A method for accessing encrypted information, a device for accessing encrypted information, and a corresponding vehicle

Abstract

A method for accessing encrypted information embedded in an object in the environment of a vehicle, the object maybe a billboard, display device a picture or sign. Detecting the object, which comprises the encrypted information in the environment by a sensor device in a user device, such as a camera in a smartphone. Determining a feature, which indicates the presence of the encrypted information and / or contains the encrypted information of the detected object by a control unit of the user device. The feature maybe a hint or marker such as a QR code that indicates the presence of encrypted information in or on the object. Decrypting the encrypted information into clear information using a key stored in the control unit of the user device. Displaying the clear information on a display device such as a windshield of a car.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

[0001] The present invention relates to the field of vehicles. More specifically, the present invention relates to a method for accessing encrypted information embedded in an object in the environment of the vehicle, in particular an automobile. Furthermore, the present invention relates to a device for accessing encrypted information and a corresponding vehicle. BACKGROUND INFORMATION

[0002] It could be useful for a user operating a vehicle, in particular a car, van, or truck, to have access to information along a route of the car, which may be individual and therefore may only be presented to the user himself or herself and not to anybody else. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0003] Therefore it is an object of the present invention to provide a method, a device, and a vehicle for accessing encrypted information, which could be placed on or in objects in an environment of the vehicle and which is personally intended for the user of the vehicle.

[0004] This object is solved by the subject matters of the independent claims. Advantageous embodiments and further developments are presented in the dependent claims, the description, and the drawings.

[0005] A first aspect of the present invention relates to a method for accessing, in particular in real time, encrypted information embedded in an object in the environment of a vehicle, which comprises the following steps: A first step is a detection of the object, in particular target images of a billboard, which comprises the encrypted information, in the environment by a sensor device, in particular a camera of the motor vehicle or an user device. A second step is determining a feature, in particular a message feature, which indicates the presence of the encrypted information and / or contains the encrypted information, of the detected object by a control unit, in particular comprising a computing unit, of the user device. A third step is decrypting the encrypted information into clear information using a key stored in the control unit of the user device. A fourth step is displaying the clear information on a display device, such as a display or a head-up display of the motor vehicle.

[0006] The object may be a billboard, a display device, a picture, a sign, et cetera. The sensor device may be in particular a camera or a device comprising a camera. So the detection of the object may be performed by taking a picture of the object. The detection may be performed via computer vision for object recognition in pictures. The encrypted information could be a text, an image, a video et cetera. The encrypted information could be embedded into the object via steganography. This means that the key for decrypting may be an algorithm for the steganography and / or another key for cryptography, for example if the text embedded via steganography is not plain or clear text but cipher text. The feature determined by the control unit may be in particular a hint or a marker for example a QR-code, which indicates the presence of the encrypted information in or on the object.

[0007] In other words, by viewing an object via the sensor device for example through a smartphone camera in combination with, for example a somewhat transparent media, such as a glass or a windshield of a car, which is for example capable of overlaying information with the surroundings and therefore may be used as a display for augmented reality, encrypted information of the object may be, in particular in real time, decrypted and displayed. So for example on billboards, computer screens, pieces of paper et cetera potentially hidden information could be decoded and displayed inside for example a target image. Someone with a decoding device for example glasses and / or the vehicle could glean information that is impossible to see, or if decided, even detect without the device. The ability to decode the data could be granted to an individual or a group of people, in particular the users of the car, to decide on how to disseminate the message.

[0008] With the method according to the invention an advantage is that a private message could be placed along a route of the vehicle and be delivered on the right spot to the addressee, who is the user of the vehicle.

[0009] In an advantageous embodiment of the present invention the encrypted information is encrypted by a key corresponding to the stored key and / or a further key and / or is configured as a state, for example by steganography, of the object.

[0010] In another embodiment of the present invention the feature comprises metadata and / or metadata for the encrypted information is stored as a property of the object.

[0011] In yet another embodiment of the present invention before and / or instead of displaying the key information, an input request is issued by which it is controllable to store the clear information and / or to ignore the clear information and / or to edit the clear information.

[0012] In still another embodiment of the present invention the storing and / or editing is carried out as a function of a stored parameter or in dependence on the stored parameter, which may be an attribute of the object or the encrypted information.

[0013] In still another embodiment of the present invention the displayed clear information is superimposed on the object, in particular via augmented reality.

[0014] In yet another embodiment of the present invention a characteristic of the overlay of the superimposed object is specified on the basis of an input.

[0015] A second aspect of the present invention relates to a device for accessing encrypted information which is embedded in an object, in an environment of a vehicle, wherein the device comprises: a sensor device for detecting the object comprising the encrypted information, a control unit for determining a feature, which indicates the presence of the encrypted information, and / or contains the encrypted information of the detected object, and for decrypting the encrypted information into clear information based on a key stored in the control unit, and a display device for displaying the clear information.

[0016] Advantages and advantageous embodiments of the first aspect of the invention are to be regarded as advantages and advantageous embodiments of the second aspect of the present invention and vice versa.

