CLIAMS:1. A method for securing an image in an augmented reality application, the method comprising:
identifying, by a first device, a Region of Interest (ROI), in an image captured by the first device, wherein the ROI indicates a privacy region to be protected in the image;
defining an access policy for a set of attributes to access the ROI, wherein the set of attributes correspond to a user profile;
encrypting, by the first device, the ROI using an Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) key, wherein the ROI is encrypted to conceal the ROI in the image;
encrypting, by the first device, the Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) key using an Attribute Based Encryption (ABE) public key, wherein the ABE public key is used to preserve privacy such that access is provided to the corresponding user profile, and wherein the AES key is encrypted based on the set of attributes and the access policy;
publishing, by the first device, the image, the access policy, and the AES key encrypted, securely to at least one user of one or more second devices in order to perform a plurality of augmented reality operations, wherein the at least one user is associated with the user profile;
providing, by the second device, an Attribute Based Encryption (ABE) private key corresponding to the set of attributes to access the ROI in the image, wherein the ABE private key is associated with the set of the attributes corresponding to a user of the second device;
decrypting, by the second device, the AES key based upon the ABE private key provided; and
decrypting, by the second device, the ROI based upon the decryption of the AES key in order to render the ROI in the image on the second device.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein the first device comprises at least one of a camera, a smart phone, a computer, an electronic device, and a laptop.
3. The method of claim 1, wherein the image, the access policy and the AES key encrypted are published to a server.
4. The method of claim 3, wherein the one or more second devices subscribe to the server in order to receive the image after the publication.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising sending, an augmented data in a form of graphics, text or video by the second device to the first device, wherein the augmented data is sent to provide information to the first device.
6. The method of claim 5, wherein the augmented data is sent upon producing a digital signature by the second device to verify integrity of information sent by the second device.
7. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more of second devices comprise at least one of a camera, a smart phone, a computer, an electronic device, and a laptop.
8. The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving a message digest to authenticate success of the ROI decryption on the second device.
9. The method of claim 8, further comprising checking the message digest with a hash of the image to render the ROI on the second device.
10. The method of claim 9, further comprising rendering a fog on the ROI in case of a failure in the ROI decryption for avoiding unpleasantness in the image decrypted.
11. The method of claim 1, wherein the second device obtains the ABE private key from a Private Key Generation (PKG) device.
12. A first device for encrypting an image in an augmented reality application, the first device comprising:
an image sensor;
a first memory; and
a first processor coupled to the first memory, wherein the first processor executes program instructions stored in the first memory to:
receive an image captured by the image sensor;
identify a Region of Interest (ROI), in the image, wherein the ROI indicates a privacy region to be protected in the image;
define an access policy for a set of attributes to access the ROI, wherein the set of attributes correspond to a user profile;
encrypt the ROI using an Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) key, wherein the ROI is encrypted to conceal the ROI in the image;
encrypt the Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) key using an Attribute Based Encryption (ABE) public key, wherein the ABE public key is used to preserve privacy such that access is provided to the corresponding user profile, and wherein the AES key is encrypted based on the set of attributes and the access policy; and
publish the image, the access policy, and the AES key encrypted securely to at least one user of one or more second devices in order to perform a plurality of augmented reality operations, wherein the at least one user is associated with the user profile.
13. The first device of claim 12 comprises at least one of a camera, a smart phone, a computer, an electronic device, and a laptop.
14. The first device of claim 12, wherein the image, the access policy and the AES key encrypted are published to a server.
15. The first device of claim 14, wherein the one or more second devices subscribe to the server in order to receive the image after the publication.
16. The first device of claim 12, wherein the one or more second devices comprise at least one of a camera, a smart phone, a computer, an electronic device, and a laptop.
17. A second device for decrypting an image in an augmented reality application, the second device comprising:
a second memory; and
a second processor coupled to the second memory, wherein the second processor executes program instructions stored in the second memory to:
receive an image, an access policy and an Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) key associated with a set of attributes associated with the image, from a first device, wherein the image comprises a Region of Interest (ROI) encrypted using the AES keys, and wherein the ROI indicates a privacy region to be protected in the image;
receive an Attribute Based Encryption (ABE) private key associated with the set of attributes to access the ROI in the image;
decrypt the AES key based using the ABE private key; and
decrypt the ROI based upon the decryption of the AES key in order to render the ROI in the image.
18. The second device of claim 17, wherein the first device publishes the image, the access policy and the AES key to a server.
19. The second device of claim 18 subscribes to the server to receive the image, the access policy and the AES key.

20. The second device of claim 17, wherein the second processor further executes the program instructions to send an augmented data in a form of graphics, text or video to the first device by producing a digital signature, wherein the augmented data is sent to provide information to the first device.
21. The second device of claim 17, wherein the second processor further executes the program instructions to receive a message digest to authenticate success of the ROI decryption on the second device.
