In general, in some aspects, the subject matter of the present disclosure can be embodied in methods for confirming identity, in which the methods include: outputting a parameter by a reading device, the reading device adapted to read an image displayed on a display of a display device; receiving the parameter output by the reading device by the display device; generating a fractal image at least in accordance with the received parameter by the display device; displaying the generated fractal image on the display of the display device; imaging the displayed fractal image by the reading device; comparing the imaged fractal image to an expected fractal image generated by the reader at least in accordance with the parameter; and confirming that the imaged fractal image and the expected fractal image do not differ by more than a predetermined amount.

An encoding device comprises: a dividing unit configured to divide an encoding unit of an image into a plurality of regions; a header generation unit configured to generate, for each boundary that partitions each of the plurality of regions along a direction which crosses a line, a boundary header used to identify the boundary; a trajectory generation unit configured to generate a piece of trajectory information representing a displacement of the boundary associated with progress of a line; and an aligning unit configured to, when generating encoded data including generated boundary headers and generated pieces of trajectory information, change, in accordance with the number of boundaries, a manner in which the generated boundary headers and the generated pieces of trajectory information are aligned.

In general, in some aspects, the subject matter of the present disclosure can be embodied in methods for confirming identity, in which the methods include: outputting a parameter by a reading device, the reading device adapted to read an image displayed on a display of a display device; receiving the parameter output by the reading device by the display device; generating a fractal image at least in accordance with the received parameter by the display device; displaying the generated fractal image on the display of the display device; imaging the displayed fractal image by the reading device; comparing the imaged fractal image to an expected fractal image generated by the reader at least in accordance with the parameter; and confirming that the imaged fractal image and the expected fractal image do not differ by more than a predetermined amount.

An encoding device comprises: a dividing unit configured to divide an encoding unit of an image into a plurality of regions; a header generation unit configured to generate, for each boundary that partitions each of the plurality of regions along a direction which crosses a line, a boundary header used to identify the boundary; a trajectory generation unit configured to generate a piece of trajectory information representing a displacement of the boundary associated with progress of a line; and an aligning unit configured to, when generating encoded data including generated boundary headers and generated pieces of trajectory information, change, in accordance with the number of boundaries, a manner in which the generated boundary headers and the generated pieces of trajectory information are aligned.

In various embodiments, a system and method for manufacturing and using an optical enhancement assembly in combination with an image-capturing device are presented. In example embodiments, the optical enhancement assembly is affixed over an aperture on the image-capturing device using a securing agent. Light is allowed to travel through the optical enhancement assembly and into the aperture of the image-capturing device such that the light can be recorded as a still image or video. The optical enhancement assembly includes at least a unique fractalized diffraction pattern that impacts light traveling into the aperture and causes a unique diffraction effect on the image or video recorded by the image-capturing device.

In various embodiments, a system and method for manufacturing and using an optical enhancement assembly in combination with an image-capturing device are presented. In example embodiments, the optical enhancement assembly is affixed over an aperture on the image-capturing device using a securing agent. Light is allowed to travel through the optical enhancement assembly and into the aperture of the image-capturing device such that the light can be recorded as a still image or video. The optical enhancement assembly includes at least a unique fractalized diffraction pattern that impacts light traveling into the aperture and causes a unique diffraction effect on the image or video recorded by the image-capturing device.

A method for constructing an epitome from an image divided into non overlapping blocks is disclosed. The method comprises: determining, for each block, similar patches in the image, a similar patch being a patch with similar content; constructing at least one epitome chart for the picture from the similar patches;
wherein determining, for each block, similar patches in the image comprises: a) determining, for each current block, similar blocks in the image, a similar block being a block with content similar to the content of the current block; b) determining, for one current block and for the similar blocks determined for the current block, similar patches in the image, a similar patch being a patch with content similar to the content of the current block; c) repeating step b) for a next current block for which no similar patch is determined until at least one similar patch is determined for each block in the image.

A method and system for applying and reading a fractal image to and from a plurality of objects to act as an identification label is provided. The system includes a printer for printing a fractal pattern to the plurality of objects and a reader for reading the printed fractal pattern. Such a fractal image is robust to printing and imaging difficulties and inconsistencies, and is difficult to copy, thus defending against counterfeiting.

In various embodiments, a system and method for manufacturing and using an optical enhancement assembly in combination with an image-capturing device are presented. In example embodiments, the optical enhancement assembly is affixed over an aperture on the image-capturing device using a securing agent. Light is allowed to travel through the optical enhancement assembly and into the aperture of the image-capturing device such that the light can be recorded as a still image or video. The optical enhancement assembly includes at least a unique fractalized diffraction pattern that impacts light traveling into the aperture and causes a unique diffraction effect on the image or video recorded by the image-capturing device.

A method, computing device and a computer-readable storage medium for encoding and decoding video data for streaming are provided. The method includes receiving video data comprising frames; accessing a dataset comprising at least one image expected to have similarity to at least one of the frames of the received video data; selecting an image or a portion of the image, from the dataset based on similarity to at least a portion of a first frame of the received video data; generating a frame using the image or the portion of the image selected from the dataset; encoding the generated frame and the frames of the received video data to produce encoded video data; and removing data corresponding to the generated frame from the encoded video data to produce modified encoded video data and generating data identifying the image or the portion of the image selected from the dataset.