[0017] In an embodiment of the present invention the display device comprises a window of a vehicle and / or a spectacle lens as a display area.

[0018] A third aspect of the present invention relates to a vehicle which is configured to perform a method according to the first aspect of the present invention and / or which comprises a device according to the second aspect of the invention.

[0019] Advantages and advantageous embodiments of the third aspect of the present invention are to be regarded as advantages or advantageous embodiments of the first and / or second aspect of the present invention and vice versa.

[0020] Further advantages, features, and details of the invention derive from the following description of preferred embodiments as well as from the drawings. The features and feature combinations previously mentioned in the description as well as the features and feature combinations mentioned in the following description of the figures and / or shown in the figures alone can be employed not only in the respectively indicated combination but also in any other combination or taken alone without leaving the scope of the invention. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0021] The novel features and characteristic of the disclosure are set forth in the appended claims. The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of this disclosure, illustrate exemplary embodiments and together with the description, serve to explain the disclosed principles. The same numbers are used throughout the figures to reference like features and components. Some embodiments of system and / or methods in accordance with embodiments of the present subject matter are now described below, by way of example only, and with reference to the accompanying figures.

[0022] The drawings show in:

[0023] Fig. 1 a schematic diagram of a method for accessing encrypted information embedded in an object in the environment of a vehicle; and

[0024] Fig. 2 another schematic diagram of the method. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0025] In the present document, the word "exemplary" is used herein to mean "serving as an example, instance, or illustration". Any embodiment or implementation of the present subject matter described herein as "exemplary" is not necessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous over other embodiments.

[0026] While the disclosure is susceptible to various modifications and alternative forms, specific embodiments thereof have been shown by way of example in the drawing and will be described in detail below. It should be understood, however, that it is not intended to limit the disclosure to the particular forms disclosed, but on the contrary, the disclosure is to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the scope of the disclosure.

[0027] The terms “comprises”, “comprising”, or any other variations thereof, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion so that a setup, device or method that comprises a list of components or steps does not include only those components or steps but may include other components or steps not expressly listed or inherent to such setup or device or method. In other words, one or more elements in a system or apparatus preceded by “comprises” or “comprise” does not or do not, without more constraints, preclude the existence of other elements or additional elements in the system or method.

[0028] In the following detailed description of the embodiment of the disclosure, reference is made to the accompanying drawing that forms part hereof, and in which is shown by way of illustration a specific embodiment in which the disclosure may be practiced. This embodiment is described in sufficient detail to enable those skilled in the art to practice the disclosure, and it is to be understood that other embodiments may be utilized and that changes may be made without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. The following description is, therefore, not to be taken in a limiting sense.

[0029] Fig 1 shows in a schematic diagram a method for accessing encrypted information (El) embedded in an object in the environment of a vehicle. The method comprises four steps S1 to S4 as shown in Fig. 1, wherein the first step S1 is a detection of the object, which comprises the encrypted information El, in the environment by a sensor device SD in an user device (UD). The second step S2 is determining a feature which indicates the presence of the encrypted information El and / or contains the encrypted information El itself of the detected object by or via a control unit CU of the user device UD. The third step S3 is decrypting the encrypted information El into clear information Cl using a key stored DK in the control unit CU of the user device UD. The fourth step is for displaying the clear information Cl on a display device, in particular of the vehicle which may in particular be a car, van, or truck.

[0030] Fig. 2 shows another schematic diagram of the method according to Fig. 1, which includes the encryption of the encrypted information El by a key EK corresponding to the stored key DK, wherein the corresponding key could be an encryption key EK and the key is the decryption key DK, which may be an algorithm or a cryptographic key.

[0031] In Fig. 2 a data source DS, which contains the information transported in the encrypted information El and first contains the clear information Cl, and the encryption key EK is processed via a cyphering method or a cypher algorithm so that with the clear information Cl and the encryption key EK an encoder ENC can encode the information or data so that the encrypted information El is contained. This information could be for example passed to a billboard BB and may be embedded in a billboard advertisement BBA.

[0032] A vehicle passing by the billboard BB may comprise a device D which is capable of performing the method according to Fig. 1 so that the billboard advertisement BBA is detected by the sensor device SD combined with the decryption key DK. The control unit CU may work as a decoder DEC to encode the encrypted information El and display the decoded data or the clear information Cl to a user U, who may see the information with her or his eye EY. Within the device D, the decoded data, the clear information Cl may be stored for example in a storage device SM.

[0033] A possibility of decrypting the encrypted information El is to transform the data or information to something that the device d, which may be a pair of smart glasses for example, could decode. An owner of the data or information may encode the data and transport it, for example physically or over a network etc., to a location, physical or on a network, which would be viewed by the owner’s target audience, the user U.

[0034] There is an algorithm (PaperBack) to print cyphered information that looks like a QR-code on paper. This algorithm is capable of printing up to 500,000 characters on a single page of A4 paper. This may be an example for embedding information on an object.

[0035] The shown method and the shown device D as well a vehicle comprising the device D capable of performing the method are not limited to using text as the encrypted information El. Rather, also images, sound, movies, or other media which is capable of being processed via a computing device or by the control unit CU may be used.