22. The second device of claim 21, wherein the second processor further executes the program instructions to check the message digest with a hash of the image to render the ROI on the second device.
23. The second device of claim 22, wherein the second processor further executes the program instructions to render a fog on the ROI in case of a failure in the ROI decryption for avoiding unpleasantness in the image decrypted
,TagSPECI:
FORM 2
THE PATENTS ACT, 1970
(39 of 1970)
&
THE PATENT RULES, 2003

COMPLETE SPECIFICATION
(See Section 10 and Rule 13)

Title of invention:
PRESERVING PRIVACY AND SECURITY OF AN IMAGE IN AN AUGMENTED REALITY APPLICATION


APPLICANT:
Tata Consultancy Services Limited
A Company Incorporated in India under The Companies Act, 1956
Having address:
Nirmal Building, 9th Floor,
Nariman Point, Mumbai 400021,
Maharashtra, India


The following specification particularly describes the invention and the manner in which it is to be performed.
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[001] The present application does not claim priority to any other Patent Application.

TECHNICAL FIELD
[002] The present disclosure in general relates to an augmented reality application. More specifically, the present disclosure relates to preserving privacy and security of an image in an augmented reality application.

BACKGROUND
[003] With advent in technology, an augmented reality technology is used in mobile applications that are widely used across various domains. As augmented reality technology is adapted widely, there exist difficulties in maintaining security and privacy. When the augmented reality applications are in use, user of an electronic device may share an image with other users. Upon receiving the image, the other user may view the image on their devices. Without adequate security, an intruder may access the image shared by the user. Further, the applications embedding the augmented reality may use sensors; e.g., a camera, a Global Positioning System (GPS), and an Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) present in the electronic devices. The sensors may be used to sense/capture surroundings of the user. When the sensors sense the surroundings, the user may have to identify potential privacy risks in the image. Specifically, the user may have to identify sensitive information present in the image such that the sensitive information is not shared with all the users. For example, if the user captures an image, the user must not share location of the surroundings to unknown personnel. Similarly, the user must not share bystanders captured in the image with other users.
[004] As discussed above, the image may not be relevant to all the users when the image is shared. It is important to determine privacy levels for each user when the image is shared with more than one user. Similarly, it is important to maintain the security of the image such that only trusted users will have access to view the image. Further, the integrity of the image is not verified to remove unpleasantness when the image is rendered on the other user devices.

SUMMARY
[005] This summary is provided to introduce concepts related to a method for securing an image in an augmented reality application and the concepts are further described below in the detailed description. This summary is not intended to identify essential features of the claimed subject matter nor is it intended for use in determining or limiting the scope of the claimed subject matter.
[006] In one implementation, a method for securing an image in an augmented reality application is disclosed. The method comprises identifying, by a first device, a Region of Interest (ROI) in an image captured by the first device. The ROI indicates privacy region to be protected in the image. The method further comprises defining an access policy for a set of attributes to access the ROI. The set of attributes correspond to a user profile. The method further comprises encrypting, by the first device, the ROI using an Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) key. The ROI is encrypted to conceal the ROI in the image. The method further comprises encrypting, by the first device, the Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) key using an Attribute Based Encryption (ABE) public key. The ABE key is used to preserve privacy such that access is provided to the corresponding user profile. In other words, the ABE key is used to preserve privacy by providing user profile based image access. The AES key is encrypted based on the set of attributes and the access policy. The method further comprises publishing, by the first device, the image, the access policy, and the AES keys encrypted securely to at least one user of one or more second devices in order to perform a plurality of augmented reality operations. The at least one user is associated with the user profile. In one example, the image, the access policy, and the AES keys encrypted are published to a server. In another example, a Private Key Generation (PKG) device publishes/generates the ABE public key and the AES keys. The one or more second devices subscribe to the server in order to receive the image after the publication. The method further comprises providing, by the second device, an Attribute Based Encryption (ABE) private key corresponding to the set of attributes to access the ROI in the image. The ABE private key is associated with the set of attributes corresponding to a user of the second device. The method further comprises decrypting, by the second device, the AES key based upon the ABE private key provided. The method further comprises decrypting, by the second device, the ROI based upon the decryption of the AES key in order to render the ROI in the image on the second device. The method further comprises receiving a message digest to authenticate success of the ROI decryption on the second device. The method further comprises checking the message digest with a hash of the image to render the ROI on the second device. The method further comprises rendering a fog on the ROI in case of a failure in the ROI decryption for avoiding unpleasantness in the image decrypted. The method further comprises sending an augmented data in a form of graphics, text or video to display on the first device's screen, by the second device for conveying some information to the first device. The augmented data is sent upon producing a digital signature by the second device to verify integrity of information sent by the second device.
