AirCode: Unobtrusive Physical Tags for Digital Fabrication

We present AirCode, a technique that allows the user to tag physically fabricated objects with given information. An AirCode tag consists of a group of carefully designed air pockets placed beneath the object surface. These air pockets are easily produced during the fabrication process of the object, without any additional material or postprocessing. Meanwhile, the air pockets affect only the scattering light transport under the surface, and thus are hard to notice to our naked eyes. But, by using a computational imaging method, the tags become detectable. We present a tool that automates the design of air pockets for the user to encode information. AirCode system also allows the user to retrieve the information from captured images via a robust decoding algorithm. We demonstrate our tagging technique with applications for metadata embedding, robotic grasping, as well as conveying object affordances.Comment: ACM UIST 2017 Technical Paper

Ubic: Bridging the gap between digital cryptography and the physical world

Advances in computing technology increasingly blur the boundary between the digital domain and the physical world. Although the research community has developed a large number of cryptographic primitives and has demonstrated their usability in all-digital communication, many of them have not yet made their way into the real world due to usability aspects. We aim to make another step towards a tighter integration of digital cryptography into real world interactions. We describe Ubic, a framework that allows users to bridge the gap between digital cryptography and the physical world. Ubic relies on head-mounted displays, like Google Glass, resource-friendly computer vision techniques as well as mathematically sound cryptographic primitives to provide users with better security and privacy guarantees. The framework covers key cryptographic primitives, such as secure identification, document verification using a novel secure physical document format, as well as content hiding. To make a contribution of practical value, we focused on making Ubic as simple, easily deployable, and user friendly as possible.Comment: In ESORICS 2014, volume 8712 of Lecture Notes in Computer Science, pp. 56-75, Wroclaw, Poland, September 7-11, 2014. Springer, Berlin, German

Phase ambiguity resolution for offset QPSK modulation systems

A demodulator for Offset Quaternary Phase Shift Keyed (OQPSK) signals modulated with two words resolves eight possible combinations of phase ambiguity which may produce data error by first processing received I(sub R) and Q(sub R) data in an integrated carrier loop/symbol synchronizer using a digital Costas loop with matched filters for correcting four of eight possible phase lock errors, and then the remaining four using a phase ambiguity resolver which detects the words to not only reverse the received I(sub R) and Q(sub R) data channels, but to also invert (complement) the I(sub R) and/or Q(sub R) data, or to at least complement the I(sub R) and Q(sub R) data for systems using nontransparent codes that do not have rotation direction ambiguity

HST observations of the limb polarization of Titan

Titan is an excellent test case for detailed studies of the scattering polarization from thick hazy atmospheres. We present the first limb polarization measurements of Titan, which are compared as a test to our limb polarization models. Previously unpublished imaging polarimetry from the HST archive is presented which resolves the disk of Titan. We determine flux-weighted averages of the limb polarization and radial limb polarization profiles, and investigate the degradation and cancelation effects in the polarization signal due to the limited spatial resolution of our observations. Taking this into account we derive corrected values for the limb polarization in Titan. The results are compared with limb polarization models, using atmosphere and haze scattering parameters from the literature. In the wavelength bands between 250 nm and 2000 nm a strong limb polarization of about 2-7 % is detected with a position angle perpendicular to the limb. The fractional polarization is highest around 1 micron. As a first approximation, the polarization seems to be equally strong along the entire limb. The detected polarization is compatible with expectations from previous polarimetric observations taken with Voyager 2, Pioneer 11, and the Huygens probe. Our results indicate that ground-based monitoring measurements of the limb-polarization of Titan could be useful for investigating local haze properties and the impact of short-term and seasonal variations of the hazy atmosphere of Titan. Planets with hazy atmospheres similar to Titan are particularly good candidates for detection with the polarimetric mode of the upcoming planet finder instrument at the VLT. Therefore, a good knowledge of the polarization properties of Titan is also important for the search and investigation of extra-solar planets.Comment: 13 pages, 13 figures, accepted for publication in Astronomy & Astrophysic