Patent Publication Number: US-2017373842-A1

Title: System and Method for Authenticating Public Artworks and Providing Associated Information

Description:
TECHNICAL FIELD 
     The present disclosure relates generally to an authenticating public artworks and providing relevant information about an artwork by capturing imaged data associated with a public artwork and recovering a unique identifier from the captured data and using the unique identifier to securely interface with a central authoritative service for the purpose of authenticating and obtaining relevant information. 
     BACKGROUND 
     Public artworks, originals and replicas, are often disseminated to the public by the artist for monetary value and recognition. The artists primary concern is to get his or her work published, recognized, and ultimately get paid. The issue is that once the artist publishes the work, it then becomes susceptible to fraud, i.e. others can then replicate and potentially profit from the replication at the expense of the artist. 
     An additional issue, consumers are often presented with artwork, e.g. at an art gallery or even at a home, and the consumer may be actually interested in the artwork present but may not have enough information about the artwork available at the time of viewing or may not know where information about the artwork can be reliably obtained. The information provided with the artwork may not be accurate and there may not be enough resources, e.g. from Internet resources, to provide the consumer with enough information to know the authenticity or other relevant useful information about the public artwork. 
     As such, there is a need for a system that can function as a central authority to authenticate published artworks and in the same manner provide information about the artwork, its artist, and other relevant information that may be useful for the consumer. 
     SUMMARY 
     Techniques herein provide computer-implemented methods to authenticate and provide relevant information for public artworks. An artwork authentication and information management system uses a client device that is configure to process public artwork assigned unique identifiers captured from imaged data and converted to text and securely communicate a request message for artwork, artist, and information associated with the unique identifier to a central authoritative service. The artwork authentication and information management system uses a server as the central authoritative service and is configured to securely receive and process the request and, in response, sends artist artwork, artist information, and other information to the client device. The client device further configured to receive the response and display relevant artwork and artist information. 
     In an embodiment, the request message includes a first request message that includes a request for a public key of the central authoritative service. The client device, in response, receives a public key from the central authoritative service and verifies ownership of the public key with a Certificate Authority (CA). The client device, in response to verification, sends a second request message that includes a request for artwork, artist, and other relevant information to the central authoritative service and that also includes an encrypted version of the unique identifier. The client device, in response to the second request message, receives the response that includes the relevant artwork and artist information. 
     In another embodiment, the request message includes a request for artwork, artist, and other relevant information to the central authoritative server and that also includes an encrypted version of the unique identifier. The client device, in response to the second request message, receives the response that includes the relevant artwork, artist, and other relevant information. 
     In certain other example aspects described herein, systems and computer program products are utilized to process artist artwork information for user computer devices. 
     These and other aspects, objects, features and advantages of the example embodiments will become apparent to those having ordinary skill in the art upon consideration of the following detailed description of illustrated example embodiments. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a block diagram depicting a system to authenticate public artwork of an artist and provide information about an artist associated with the artwork, in accordance with certain example embodiments. 
         FIG. 2A  is a block flow diagram depicting a method to authenticate public artwork of an artist and provide information about an artist associated with the artwork, in accordance with certain example embodiments. 
         FIG. 2B  is a block flow diagram depicting another method to authenticate public artwork of an artist and provide information about an artist associated with the artwork, in accordance with certain example embodiments. 
         FIG. 3  is a block diagram depicting a computing machine and system applications, in accordance with certain example embodiments. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EXAMPLE EMBODIMENTS 
     The object of the described invention is to describe a client and server application system for managing, authenticating, and providing artist and artist artwork information associated with an artist art piece on display in public settings or in private settings. 
     The motivation for providing such a service is to provide artists with a sense of security in knowing that their artworks on display can be easily determined by the viewing public that the artwork is original and authenticate. In addition, it provides the artist with additional channels to reach out to their audience with information that can facilitate learning more about the artist and other works from the artist. Furthermore, the consumer can easily access information about the displayed artwork and determine its authenticity as well as additional information about the artwork or other artworks that may result in motivating the consumer to purchase the artwork or other artworks or, at minimum, educate the consumer. The additional information can also benefit merchants, e.g. an art gallery that sold the artwork would now have a channel to the consumer to provide catalogs or product offerings. 