[007] In one implementation, a first device for encrypting an image in an augmented reality application is disclosed. The first device comprises an image sensor, a first memory and a first processor coupled to the first memory. The first processor executes program instructions stored in the memory to receive an image captured by the image sensor. The first processor further executes program instructions stored in the first memory to identify a Region of Interest (ROI), in the image. The ROI indicates a privacy region to be protected in the image. The first processor further executes program instructions stored in the first memory to define an access policy for a set of attributes to access the ROI. The set of attributes correspond to a user profile. The first processor further executes program instructions stored in the first memory to encrypt the ROI of the image using an Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) key. The ROI is encrypted to conceal the ROI in the image. The first processor further executes program instructions stored in the first memory to encrypt the Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) key using an Attribute Based Encryption (ABE) public key. The AES key is encrypted based on the first set of attributes and the access policy. The ABE public key is used to preserve privacy such that access is provided to the corresponding user profile. The first processor further executes program instructions stored in the first memory to publish the image, the access policy, and the AES keys encrypted securely to at least one user of one or more second devices in order to perform a plurality of augmented reality operations. The at least one user is associated with the user profile. The image, the access policy, and AES keys encrypted are published to a server. The one or more second devices subscribe to the server in order to receive the image after the publication.
[008] In one implementation, a second device for decrypting an image in an augmented reality application is disclosed. The second device comprises a second memory and a second processor coupled to the second memory. The second processor executes program instructions stored in the second memory to receive an image, an access policy and an AES keys, from a first device. The image comprises a Region of Interest (ROI) encrypted using the Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) key. The ROI indicates a privacy region to be protected in the image. The first device publishes the image, the access policy and the AES key encrypted to a server. The second device subscribes to the server in order to receive the image. The second processor further executes program instructions stored in the second memory to receive an Attribute Based Encryption (ABE) private key associated with the set of attributes to access the ROI in the image. In one example, the second device received the ABE private keys from a Private Key Generation (PKG) device. The second processor further executes program instructions stored in the second memory to decrypt the AES key using the ABE private key. The second processor further executes program instructions stored in the second memory to decrypt the ROI based upon the decryption of the AES key in order to render the ROI in the image. The second processor further executes the program instructions stored in the second memory to receive a message digest to authenticate success of the ROI decryption on the second device. The second processor further executes the program instructions stored in the second memory to check the message digest with a hash of the image to render the ROI on the second device. The second processor further executes the program instructions stored in the second memory to render a fog on the ROI in case of a failure in the ROI decryption for avoiding unpleasantness in the image decrypted. The second processor further executes the program instructions stored in the second memory to send an augmented data to the first device by producing a digital signature.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS
[009] The detailed description is described with reference to the accompanying figures. In the figures, the left-most digit(s) of a reference number identifies the figure in which the reference number first appears. The same numbers are used throughout the drawings to refer like/similar features and components.
[0010] FIG. 1 illustrates a network implementation of devices for securing an image in an augmented reality application, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.
[0011] FIG. 2 illustrates a first device, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.
[0012] FIG. 3 illustrates a server, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.
[0013] FIG. 4 illustrates the second device, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.
[0014] FIG. 5 illustrates the image captured by the first device, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.
[0015] FIG. 6 – FIG. 8 illustrate identifying Region of Interest (ROI) in the image and encrypting the ROI, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.
[0016] FIG. 9 illustrates rendering the image on the second device, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.
[0017] FIG. 10 shows a flowchart of a method for securing an image augmented reality application, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0018] The present disclosure relates to devices and a method for securing an image in an augmented reality application. At first, an image may be captured by a first device. In one example, the first device may be a camera, a smart phone, an electronic device and a computer. After capturing the image, a Region of Interest (ROI) in the image may be identified. The ROI may indicate a privacy region to be protected in the image. For each ROI, an access policy may be defined for a set of attributes such that a user profile matching the access policy may access the ROI. Subsequently, the ROI of the image may be encrypted using an Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) key. The ROI may be encrypted to conceal/mask the ROI in the image. After encrypting the ROI, the AES key may be encrypted using an Attribute Based Encryption (ABE) public key. The AES key may be encrypted based on the set of attributes and the access policy.
[0019] Subsequently, the first device may publish the image, the access policy, and the AES keys encrypted securely to at least one user of one or more second devices in order to perform a plurality of augmented reality operations. The at least one user may be associated with the user profile. In one example, the first device may publish the image, the access policy, and the AES encrypted keys to a server. In another example, Private Key Generation (PKG) device may generate and publish the ABE public key and AES keys.
[0020] The one or more second devices may subscribe to the server to receive the image based on the access policy defined. When the image is published by the first device, the one or more second devices may receive the image based on the subscription. Upon receiving the image, the at least one user of the second device may provide an Attribute Based Encryption (ABE) private key associated with the set of attributes in order to access the ROI in the image. Specifically, the at least one user of the second device provides the ABE private key corresponding to the user profile. In one example, the at least one user of the second device may obtain the ABE private keys from the PKG device. Based on the ABE private key provided, the AES key may be decrypted. After decrypting the AES key, the ROI may be rendered on the second device.
