Reality-Sensing Framework Access Control for AR Privacy
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Solution Overview
Problem
Augmented reality applications raise privacy concerns as they capture sensitive information from the environment, which can be inadvertently shared or accessed by unauthorized applications, lacking effective mechanisms for fine-grained and privileged access control.
Innovation Solution
A reality-sensing framework with a recognition system and management module that processes perceptual information to identify higher-level objects and manages access based on permission information, providing a shared renderer for efficient inter-application sharing while preventing sensitive information exposure.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If environment-sensing applications capture and process perceptual information from the environment, then the applications can provide augmented reality functionality and access environmental data, but private and sensitive information may be inadvertently exposed to unauthorized applications
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a management module as an intermediary between the recognition system and environment-sensing applications. This module mediates access to perceptual information by evaluating permission information and selectively delivering events to authorized applications only, thereby preventing unauthorized access while maintaining functional access for legitimate applications
Solution Approach 2:
The patent segments the access control mechanism by dividing perceptual information into discrete events with associated permission information. Each event can be independently evaluated and controlled, allowing fine-grained access management where different applications can access different portions of environmental data based on their specific permissions
2Ease of manufacture
If each application implements its own ad hoc privacy protection mechanisms, then developers can address privacy concerns individually, but the system lacks centralized control and fine-grained access management
Solution Approach 1:
The management module provides a universal access control mechanism that serves all environment-sensing applications through a common interface. Instead of requiring each application to implement its own privacy protection, the single management module handles permission evaluation and event delivery for all applications, simplifying development while providing centralized control
3Ease of operation
If applications are granted broad access to environmental information, then applications can function with minimal restrictions, but sensitive information may be accessed by applications that should not have access
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary action by evaluating permission information before delivering environmental events to applications. The management module checks whether an application is authorized to receive specific events and only delivers them if permission is granted, preventing unauthorized access while ensuring legitimate applications receive the information they need to function
Data Source
AI summary
Functionality is described herein by which plural environment-sensing applications capture information from an environment in a fine-grained and least-privileged manner. By doing so, the functionality reduces the risk that private information that appears within the environment will be released to unauthorized parties. Among other aspects, the functionality provides an error correction mechanism for reducing the incidence of false positives in the detection of objects, an offloading technique for delegating computationally intensive recognition tasks to a remote computing framework, and a visualization module by which a user may inspect the access rights to be granted (or already granted) to each application.