     In an example embodiment, an artist authentication and information management system includes a client device application and a network server application that together operate to authenticate publicly displayed artworks and provide information relevant to the artwork and other useful information. The client device operates to process relevant text data converted from image data captured from public artworks engraved or otherwise labeled with information that can be used to establish secure communications with the server. Once communications is established, the client device and network server interact for the further purpose of authenticating the artwork, providing relevant information about the artwork and artist, and displaying the information. 
     In an example embodiment, the client device interfaces and receives text data converted from an image captured by 3rd party software of a tag or label engraved or otherwise placed on a frame of a painting, or positioned somewhere near or on the painting, and recovers information, information that includes a unique identifier and a Uniform Resource Locator (URL), used by the client device to communicate with the server for the purpose of requesting a public key associated with the server. The server communicates the public key to the client device. The client device sends the public key and other relevant information to a Certificate Authority (CA) to verify the validity of the public key. Upon verification, the client device encrypts the unique identifier recovered from the information and sends the encrypted unique identifier to the server. The server decrypts the encrypted unique identifier and identifies therefrom an artist and a particular artwork. The server retrieves information associated with the artist and artwork and other non-artist and artwork related information. The server then generates at least one of the an artist information tag, an artwork information tag, an owner information tag, location information tag, and a merchant information tag and associates relevant information with the tags. The server then generates a communications message and populates the communications message with the tags and associated information and communicates the message to the client device. The client device upon receiving the message can then display the contents for the user. 
     In an example embodiment, the client device captures interfaces and receives text data converted from an image captured by 3rd party software of a tag or label engraved or otherwise placed on a frame of a painting, or positioned somewhere near or on the painting, and recovers information that includes a unique numeric identifier. The client device retrieves a stored uniform resource locater and generates a communications message addressed to the uniform resource locater that identifies the server. The client device encrypts the unique numeric identifier creating an encrypted numeric unique identifier and appends the encrypted unique identifier to the generated communications message. The client device communicates the communication message to the server. The server receives the communication message and decrypts the unique identifier. The server parses the unique identifier and correlates the parsed identifier with an artist name and artist artwork piece. The server retrieves information associated with the artist and artwork and other non-artist and artwork related information. The server then generates at least one of the an artist information tag, an artwork information tag, an owner information tag, location information tag, and a merchant information tag and associates relevant information with the tags. The server then generates a communications message and populates the communications message with the tags and associated information and communicates the message to the client device. The client device upon receiving the message can then display the contents for the user. 
     By using and relying on the methods and system described herein, the artist artwork authentication and artist artwork publication information system provides a trusted service that authenticates published artworks and provides artist and artist artwork information as well as other art related information to a consumer. As such, the systems and methods described herein may be employed to allow artist public artwork to be authenticated and relevant information provided to consumers publicly viewing these works. For example, a consumer may be viewing art pieces from an art gallery or someone&#39;s home and can quickly learn of the authenticity of the art piece, the artist of the art piece, the owner of the art piece, and other useful information. As such, the methods and systems described herein permit an artist to have his or her art piece placed on display that could be easily validated as being authentic and, in addition, provide useful information to the consumer that may facilitate future sales. 
     Example System Architectures 
     Turning now to the drawings, in which like numerals represent like (but not necessarily identical) elements throughout the figures, example embodiments are described in detail. 
       FIG. 1  is a block diagram depicting a system  100  to authenticate public artworks and provide information about the artist of the artwork. 
     As depicted in  FIG. 1 , the system  100  includes the following computing devices: a server device  102 , client device  104 , a Certificate Authority (CA) system  106 , and artist/owner computer device  108 , all configured to communicate with one another via one or more communication networks  105  or via any suitable communication technology. 