[0021] Further, in order to authenticate success of ROI decryption, a message digest may be received from the second device. The message digest may be checked with a hash of the image. The hash of image provided by the second device may be checked with the hash of the image provided by the first device. The hash of image may be provided using hash keys. If the hash of the image matches, then the ROI is rendered on the image. If the hash of the image provided by the second device does not match, then a fog may be rendered on the ROI of the image. After the image is rendered on the second device, user of the second device may send an augmented data to the first device. The augmented data may be sent to provide information to the first device. The user of the second device may send the augmented data in a form of graphics, text, and video to the first device. In order to verify that the augmented data is provided by the user of the second device, a digital signature of the user of the second device may be provided.
[0022] While aspects of described a first device, a second device and method for securing an image in an augmented reality application may be implemented in any number of different computing systems, environments, and/or configurations, the embodiments are described in the context of the following exemplary implementation.
[0023] Referring now to FIG. 1, a network implementation 100 of a first device 102, a server 104 and one or more second devices 106-1, 106-2…106-N (collectively referred to as second devices 106 hereinafter). In one example, the first device 102 may include, but are not limited to, a portable computer, a multitouch surface, a personal digital assistant, a handheld device, a camera, an electronic device, and a workstation. In one example, the one or more second devices 106 may include, but are not limited to, a portable computer, a multitouch surface, a personal digital assistant, a handheld device, a camera, an electronic device, and a workstation. The first device 102 and the one or more second devices 106 are communicatively coupled to the server 104 through a network (not shown). The server 104 may be implemented based on a publisher and subscriber architecture. Further, the server 104 may be implemented using a MQTT protocol.
[0024] In one implementation, the network may be a wireless network, a wired network or a combination thereof. The network can be implemented as one of the different types of networks, such as intranet, local area network (LAN), wide area network (WAN), the internet, and the like. The network may either be a dedicated network or a shared network. The shared network represents an association of the different types of networks that use a variety of protocols, for example, Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP), Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP), Wireless Application Protocol (WAP), and the like, to communicate with one another. Further the network 106 may include a variety of network devices, including routers, bridges, servers, computing devices, storage devices, and the like.
[0025] Referring now to FIG. 2, the first device 102 is illustrated in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure. In one embodiment, the first device 102 may include one or more first processors 202, one or more first interface 204, one or more first memories 206, and an image sensor 208. The one or more first processors 202 may be implemented as one or more microprocessors, microcomputers, microcontrollers, digital signal processors, central processing units, state machines, logic circuitries, and/or any devices that manipulate signals based on operational instructions. Among other capabilities, the one or more first processors 202 are configured to fetch and execute computer-readable instructions stored in the one or more first memories 206. The first interface 204 may include a variety of software and hardware interfaces, for example, a web interface, a graphical user interface, and the like. The first interface 204 may allow the first device 102 to interact with a user. Further, the first interface 204 may enable the first device 102 to communicate with other computing devices, such as web servers and external data servers (not shown). The first interface 204 may facilitate multiple communications within a wide variety of networks and protocol types, including wired networks, for example, LAN, cable, etc., and wireless networks, such as WLAN, cellular, or satellite.
[0026] The one or more first memories 206 may include any computer-readable medium known in the art including, for example, volatile memory, such as static random access memory (SRAM) and dynamic random access memory (DRAM), and/or non-volatile memory, such as read only memory (ROM), erasable programmable ROM, flash memories, hard disks, optical disks, and magnetic tapes. The image sensor 208 may include a Charge-coupled Device (CCD) sensor, and a complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) sensor.
[0027] In one embodiment, referring to FIG. 3, the server 104 may include at least one third processor 302, a third input/output (I/O) interface 304, and a third memory 306. The at least one third processor 302 may be implemented as one or more microprocessors, microcomputers, microcontrollers, digital signal processors, central processing units, state machines, logic circuitries, and/or any devices that manipulate signals based on operational instructions. Among other capabilities, the at least one third processor 302 is configured to fetch and execute computer-readable instructions stored in the third memory 306.
[0028] The I/O third interface 304 may include a variety of software and hardware interfaces, for example, a web interface, a graphical user interface, and the like. The third I/O interface 304 may allow the server 104 to interact with a user directly or through the first device 102 and the one or more second devices 106. Further, the third I/O interface 304 may enable the server 104 to communicate with other computing devices, such as web servers and external data servers (not shown). The third I/O interface 304 may facilitate multiple communications within a wide variety of networks and protocol types, including wired networks, for example, LAN, cable, etc., and wireless networks, such as WLAN, cellular, or satellite. The third I/O interface 304 may include one or more ports for connecting a number of devices to one another or to another server.
