Metadata: The Eyes Have It?
We recently came across a blog claiming that Canon has filed for a patent to "take photographer's copyright protection to the next level," according to PhotographyBay.com. The method? Iris watermarking — that is, the iris found in your eyeball.
The idea is that a photographer can register "biological metadata" contained in an image of his or her own iris, then use it to protect the copyright of photographic images. According to the report, the proposed invention "makes it possible to protect the copyright of photographic images by reliably acquiring biological information of a photographer for the purpose of personal authentication."
Confused? Intrigued? We're both. And we wonder if this is for real.
We came across the item via Slashdot.org (also known as News for Nerds) where it was posted by "an anonymous reader" — several other online reports all link back to the Photography Bay article (a diagram from that piece is at right). We have no independent verification from anyone at Canon...nor anyone with the United States Patent Office. Any takers?
The possibilities of biological metadata that's imbedded in irises seems wonderfully James Bondesque. This comes on the heels of a Danish research report claiming that all blue-eyed folks are related to one common ancestor, whose genes mutated thousands of years ago. Really? Don't it make your own eyes do a double-take. — Jack Crager
Jack,
If you'll check the bottom of the post, you'll see the link to the patent that I included as a reference source. The link takes you to the application published on the USPTO official website that is available to the public. That's the source of all of the info regarding Canon's new invention. It's Patent Application Pub. No.: US 2008/0025574 A1.
Cheers,
Eric
PhotographyBay.com
Posted by: Eric | February 13, 2008 at 06:33 PM
I think that's pretty cool! Is this going to be attached to the image like EXIF data, or is it a form of steganography?
Posted by: Eric Hamilton | February 17, 2008 at 07:21 AM