     Network  105  may include a wired or wireless telecommunication network system by which network devices (including devices  102 ,  104 ,  106 , and  108 ) can communicate data. As an example, network  105  can include a local area network (“LAN”), a wide area network (“WAN”), an intranet, an Internet, a mobile telephone network, personal area network (PAN), a metropolitan area network (MAN), a wireless local area network (WLAN), a cellular or other mobile communication network, Bluetooth, NFC, or any combination thereof that facilitates the communication of signals, data. In the discussion of example embodiments, it should be understood that the terms “data” and “information” are used interchangeably herein to refer to text, images, audio, video, or any other form of information that can exist in a computer processing system. The communication technology utilized by devices  102 ,  104 ,  106  and  108  may be similar networks to network  105  or an alternative communication technology. 
     Computing devices  102 ,  104 ,  106 , and  108  include a computing device having a communication module capable of transmitting and receiving data over the network  105  or similar network. For example, each computing device  104 ,  104 ,  106 , and  108  can include a server, desktop computer, laptop computer, tablet computer, smart phone, wearable devices such as smart watches, or any other wired or wireless, processor-driven device. In the example embodiment depicted in  FIG. 1 , the computing devices are operated by users or consumers, artists, art dealers, art owners, and the system providers. 
     The server system  102  includes web server  120  for communicating using standardized methods with client device  104 , CA system  106 , and computer device  108  in order to interface artwork authentication and artist information. Although, it should be understood the methods of communications could be proprietary or a combination of standardized and proprietary. 
     The server system  102  also includes a data storage unit  112 , a information service manager  114  and a server authentication module  116  with the web server  110 , service manager  114  and authentication module  116  operable to store and access data from the data store unit  112  using commonly known data store, access, and retrieval methods readily available for any open source or commercial database server or file management system. 
     The data storage unit  112  accessible by the web server  110 , the service manager  114 , and the authentication module  116  includes one or more tangible computer-readable storage devices for receiving and storing artwork, artist, and other relevant information. The data storage unit  112  can include one or more tangible computer-readable storage devices, or the data storage unit may be a separate system, such as, a different physical or virtual machine, or a cloud-based storage service. 
     The information service manager  114  receives and stores registration information regarding artist and artist artwork information from the artist or owner of an art piece from artist/owner computer device  108  using, for example, web browser  140  capable of interfacing with web server  110 . The artist or owner can register an art piece with server device  102  by submitting relevant information. The relevant information can include, but is not limited to the following: artwork title; artwork artist; completion date; owner; location identifier; artist biography; seller; and seller profile. The owner and location identifier provides a registered artwork disseminated to the consumer with information that the consumer can use to further authenticate a public artwork. The seller profile may include merchant information, e.g. an art gallery, may include links to web site listing further artworks the consumer may be interested in. 
     The information service manager  114  generates an identifier that, in a first embodiment, comprises a Universal Resource Locater (URL) that identifies the registered domain of server device  102  and a unique identifier that identifies a registered art piece. In a second embodiment, the service manager  114  is operable to generate only a unique identifier. In each case, the unique identifier and, optionally, the URL is provided to the artist/owner computer device  108  for placement, for example as a label, on an art piece. The unique identifier is stored in the storage unit  112  and identifies an art piece and an artist. 
     The authentication server module  116  may encompass any application, hardware, software, or process the server device  102  may employ to assist the information server manager  114  in generating public and private key pairs for the server device  102  and storing the public and private key pair in the data store unit  112 . The public key generated may be provided to client device  104  upon request or may be previously stored, for example during installation of software components, on the client device  104 . 
     A user of client device  104  can use a communication application  130 , which may be, for example, a web browser application or another similar type of communication application, to view, download, upload, or otherwise access messages or web pages via network  105 . The communication application  130  can interact with web servers or other computing devices connected to network  105 , including the web server  110  of the server device  102 . 
     The client device  104  also includes an information client manager  132 , an Object Character Recognition (OCR) interface  134 , an authentication client module  136 , and a data storage unit  138 . The OCR interface  134  interface with 3rd party OCR software that can take imaged data captured from a camera and convert it to text for processing by another entity, in this case the OCR interface. OCR interface receives the text data and provides it to the information client manager  132  for processing. 