[0029] The third memory 306 may include any computer-readable medium known in the art including, for example, volatile memory, such as static random access memory (SRAM) and dynamic random access memory (DRAM), and/or non-volatile memory, such as read only memory (ROM), erasable programmable ROM, flash memories, hard disks, optical disks, and magnetic tapes.
[0030] Referring now to FIG. 4, the second device 106 is illustrated in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure. In one embodiment, the second device 106 may include one or more second processors 402, one or more second interface 404, and one or more second memories 406. The one or more second processors 402 may be implemented as one or more microprocessors, microcomputers, microcontrollers, digital signal processors, central processing units, state machines, logic circuitries, and/or any devices that manipulate signals based on operational instructions. Among other capabilities, the one or more second processors 402 are configured to fetch and execute computer-readable instructions stored in the one or more second memories 406. The second interface 404 may include a variety of software and hardware interfaces, for example, a web interface, a graphical user interface, and the like. The second interface 404 may allow the second device 106 to interact with a user. Further, the second interface 404 may enable the second device 106 to communicate with other computing devices, such as web servers and external data servers (not shown). The second interface 404 may facilitate multiple communications within a wide variety of networks and protocol types, including wired networks, for example, LAN, cable, etc., and wireless networks, such as WLAN, cellular, or satellite.
[0031] The one or more second memories 406 may include any computer-readable medium known in the art including, for example, volatile memory, such as static random access memory (SRAM) and dynamic random access memory (DRAM), and/or non-volatile memory, such as read only memory (ROM), erasable programmable ROM, flash memories, hard disks, optical disks, and magnetic tapes.
[0032] In one implementation, at first, the user may use the first device 102 to capture an image. As presented above, the first device 102 may comprise at least one of a camera, a smart phone, a computer, an electronic device, and a laptop. In one example, the first device 102 may capture the image of a person using the image sensor 208. In another example, the first device 102 may be used to capture the image 500 of an accident site including a vehicle 502 and a bystander 504, as shown in FIG. 5.
[0033] After capturing the image, the user of the first device 102 may identify a Region of Interest (ROI) in the image. The ROI may indicate a privacy region to be protected in the image. In one example, the user of the first device 102 may capture the image 500, as shown in FIG. 5. In one example, the user may identify the vehicle 502 as a ROI. In another example, the user may identify the bystander 504 as a ROI. It must be understood that the user may identify two or more ROIs in the image. For example, the user may identify the vehicle 502 as a first Region of Interest (ROI) 602 and the bystander 504 as a second Region of Interest (ROI) 604, as shown in FIG.6. After identifying the ROIs, the user of the first device 102 may define an access policy for a set of attributes to access the ROI. In other words, the access policy may be defined to determine who can access the ROI. The set of attributes may correspond to a user profile for accessing the ROI in the image. For the example shown in FIG.6, the set of attributes may be defined based on features of the user profile, e.g., an insurer. Consider the vehicle 602 is identified as the ROI. For the ROI, the access policy may be defined, e.g., the insurer such that the insurer may access the ROI. In another example, consider the vehicle 602 and the face of the bystander 604 are identified as the ROIs. For each of the ROIs identified, the access policy may be defined. For example, the access policy may be defined for police personnel such that the police personnel can access the vehicle 602 and the face of the bystander 604 in the image 600.
[0034] Upon identifying the ROI and defining the access policy, the first device 102 may encrypt the ROI of the image. The first device 102 may encrypt the ROI to conceal the ROI in the image. Consider the first device 102 captures the image of an accident site comprising one or more personnel and one or more vehicles, the user may select a ROI in the image; e.g., a bystander face. After selecting the bystander face, the user of the first device 102 may conceal the bystander face such that the bystander face in the image is not shown when the image is shared with others users. In order to encrypt the ROI, the user may use an Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) key. In order to share the image to targeted users, the user may further encrypt the AES keys and may tag the set of attributes in the image. In one embodiment, the user may encrypt the AES keys using an Attribute Based Encryption (ABE) public key. The user may tag the set of attributes with the ABE public keys for the intended users to access a specific ROI in the image rather than displaying the image to the other users.
[0035] In order to explain encrypting the ROI using the AES keys and encrypting the AES key using the ABE public key, an example may be used. Consider the first device 102 is used to capture an accident site. After capturing the accident site, the user may identify parts of the vehicle as the ROI. In another example, the user may identify a bystander in the image as the ROI. In another example, the user may identify the vehicle as the ROI. The user may identify the ROI in the image such that the user may set preferences in the image to conceal parts of the image to certain users. Consider the image should be shared with one or more second users, such as an insurer, a police and a technician. For the ROIs identified, the user of the first device 102 may define the access policy for each of the one or more second users to access the ROIs in the image. For the above example, the user of the first device 102 may define the access policy to the insurer to access the ROI, e.g., the vehicle 602. In another example, the user of the first device 102 may define the access policy to the police to access the ROIs, e.g., the vehicle 602, and the bystander 604. The insurer may require information with respect to the damage caused to the vehicle. The police may require the information corresponding to the location of the image captured and details of the vehicle. Further, the technician may require the information corresponding to parts of the vehicle that are damaged to assess the damage for the vehicle. Depending on the second user profile, the user of the first device 102 may define the access policy.
