Protecting Privacy in Augmented Reality
The use of augmented reality (AR) in various fields, including healthcare, has the potential to revolutionize the way in which we interact with information. For instance, an emergency room doctor using AR could quickly access a patient’s vitals or records, saving precious seconds. However, this technology also poses a big risk of breaching patient privacy and healthcare laws, particularly if the doctor unintentionally pulls up information for another person within the room.
The Challenge of Bystander Privacy
The issue of bystander privacy is a serious concern relating to AR technology. Early devices like Google Glass failed to handle this concern, allowing users to record their surroundings without the consent of those around them. This lack of privacy protection made people uncomfortable and contributed to the device’s failure. As Bo Ji, associate professor of computer science, notes, "Protecting bystander privacy is a crucial problem. Our work raises awareness and encourages the adoption of augmented reality in the longer term."
Introducing BystandAR
To address the challenge of bystander privacy, a team of researchers from the Commonwealth Cyber Initiative created a method called BystandAR. This progressive technology protects bystander privacy while still providing an immersive AR experience. BystandAR distorts bystanders’ images in AR devices, ensuring that their privacy is maintained. The team presented their technology at ACM MobiSys 2023 and published an article within the December IEEE Security & Privacy journal.
How BystandAR Works
BystandAR builds on a key insight from psychological studies: individuals normally look most directly and longest on the person they’re interacting with. The technique leverages eye-gaze tracking, near-field microphone, and spatial awareness to detect and obscure bystanders captured inside sensor data in real time. This approach allows for the accurate identification and protection of over 98% of bystanders, while still providing access to over 96% of the topic data.
Advantages and Applications
BystandAR has several benefits over existing technologies. It doesn’t require offloading unprotected bystander data to a different device for evaluation, which reduces the chance of privacy leakage. The team has filed a provisional patent for BystandAR, with support from Virginia Tech Intellectual Properties and the LINK + LICENSE + LAUNCH Proof of Concept Program. This technology has the potential to be utilized in various fields, including healthcare, education, and entertainment.
Future Developments
In a related project, Ji is developing a way to enhance the efficiency and performance of next-generation wireless networks. This will enable more people to benefit from seamless, immersive AR experiences. Although these are two separate projects, they’re a part of the identical effort to enhance AR from each side – ensuring privacy for individual users locally and improving the network to supply a seamless, secure, and functional experience globally.
Conclusion
The development of BystandAR is a big step forward in addressing the challenge of bystander privacy in AR technology. By protecting the privacy of people in the encompassing environment, this technology may also help to extend the adoption of AR in various fields. As the usage of AR becomes more widespread, it is important to prioritize privacy protection to be certain that individuals feel comfortable and secure when using these devices. With further research and development, BystandAR has the potential to revolutionize the way in which we interact with information and one another.