     The data storage unit  138  accessible by the client manager  132 , the communication application  130 , the authentication client module  136 , and the OCR interface  134  includes one or more tangible computer-readable storage devices. The data storage unit  138  can be stored on client device  104  or can be logically coupled to client device  104 . For example, the data storage unit  138  can include on-board flash memory and/or one or more removable memory accounts or removable flash memory. The data storage unit  138  stores and provides access to artist and artist artwork information. 
     The OCR interface  134  may encompass any application, hardware, software, or process the client device  104  may employ to assist the client manager  112  in authenticating ownership of artwork and obtaining relevant information by using application protocol interfaces to access 3rd party OCR system services to read, identify and extract relevant information converted from captured image data. The OCR interface  134  may be configured to identify a URL and an unique identifier or only the unique identifier. The OCR interface  134  captures and stores the unique identifier and, optionally, the URL labeled with or otherwise provided in some fashion with a published art piece. 
     The client manager  132  may encompass any application, hardware, software, or process the client device  104  may employ to assist the user in obtaining information about the authenticity of an art piece and information about its artist, and any other relevant information service device  102  may provide in addition thereto. The client manager  132  retrieves unique identifier and, optionally, the URL from storage unit  138 . The client manager  132  interfaces with communication application  130  to interface with server device  102  in order to obtain a public key for the service device  102 . The client manager  132  can interact with the authentication client module  136  to verify the obtained public key. It should be understood that if the URL associated with the central authority system, i.e. the server device  102 , is not provided by the OCR interface  134 , client device  104  can obtain the URL from database  138 , e.g. the URL could be pre-stored during installation of application software. 
     The authentication client module  136  may encompass any application, hardware, software, or process the client device  104  may employ to assist the client manager  132  in authenticating ownership of artwork using information provided by the client manager  132  using either public key infrastructure methods of authentication or a virtual private network. In the former case, the CA system  106  authenticates a public key provided by the server device  102 . In the latter case, the client device  104  and server system  102  are trusted systems and, therefore, use securely stored public and private keys to communicate, effectively an established virtual private network. 
     Example Processes 
     The example methods illustrated in  FIGS. 2A and 2B  are described hereinafter with respect to the components of the example operating environment  100 . The example methods of  FIGS. 2A and 2B  may also be performed with other systems and in other environments. 
       FIGS. 2A and 2B  are block flow diagrams depicting a first method  200  and a second method  300  for authenticating public artwork and retrieving associated information. 
     With respect to  FIG. 2A , and in reference to  FIGS. 1 and 2A , in block  205 , the client device  104  receives and stores data from OCR interface  134 . In block  210 , client device  104  determines central authority URL and unique identifier. At step  220 , the client device  104  can generate a communications message addressed with the central authority URL, i.e. the URL of server device  102 . The message is then sent along with a request for the public key for server device  102 , or web server  110 , and the artist identifiable by the unique identifier. At block  230 , the public key is received and verified with CA system  106 . If the public key is not valid, as determined at step  240 , the process is exited, step  250 . If it is valid, the unique identifier is encrypted using the public key and included in a communications message addressed to the central authority and sent to server device  102 , blocks  260  and  270 . At block  280 , the information, e.g. artwork information, artist information, other artwork information or vendor or merchant information, returned may be displayed for the user. In addition, some of the information returned may be in the form of an audio file that allows the user to listen to an audio description of an artwork and the artist. 
     With respect to  FIG. 2B , and in reference to  FIGS. 1 and 2B , block  305 , the OCR interface  134  receives data that includes a unique identifier and stores the unique identifier in data store unit  138 . At block  310 , the information client manager  132  determines the unique identifier from information stored at block  310 . At block  320 , the authentication client module  136  retrieves from storage a public key and URL for central authority. At block  330 , the authentication client module  136  encrypts the unique identifier using the public key. At block  340 , the information client manager  132  generates a communications message addressed to the central authority and includes within the message the encrypted identifier and sends the message with encrypted identifier to the central authority, i.e. server device  102 . At block  350 , the information, e.g. artwork information, artist information, other artwork information or vendor or merchant information, returned may be displayed for the user. In addition, some of the information returned may be in the form of an audio file that allows the user to listen to an audio description of artwork and its artist. 