[0036] The user of first device 102 may define the access policy to the insurer such that the insurer can view damage caused to the vehicle. Similarly, the user of the first device 102 may define the access policy for the police to access the vehicle 602 and the bystander 604. Further, the user of the first device 102 may define the access policy for the technician to access the vehicle 602. The user of the first device 102 may define the access policy to a particular second user to maintain privacy while the image is accessed by the second users. For example, consider the user identified the ROIs as a vehicle (ROI_1), a bystander’s face (ROI_2), and headlight of the vehicle (ROI_3). The user may identify the ROIs to preserve privacy and to secure the ROIs in the image. For the ROIs identified, the user of the first device 102 may encrypt the ROIs using the AES key. In one example, the user of the first device 102 may encrypt the ROI_1 as AES_key_1 (ROI_1). Similarly, the first device 102 may encrypt the ROI_2 as AES_key_2 (ROI_2). Further, the system 102 may encrypt the ROI_3 as AES_key_3 (ROI_3). It must be understood that the user may identify more than 3 ROIs in the image. In other words, if there are n ROIs, then the user may identify n AES keys for the n ROIs such as E_AES_Key1 (ROI1), E_AES_Key2 (ROI2), E_AES_Key3 (ROI3) and so on.
[0037] After encrypting the ROIs, the first device 102 may encrypt the AES keys using the ABE public keys. The first device 102 may encrypt the AES keys based on the set of attributes. In order to illustrate determining the set of attributes for the other users, Table 1 may be used as an example. Specifically, Table 1 shows preferences and privacy determined for each of the users.
[0038] Table 1: Privacy level determined for users
User Vehicle (ROI_1) Face (ROI_2) Headlight (ROI_3)
Insurance Agent Visible Masked Visible
Mechanic Visible Masked Masked
Police Masked Visible Visible
Table 1
[0039] As may be seen from Table 1, the user may determine the preferences/attributes for each of the user corresponding to the ROI. After determining the preferences, the AES keys may be encrypted by the first device 102. In one example, the first device 102 may encrypt the AES keys as ABE_pub (AES_key_1), ABE_pub (AES_key_2), and ABE_pub (AES_key_3) for the ROI_1, ROI_2 and ROI_3 respectively. In one implementation, the ROIs encrypted and the AES keys encrypted may be published by the first device 102. For example, considering FIG.6; if the user has encrypted the bystander’s face 604, the first device 102 may publish the image 500 and the ROIs encrypted and the AES key encrypted corresponding to the bystander’s face 604, as shown in FIG. 7. When the image is published with the ROIs encrypted, the image may be compressed. The image may be compressed to reduce bandwidth taken by the image transmission. In another example, if the user has encrypted the vehicle 602 and the bystander’s face 604, the first device 102 may publish the ROIs encrypted, and the AES keys encrypted corresponding to the vehicle 602 and the bystander’s face 604, as shown in FIG. 8. In one implementation, the first device 102 may publish the image, the access policy and the AES keys encrypted to the server 104. Specifically, the first device 102 may publish the image, the access policy, and the AES key encrypted, securely to the at least one user of one or more second devices 106 to perform a plurality of augmented reality operations. The at least one user may be associated with the user profile. It should be noted that the at least one user associated with the user profile may use one second device 106 to perform the plurality of augmented reality operations. Further, one or more users having different user profiles, e.g., police and an insurance agent may use one second device 106 to perform the plurality of augmented reality operations. In another implementation, the at least one user, e.g., the police may use the one or more second devices 106 to perform the plurality of augmented reality operations. For example, the police may use the second device 106-1 and the second device 106-2 to perform the plurality of augmented reality operations. In one example, the augmented reality operation may include viewing an image. In another example, the augmented reality operation may include superimposing of text, graphics, video, audio and combination thereof.
[0040] After receiving the image, the access policy and the AES keys encrypted, the server 104 may broadcast the image, the access policy and the AES keys encrypted to the one or more second devices 106. In one implementation, a (Private Key Generation) PKG device 108 may broadcast the ABE private keys to the one or more second devices 106.
[0041] It should be noted that the first device 102 and the second device 106 are implemented in a publisher-subscriber model. In one implementation, the one or more second devices 106 may subscribe to the server 104 for receiving the image when the first device 102 publishes the image. For example, a police and an insurance agent may subscribe to the server 104 to receive the image from the first device 102. The server 104 may transmit the image, the access policy and the AES keys encrypted e.g., (Key1, Key2, and so on) to the one or more second devices 106 as follows.
