.

Computer system linked by using information in data objects

An automated system checks networked computers, such as computers on the internet, for watermarked audio, video, or image data. A report listing the location of such audio, video or image data is generated, and provided to the proprietor(s) thereof identified by the watermark information.

Methods for surveying dissemination of proprietary empirical data

An apparatus and method for encoding and decoding additional information into a stream of digitized samples in an integral manner. The information is encoded using special keys. The information is contained in the samples, not prepended or appended to the sample stream. The method makes it extremely difficult to find the information in the samples if the proper keys are not possessed by the decoder. The method does not cause a significant degradation to the sample stream. The method is used to establish ownership of copyrighted digital multimedia content and provide a disincentive to piracy of such material.

Steganographic method and device

A video system having a transmitter in which a composite signal is formed by combining digital information with scanlines of an analog video signal generated by a line scanning device, and a receiver in which the digital information is recovered. The digital information is combined with the analog video signal at predetermined locations along scanlines of the video signal, and these predetermined locations are varied in order to prevent visible deterioration of the video image. In the video receiver, the digital information is recovered by examining the composite signal at the predetermined locations to extract the digital information. Each bit of digital information to be conveyed is represented by a first pseudo-random digital pulse sequence (or its complement, depending on whether the data bit is 1 or 0) which is superimposed on a selected scanline of the analog video signal to form the composite signal. The digital information is recovered at the receiver by generating a second pseudo-random digital pulse sequence in synchronism with the first sequence, and by examining the composite signal at locations determined by the second digital pulse sequence to extract the digital information contained in the composite signal.

William N. Waggener

Papers

Video system for conveying digital and analog information