Gaze-Dependent Display Encryption for Privacy
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Solution Overview
Problem
Portable electronic devices face privacy issues when displaying private or confidential content in public spaces, as existing privacy screens are bulky, affect viewing quality, and do not effectively obscure content from observers standing or sitting behind the user.
Innovation Solution
A gaze-dependent visual encryption system that uses cameras and sensors to determine the user's gaze location and obscure display content outside this area, employing techniques like text scrambling, perceptual metamers, and diffeomorphic warping to prevent unwanted viewers from understanding the content without distracting the user.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of information
If a privacy screen is mounted over the device display, then viewing privacy is improved, but viewing quality deteriorates (color shifts, reduced luminance, changes with head or device movement)
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the parameter of display content from static to dynamic, transforming ordinary display frames into visually encrypted frames that adapt to viewing angle. This allows the display to maintain high viewing quality for the user while presenting scrambled content to observers at other angles, eliminating the need for physical privacy screens that degrade image quality.
2Loss of information
If a privacy screen is mounted over the device display, then viewing privacy is improved, but device complexity increases (bulky, separate devices that must be carried and mounted)
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the privacy protection function directly into the display device by integrating visual encryption capabilities into the display controller and processing circuitry. This eliminates the need for separate, bulky privacy screens that must be physically attached, reducing device complexity while maintaining privacy protection.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the mechanical privacy screen system with a digital visual encryption system. Instead of using physical barriers that require mounting and carrying, the solution uses software-based frame transformation that can be controlled electronically, significantly reducing mechanical complexity.
3Loss of information
If display content is obscured to prevent viewing by onlookers, then privacy is improved, but the user's viewing experience deteriorates (visual cues might attract attention, content may appear distorted)
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by transforming only the display content in regions visible to onlookers, while maintaining normal display quality in the user's viewing zone. The visual encryption is applied selectively based on viewing angle, ensuring the user experiences no degradation while privacy is protected from observers.
Data Source
AI summary
Aspects of the subject technology relate to gaze-dependent visual encryption of electronic device displays. Each display frame that is displayed on the electronic device display may include a clear-display region around the user's gaze location and an obscured region outside the clear-display region. In this way, only the display content that the user is actively viewing is recognizable and understandable and an onlooker such as an unwanted observer looking over the user's shoulder is unable to understand what is displayed. The obscured region of each display frame may be generated such that the overall look and structure of that region is unchanged, but the content is unintelligible. In this way, the visual experience of the user is not disrupted or distracted by the visual encryption and the eye of the onlooker is not guided to the clear-display region by the visual encryption.