[0042] Table 2: Packet structure of encrypted AES keys and image
Image Frame ROI_1_Enc,ROI_2_Enc, ROI_3_Enc Key1, Key2, Key3
Table 2
[0043] After transmitting the AES key encrypted, the access policy and the image, the user of the second device 106 may provide an Attribute Based Encryption (ABE) private key based on the user profile. Specifically, the user of the second device 106 may provide the ABE private key to access the ROI in the image. In one implementation, the user of the second device 106 may obtain the ABE private keys from the PKG device 108. In another implementation, the user of the second device 106 may obtain the ABE private keys from the server 104. Upon providing the ABE private keys, the second device 106 may check the ABE private keys with the access policy defined.
[0044] Subsequently, if the access policy defined for the set of the attributes matches with the ABE private keys provided, then the second device 106 may decrypt the AES keys. In other words, the second device 106 may decrypt the AES keys to obtain ROI. In order to illustrate the decryption of the AES keys, Table 3 may be used as an example. Specifically Table 3 shows the decryption of the AES keys using the ABE.
[0045] Table 3: Decryption of the AES keys using the ABE key
User of second device ROI_1 (Vehicle) ROI_2(Face) ROI_3 (Headlight)
Insurance Agent ABE key _ins agent(Key1) --> AES_key_1
Fog ABE key_ins_agentKey3) --> AES_key_3

Technician ABE key _mechanic(Key1) --> AES_key_1 Fog Fog
Police Fog ABE _police(Key2) --> AES_key_2 ABEkey _police(Key3) --> AES_key_3
Table 3
[0046] In order to decrypt kth ROI, the second device 106 may extract the AES key as (Key k)) = D_ABE_ {private_key_attr1, private_key_attr2...} (AES_key_k), where private_key_attr1, private_key_attr2... are the AES key and the ABE private keys for the set of attributes based on the access policy. After extracting the (Key k), decrypt the encrypted ROI to obtain ROI. ROI_k =D_AES_key_k (E_AES_Key_k (ROI_k)). The AES keys may be used to decrypt the ROI encrypted. Specifically, the AES keys are decrypted by the second device 106 to display/render the ROI on the second device 106.
[0047] In order to authenticate success of the ROI decryption on the second device 106, a message digest may be received from the second device 106. Specifically, the message digest is received with a hash of the image. The hash of the image may comprise hash keys received from a hash table. In one example, the hash table may be stored in second memory 406. After the hash keys are received, the hash keys may be checked with a hash of the image received from the first device 102. If the hash keys provided match with the hash of the image received from the first device 102, the ROI may be decrypted on the second device 106. If the hash key does not match with the hash of the image received from the first device 102, a fog may be rendered on the ROI indicating failure to decrypt the ROI. The fog is rendered on the ROI to avoid/remove unpleasantness in the image decrypted on the second device 106. In order to illustrate decryption of the ROI, Table 4 may be used as an example. Specifically, Table 4 shows obtaining ROI by decrypting the AES keys.
[0048] Table 4: Decrypting ROI using the AES keys
User of second device ROI_1 (Vehicle) ROI_2(Face) ROI_3 (Headlight)
Insurance Agent Visible
ABE _ins_agent(Key1) --> AES_key_1
AES_key_1(ROI_1_Enc)--> ROI_1 Fog Visible
ABE key _ins_agent(Key3) --> AES_key_3
AES_key_3(ROI_3_Enc)--> ROI_3
technician Visible
ABE key _mechanic(Key1) --> AES_key_1
AES_key_1(ROI_1_Enc)--> ROI_1 Fog Fog
Police Fog Visible
ABE key _police(Key2) --> AES_key_2
AES_key_2(ROI_2_Enc)--> ROI_2 Visible
ABE key _police(Key3) --> AES_key_3
AES_key_3(ROI_3_Enc)--> ROI_3
Table 4
[0049] Referring to Table 4, a fog indicates concealed portion of the image not displayed to the user of the second device 106. For the above example, consider the user of the second device 106 is an insurance agent. As discussed above, the insurance agent may have subscribed to receive the image containing the ROI, i.e., the vehicle. When the first device 102 publishes the image, the access policy and the AES keys encrypted, the insurance agent may get a notification indicating new publication of the image based on the subscription. After receiving the notification, the insurance agent may provide the ABE private key to access the ROI in the image. As discussed, the ABE private keys may be checked with the access policy defined. If the ABE private keys match with the access policy, the second device 106 may decrypt the AES keys and subsequently decrypt the ROI. For the example shown in FIG.8, consider the insurance agent provides the ABE private keys corresponding to the access policy defined for the ROI. Based on the decryption, the vehicle 602 may be displayed to the user of the second device 106. If the decryption is not successful, the ROI may be displayed as the fog to the user of the second device 106, as shown in FIG. 9.
