A container for a beverage or foodstuff preparation machine, the container for containing beverage or foodstuff material and comprising a code encoding preparation information, the code comprising a reference portion and a data portion: the reference portion comprising reference units defining a reference line r; the data portion comprising a data unit, wherein said data unit is arranged on an encoding line D that intersects the reference line r, the data unit is arranged a distance d from said intersection as a variable to at least partially encode a parameter of the preparation information, whereby said encoding line D is circular and is arranged with a tangent thereto orthogonal the reference line r at said intersection point, wherein the reference units are arranged with a configuration defining a reference point from which the reference line r extends.

A method for limiting exposure to infectious disease by controlling access to a controlled access venue to admit individuals who have tested non-infectious for a particular highly infectious disease or have received a vaccination against the same comprises receiving, at a central website operator server, consumer user identification information from consumer users and storing that information in a consumer user database associated with the server. A biometric identifier from the consumer users is transmitted to the consumer user database and each associated with its respective associated consumer user to form an enrollment record. Identity of a presented individual is collected at a medical certification point and an authority record is created in an accessible authority database. At said medical certification point, an antibody test or vaccination is administered and the same is noted in the authority record. A biometric is collected from a venue presented consumer at a presentation venue, compared to authority records for a match, and the result provided to the venue.

A method for limiting exposure to infectious disease by controlling access to a controlled access venue to admit individuals who have tested non-infectious for a particular highly infectious disease or have received a vaccination against the same comprises receiving, at a central website operator server, consumer user identification information from consumer users and storing that information in a consumer user database associated with the server. A biometric identifier from the consumer users is transmitted to the consumer user database and each associated with its respective associated consumer user to form an enrollment record. Identity of a presented individual is collected at a medical certification point and an authority record is created in an accessible authority database. At said medical certification point, an antibody test or vaccination is administered and the same is noted in the authority record. A biometric is collected from a venue presented consumer at a presentation venue, compared to authority records for a match, and the result provided to the venue.

Various implementations disclosed herein include devices, systems, and methods that provide a visual marker including a plurality of markings arranged in a corresponding plurality of shapes. In some implementations, each marking is formed of a set of sub-markings separated by gaps and arranged according to a respective shape, and the gaps of the plurality of markings are configured to encode data and indicate orientation of the visual marker. In some implementations, the plurality of markings are arranged in a plurality of concentric rings of increasing size. In some implementations, the orientation is encoded in a first set of gaps and data in a second set of gaps of the gaps in the plurality of markings.

A container for a foodstuff or beverage preparation machine, the container for containing beverage or foodstuff material and including a code encoding preparation information. The code has a reference portion and a data portion, the reference portion including an arrangement of at least two reference units defining a reference line r, the data portion including a plurality of adjacent sectors arranged on an encoding line D. Each sector is bounded by a first circumferential position and a second circumferential position on the encoding line D, and each sector contains a data unit arranged on the encoding line D between the first and second circumferential positions. The data unit is arranged a distance d extending from the first circumferential position as a variable to at least partially encode a parameter of the preparation information, whereby the encoding line D is circular and is arranged with a tangent thereto orthogonal the reference line r at an intersection point.

Systems and methods for identifying and tracing items automatically or with a single command using uniquely coded icons are disclosed. A multifunctional scanning system automatically generates and provides different scannable codes to enable security and traceability for users, articles of manufacture, products, media files and the like. If automatic scanning is activated, the multifunctional scanning system scans each new item automatically without a command (depending on setting the period of time between each scan, or depending on changes in the screen's display), then sends a request to a server and transmits the captured icon screenshot. A user can also use the scanning system to manually scan items.

An object with an icon thereon encodes a bit sequence. The icon comprises a plurality of concentric rings, each of the plurality of concentric rings is divided into a plurality of data sectors. Each of the plurality of data sectors is associated with a corresponding bit in the bit sequence, and each of the plurality of data sectors encodes the corresponding bit based on the presence or absence of a line segment in the sector. The plurality of concentric rings further comprises at least three anchor sectors on one or more of the plurality of concentric rings, the at least three anchor sectors comprise an anchor mark. The plurality of concentric rings further comprises one or more error correction sectors, each of the one or more error correction sectors encodes a corresponding error correction bit based on the presence or absence of a line segment in the error correction sector.

There is provided a print apparatus and a media roll for the print apparatus, comprising a media identifier located on an end of a core section of the media roll. A type of media loaded into the print apparatus is determined by sensing the media identifier on the media roll using a non-contact sensor to scan the end of the core section.

Systems and methods are provided for decoding secure tags using an authentication server and secure tag reader. The system can include at least one processor and at least one non-transitory memory. The memory can contain instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the secure tag reader to perform operations. The operations can include detecting a potential secure tag in an image and generating a normalized secure tag image using the image and a stylesheet. The operations can further include providing an identification request to an authentication server, the identification request including the normalized secure tag image. The operations can additionally include receiving rules for decoding tag data encoded into the secure tag as tag feature options and decoding the tag data using the received rules.

A spherical identifier may, in an example, include a sphere including a plurality of shells forming the sphere, a radially-defined code being discernable using the arrangement of the plurality of shells. A three-dimensional object identifier may, in an example, include a number of spheres manufactured into the body of the three-dimensional object wherein each of the spheres comprise a plurality of shells; the shells constituting a radially definable code.