[0036] One of the traditional problems with steganography is that, when you decode, anyone can also potentially see the decrypted output. The device D would prevent anyone from accessing the data without the glasses and a proper key. There could be a two-step encryption: one step could be the steganography on the object. The other step is encrypting the clear Cl into cypher text, which then is hidden or embedded in the object via the steganography. This means, if more confidentiality is desired one may encrypt the data and then save it to the object. So that only the description key could read the original data, not however any human. Keys to decrypt data could be sent or stored by computers embedded or working alongside the decoder DEC.

[0037] Cryptographic keys (DK, EK), similar to the password one may memorize to log into online accounts, are used to both encode and decode the information. It is possible to share cryptographic keys to decode data prior to sending it. For example having glasses for example as the device D a key for a specific image may be requested, public key cryptography be used, the key in the encoded image itself be embedded or any number of ways to share and manage the keys be used.

[0038] Steganography presents information within another message or physical object in such a manner that the presence of the information is not evident to human inspection. In computing electronic context, a computer file, message, image, or video is concealed within another file, message, image, or video.

[0039] With steganography it may be possible to hide more than one embedded encrypted information in an object so that depending on the key used to encrypt or decrypt the information another object is shown for each individual key so that it is possible to assign different information to different users II.

[0040] In essence, the shown method is a way of performing real-time decryption of encrypted data. It does not need to store the result anywhere, although this is possible. Instead, a visual filter may be built by a smart lens sensor device which automatically recognizes the encrypted information or is told that the image is inside and encoded. The decoded content may be anything a computer could process, such as raw data, moving images, text, or even a program that could be executed. Automatic recognition and decryption could work accordingly or analogously to encode QR-Code information via smartphone camera.

[0041] With the method a user II could be enabled to view sensitive material in public, in a location that others could potentially see so that they could potentially also see what the user is looking at. With its device comprising glasses or the windshield of the user’s car, only the user of the glasses or the windshield could see the decoded message underneath the object.

[0042] With the method and the device D secret messages or the encrypted information El may be transported to groups of people or certain types of people, for example drivers. In addition, by simply changing the image it is possible to dynamically change the hidden information at will.

[0043] By encrypting multiple pieces of data with different keys, it is possible that different clear information Cl could be addressed to different users II using different devices. The data or information may be enhanced by adding metadata that describes characteristics and / or labels, for example advertising content may say that it is advertisements. The size of the data may also be included. Accordingly, the user II could be prompted to view the decoded content, ignoring the target data, saving it for later, when there is more time to look at it, or also the user II is permitted or not to modify, delete or interact with the target image, depending on what parameters the publisher places on his content.

[0044] The decoded view could either be overlayed on the area occupying the encoded content on the object for example, the user could also place restrictions on size, capacity, and brightness of the content. Reference Signs S1 first step S2 second step S3 third step S4 fourth step DS data source EK encryption key Cl clear information ENC encoder El encrypted information BB billboard BBA billboard advertisement SD sensor device UD user device DK decryption key CU control unit DEC decoder SM storage device U user EY eye

Claims

1. A method for accessing encrypted information (El) embedded in an object in an environment of a vehicle, comprising the steps:detecting the object, which comprises the encrypted information (El), in the environment by a sensor device (SD) in an user device(UD);determining a feature, which indicates the presence of the encrypted information (El) and / or contains the encrypted information (El), of the detected object by a control unit (CU) of the user device (UD);decrypting the encrypted information (El) into clear information (Cl) using a key (DK) stored in the control unit (CU) of the user device (UD); and displaying the clear information (Cl) on a display device.

2. The method according to claim 1,characterized in thatthe encrypted information (El) is encrypted by a key (EK) corresponding to the stored key (DK) and / or a further key and / or is configured as a state of the object.

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2,characterized in thatthe feature comprises metadata and / or metadata for the encrypted information (El) is stored as a property of the object.

4. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3,characterized in thatbefore or instead of displaying, an input request is issued, by which it is controllableto store the clear information (Cl) and / or to ignore the clear information (Cl) and / or to edit the clear information (Cl).

5. The method according to claim 4, characterized in thatthe storing and / or editing is carried out as a function of a stored parameter.

6. The method according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in thatthe clear information (Cl) is superimposed on the object.

7. The method according to claim 6, characterized in thata characteristic of the overlay is specified on the basis of an input.

8. A device (UD) for accessing encrypted information (El), which is embedded in an object, in an environment of a vehicle, comprising:a sensor device (SD) for detecting the object comprising the encrypted information (El);a control unit (CU) for determining a feature, which indicates the presence of the encrypted information (El) and / or contains the encrypted information (El) of the detected object and for decrypting the encrypted information (El) into clear information (Cl) based on a key (DK) stored in the control unit (CU); anda display device for displaying the clear information (Cl).

9. The device according to claim 9,characterized in thatthe display device comprises a window member of a motor vehicle and / or a spectacle lens as a display area.

10. A vehicle which is configured to perform a method according to any one of claims 1 to 7 and / or which comprises a device according to claim 9 or 10.

Images