[0050] Furthermore, when the image 500 is rendered on the second device 106, the user of the second device 106 may send an augmented data to the user of the first device 102. The augmented data may be sent to the first device 102 to request more information from the first device 102. The augmented data may be sent in a form of graphics, text or video. For example, consider the user of the second device 106, e.g., the insurance agent, renders the image on the second device 106. After viewing the image, consider the user of the second device 106 believes that the image/ROI is not clear. In order to inform the user of the first device 102 regarding the clarity of the image/ROI, the user of the second device 106 may send the augmented data. For example, the user of the second device 106 may send the augmented data by tagging a message in the form of text with the image. After receiving the augmented data, the user of the first device 102 may send another image to the user of the second device 106.
[0051] Any user of the second devices 106 may send the augmented data to the first device 102 in case the data transmitted is tampered. In order to avoid tampering of the data and to authenticate that the user of the second device 106 is the intended sender, the user of the second device 106 may provide a digital signature. In other words, the digital signature may be provided to verify integrity of information/message sent by the user of the second device 106.
[0052] In one implementation, the first device 102 or the server 104 may validate the user of the second device 106 by checking the digital signature with a predefined digital signature stored in the memory 306 of the server 104. If the digital signature of the user of the second device 106 does not match with the predefined digital signature, then the first device 102 may not receive the augmented data from the user of the second device 106.
[0053] Although the description is provided to secure the image in the augmented reality application, it must be noted that a video may also be secured using the description. When the first device 102 captures the video, the user may identify the ROIs in each frame of the video. When the video is captured by the first device 102, the video may be compressed using a MJPEG/H.264 standard codec.
[0054] Further, the user of the first device 102 may re-publish the image by identifying different ROIs and may define different access policy for the at least one user of the one or more second devices 106. The user of the first device 102 may re-publish the image, the access policy, and the AES encrypted to change the privacy defined for the user of the second device 106. For example, consider the user of the first device 102 defines access policy for the police to view the ROIs, e.g., vehicle 602 and the bystander 604 in the first instance. When the user of the first device 102 re-publishes the image, the user of the first device 102 may define the access policy to the police such that the police may not be able to view the bystander 604. Similarly, the user of the first device 102 may define access policy to allow access or deny access to certain users.
[0055] Referring now to FIG. 10, a method 1000 for securing an image in an augmented reality application is shown, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure. The method 1000 may be described in the general context of computer executable instructions. Generally, computer executable instructions can include routines, programs, objects, components, data structures, procedures, modules, functions, etc., that perform particular functions or implement particular abstract data types. The method 1000 may also be practiced in a distributed computing environment where functions are performed by remote processing devices that are linked through a communications network. In a distributed computing environment, computer executable instructions may be located in both local and remote computer storage media, including memory storage devices.
[0056] The order in which the method 1000 is described and is not intended to be construed as a limitation, and any number of the described method blocks can be combined in any order to implement the method 1000 or alternate methods. Additionally, individual blocks may be deleted from the method 1000 without departing from the spirit and scope of the disclosure described herein. Furthermore, the method may be implemented in any suitable hardware, software, firmware, or combination thereof.
[0057] At step/block 1002, a Region of Interest (ROI) in an image may be identified by a first device. The image may be captured by the first device. The ROI may indicate a privacy region to be protected in the image
[0058] At step/block 1004, an access policy for a set of attributes may be defined to access the ROI. The set of attributes correspond to a user profile to access the ROI.
[0059] At step/block 1006, the ROI of the image may be encrypted using an Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) key by the first device. The ROI may be encrypted to conceal the ROI in the image;
[0060] At step/block 1008, the Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) key may be encrypted using an Attribute Based Encryption (ABE) public key by the first device. The AES key may be encrypted based on the set of attributes and the access policy.
[0061] At step/block 1010, the image, the access policy, and the AES keys encrypted may be published by the first device. The image, the access policy, and the AES key encrypted may be published securely to at least one user of one or more second devices in order to perform a plurality of augmented reality operations. The at least one user may be associated with the user profile.
[0062] At step/block 1012, an Attribute Based Encryption (ABE) private key corresponding to the set of attributes may be provided by the second device in order to access the ROI in the image. The ABE private key may be associated with the user profile.
[0063] At step/block 1014, the AES key may be decrypted by the second device based upon the ABE private key provided.
[0064] At step/block 1016, the ROI may be decrypted based upon the decryption of the AES key in order to render the ROI in the image on the second device.
[0065] Although implementations of devices and method for privacy and security of an image in an augmented reality application have been described in language specific to structural features and/or methods, it is to be understood that the appended claims are not necessarily limited to the specific features or methods described. Rather, the specific features and methods are disclosed as examples of implementations for securing an image in an augmented reality application.