Watermarking is used to track and identify digital images. One claim includes acts of: processing obtained imagery to yield local image information, the local image information being inadequate to reveal a subject depicted in said obtained imagery, using the local image information, resolving geometric distortion of the imagery, the geometric distortion comprising scale and rotation, said resolving yielding geometrically resolved imagery, and detecting the encoded signal from the geometrically resolved imagery using secret detecting information. A great variety of other features and arrangements are also detailed.

Watermarking is used to track and identify digital images. One claim includes acts of: processing obtained imagery to yield local image information, the local image information being inadequate to reveal a subject depicted in said obtained imagery, using the local image information, resolving geometric distortion of the imagery, the geometric distortion comprising scale and rotation, said resolving yielding geometrically resolved imagery, and detecting the encoded signal from the geometrically resolved imagery using secret detecting information. A great variety of other features and arrangements are also detailed.

A method for verifying a property of plaintext using ciphertext is disclosed. In an embodiment, a computing device may receive the ciphertext at a trusted execution environment (TEE) of the computing device. The TEE may decrypt the ciphertext to generate the plaintext using a private encryption key of an encryption key pair. The encryption key pair comprises a public encryption key and the private encryption key. The TEE may generate a digitally signed validation result by encrypting the validation result using a private signing key of a signing key pair. The signing key pair comprises a public signing key and the private signing key. The private key is retrieved from secure memory of the computing device, and the secure memory may only be accessible by the TEE. The computing device may then transmit the digitally signed validation result.

A method for verifying a property of plaintext using ciphertext is disclosed. In an embodiment, a computing device may receive the ciphertext at a trusted execution environment (TEE) of the computing device. The TEE may decrypt the ciphertext to generate the plaintext using a private encryption key of an encryption key pair. The encryption key pair comprises a public encryption key and the private encryption key. The TEE may generate a digitally signed validation result by encrypting the validation result using a private signing key of a signing key pair. The signing key pair comprises a public signing key and the private signing key. The private key is retrieved from secure memory of the computing device, and the secure memory may only be accessible by the TEE. The computing device may then transmit the digitally signed validation result.

A plastic item, such as a beverage bottle, conveys two distinct digital watermarks, encoded using two distinct signaling protocols. A first, printed label watermark conveys a retailing payload, including a Global Trade Item Number (GTIN) used by a point-of-sale scanner in a retail store to identify and price the item when presented for checkout. A second, plastic texture watermark conveys a recycling payload, including data identifying the composition of the plastic. The use of two different signaling protocols assures that a point-of-sale scanner will not spend its limited time and computational resources working to decode the recycling watermark, which lacks the data needed for retail checkout. In some embodiments, a recycling apparatus makes advantageous use of both types of watermarks to identify the plastic composition of the item (e.g., relating GTIN to plastic type using an associated database), thereby increasing the fraction of items that are correctly identified for sorting and recycling. A great number of other features and arrangements are also detailed.

A plastic item, such as a beverage bottle, conveys two distinct digital watermarks, encoded using two distinct signaling protocols. A first, printed label watermark conveys a retailing payload, including a Global Trade Item Number (GTIN) used by a point-of-sale scanner in a retail store to identify and price the item when presented for checkout. A second, plastic texture watermark conveys a recycling payload, including data identifying the composition of the plastic. The use of two different signaling protocols assures that a point-of-sale scanner will not spend its limited time and computational resources working to decode the recycling watermark, which lacks the data needed for retail checkout. In some embodiments, a recycling apparatus makes advantageous use of both types of watermarks to identify the plastic composition of the item (e.g., relating GTIN to plastic type using an associated database), thereby increasing the fraction of items that are correctly identified for sorting and recycling. A great number of other features and arrangements are also detailed.

Disclosed herein is a method for binding information to a tangible object, a method for verifying information bound to a tangible object, a method for verifying that an optical symbol fixed to a tangible object was optically read, a system for binding information to a tangible object, and a system for verifying information bound to a tangible object.

Service for a machine such as a laboratory instrument can be facilitated by capture of images showing the field of view of a user of the machine, and modification of those images to remove confidential information. Modified images can then be provided to service technicians so that the service technicians can have visual information that would allow them to more effectively communicate and interact with the machines' users.

Techniques for automated transactions are provided. A customer uses a mobile device to interact with an enterprise automation terminal to perform a transaction. At the start of the transaction, a unique barcode for the transaction is generated and displayed to the customer. The mobile device scans the barcode (can be a QR code); this causes the mobile device to communicate with a remote server that identifies the customer. Preferences for the customer are retrieved and the transaction and features of the terminal are configured based on the preferences. The transaction proceeds with the configured preferences.

Techniques for automated transactions are provided. A customer uses a mobile device to interact with an enterprise automation terminal to perform a transaction. At the start of the transaction, a unique barcode for the transaction is generated and displayed to the customer. The mobile device scans the barcode (can be a QR code); this causes the mobile device to communicate with a remote server that identifies the customer. Preferences for the customer are retrieved and the transaction and features of the terminal are configured based on the preferences. The transaction proceeds with the configured preferences.