In one embodiment, a navigation system may include at least one self-describing fiducial with a communication element to communicate navigation state estimation aiding information comprising a geographic position of the self-describing fiducial with respect to one or more coordinate systems and a first navigating object to receive navigation information from an exterior system, receive navigation state estimation aiding information from the self-describing fiducial, and compare the navigation information received from the exterior system to the navigation state estimation aiding information to improve navigation parameters of the first navigating object.

A container for a foodstuff or beverage 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 an arrangement of at least two reference units defining a reference point and a reference line r extending from said point; the data portion comprising a data unit arranged on an encoding line D, the encoding line D extending from the reference point and arranged at an angle a to the reference line r, the data unit arranged a distance d from the reference point as a variable to at least partially encode a parameter of the preparation information.

In one embodiment, a self-describing fiducial includes a communication element that optically communicates navigation-aiding information. The navigation-aiding information may include a position of the self-describing fiducial with respect to one or more coordinate systems and the communication element communicates the navigation-aiding information to one or more navigating objects in the vicinity of the self-describing fiducial. In another embodiment, the communication element is further configured to communicate supplementary information describing a spatial relationship between the self-describing fiducial and the surrounding environment.

An omnidirectional barcode may include a graphical representation of a one-dimensional barcode wherein the graphical representation of the one-dimensional barcode is extended circumferentially around a three-dimensional (3D) object. A method of forming an omnidirectional barcode may include creating a graphical representation of a one-dimensional barcode and extending the one-dimensional representation in at least one dimension.

A method of an information processing device is provided. The method includes: dividing, by the at least one processor, a predetermined region used for generating a two-dimensional code into an image region and an encoding region that does not overlap the image region; setting, by the at least one processor, a first image in the image region; and setting, by the at least one processor, at least one code element used for storing data information in the encoding region.

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 generation method for a barcode is disclosed. The generation method for a barcode includes: obtaining a dotted line segment based on a barcode generated in a reference encoding mode and an intersection between the barcode and a straight line perpendicular to a black stripe in the barcode; and rotating the dotted line segment by 180 degrees by using either one of two endpoints of the dotted line segment as a center of a circle, to generate a semicircular barcode.

A method for authenticating an article including engraving a circular feature into a verification substrate that includes a plurality of concentric rings within the circular feature arranged in a pattern according to a data encoding schema, wherein at least one of the plurality of rings includes a surface anomaly. The method can include capturing a first image of the circular feature and storing the first image in a memory device. The verification substrate can be attached to an article to traced and/or authenticated. A second image of the circular feature can be captured and compared with the first image to determine if the surface anomaly is present in the second image, thereby authenticating the article.

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.

An object bearing a three-dimensional rotatably-readable encoding of data configured for optical rotational machine-reading, the object being a subject of the data, the encoding of data including a multiplicity of three-dimensional shapes formed on a label adhered to a surface of the object, the surface being arranged for rotation in a plane coinciding with the surface, the multiplicity of three-dimensional shapes being formed to reflect light impinging thereupon while the surface is rotated, characteristics of the reflected light representing data encoded within the multiplicity of three-dimensional shapes.