Intermediary Layer for AR Privacy Object Removal
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Solution Overview
Problem
Augmented reality systems face challenges in controlling the dissemination of privacy-sensitive data, such as facial images and license plates, which are captured by sensors and potentially shared across networks, violating digital privacy regulations.
Innovation Solution
Implementing an intermediary layer that receives image data from cameras, identifies privacy-sensitive objects, determines display permissions, and modifies the image data to obscure or remove these objects before outputting it to applications, thereby controlling the propagation of sensitive information.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If continuous visual data feed is used for AR display, then AR functionality is enabled, but privacy-sensitive data dissemination occurs
Solution Approach 1:
An intermediary layer is introduced between the camera sensor and the AR application to process visual data. This intermediary performs object detection, identifies privacy-sensitive content (faces, license plates), and applies modifications before data reaches the application, thus enabling AR functionality while preventing privacy violations
Solution Approach 2:
The harmful privacy-sensitive information is extracted and removed from the visual data stream. The system detects and isolates regions containing sensitive data (such as faces and license plates) and applies targeted modifications to these specific regions while preserving the rest of the image for AR functionality
2Power
If data is transferred to external computing platforms, then processing capability is enhanced, but control over privacy data is diminished
Solution Approach 1:
Privacy-sensitive data is processed and modified before being transferred to external computing platforms. The intermediary layer performs preliminary object detection and data modification, ensuring that sensitive information is already protected before leaving the capturing device, thus maintaining control over privacy data while still enabling enhanced processing
3Quantity of substance
If digital platforms capture ambient data, then data collection is comprehensive, but privacy protection is compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The system applies different processing qualities to different regions of the visual data. Privacy-sensitive regions (containing faces, license plates) are heavily modified or obscured, while non-sensitive regions are preserved in their original quality, thus maintaining comprehensive data collection for AR purposes while protecting specific privacy-critical areas
Data Source
AI summary
A method includes receiving, at an intermediary layer, from a camera of a head mounted display (HMD), image data of a real-world operating environment of the HMD at a first time. The method further includes identifying, at the intermediary layer, one or more objects in the image data, determining, at the intermediary layer, coordinates of a region comprising the one or more identified objects, determining a display permission for the one or more identified objects, modifying the image data in the region comprising the one or more identified objects according to the display permission and outputting the modified image data to an application executing outside of the intermediary layer.