     Example Systems 
       FIG. 3  depicts a computing machine  400  and a system applications module  500  in accordance with example embodiments of the invention. The computing machine  400  may correspond to any of the various computers, servers, mobile devices, embedded systems, or computing systems presented herein. The module  480  may comprise one or more hardware or software elements designed to facilitate the computing machine  480  in performing the various methods and processing functions presented herein. The computing machine  400  may include various internal or attached components such as a processor  410 , system bus  420 , system memory  430 , storage media  440 , input/output interface  450 , and a network interface  460  for communicating with a network  470 . 
     The computing machine  400  may be implemented as a conventional computer system, an embedded controller, a laptop, a server, a mobile device, a smartphone, a wearable computer, a customized machine, any other hardware platform, or any combination or multiplicity thereof. The computing machine  400  may be a system configured to function using multiple computing machines connected via a data network or bus system. 
     The processor  410  may be designed to execute code instructions in order to perform the operations and functionality described herein, manage request flow and address mappings, and to perform calculations and generate commands. The processor  410  may be configured to monitor and control the operation of the components in the computing machine  400 . The processor  410  may be a single processing unit, multiple processing units, a single processing core, multiple processing cores, special purpose processing cores, co-processors, or any combination thereof. According to certain embodiments, the processor  410  along with other components of the computing machine  400  may be a virtualized computing machine executing within one or more other computing machines. 
     The system memory  420  may include non-volatile memories such as read-only memory (“ROM”), programmable read-only memory (“PROM”), erasable programmable read-only memory (“EPROM”), flash memory, or any other device capable of storing program instructions or data with or without applied power. The system memory  420  may also include volatile memories such as random access memory (“RAM”), static random access memory (“SRAM”), dynamic random access memory (“DRAM”), and synchronous dynamic random access memory (“SDRAM”). Other types of RAM also may be used to implement the system memory  420 . The system memory  430  may be implemented using a single memory module or multiple memory modules. While the system memory  430  is depicted as being part of the computing machine  400 , one skilled in the art will recognize that the system memory  430  may be separate from the computing machine  400  without departing from the scope of the subject technology. It should also be appreciated that the system memory  430  may include, or operate in conjunction with, a non-volatile storage device such as the storage media  440 . 
     The storage media  440  may include a hard disk, a floppy disk, a compact disc read-only memory (“CD-ROM”), a digital versatile disc (“DVD”), a Blu-ray disc, a magnetic tape, a flash memory, other non-volatile memory device, a solid sate drive (“SSD”), any magnetic storage device, any optical storage device, any electrical storage device, any semiconductor storage device, any physical-based storage device, any other data storage device, or any combination or multiplicity thereof. The storage media  440  may store one or more operating systems, application programs and program modules such as module  2050 , data, or any other information. The storage media  440  may be part of, or connected to, the computing machine  400 . The storage media  440  may also be part of one or more other computing machines that are in communication with the computing machine  400  such as servers, database servers, cloud storage, network attached storage, and so forth. 
     The system applications module  500  may comprise one or more hardware or software elements configured to facilitate the computing machine  400  with performing the various methods and processing functions presented herein. The module  500  may include one or more sequences of instructions stored as software or firmware in association with the system memory  430 , the storage media  440 , or both. The storage media  440  may therefore represent examples of machine or computer readable media on which instructions or code may be stored for execution by the processor  410 . Machine or computer readable media may generally refer to any medium or media used to provide instructions to the processor  410 . Such machine or computer readable media associated with the module  500  may comprise a computer software product. It should be appreciated that a computer software product comprising the module  500  may also be associated with one or more processes or methods for delivering the module  500  to the computing machine  400  via the network  470 , any signal-bearing medium, or any other communication or delivery technology. The module  500  may also comprise hardware circuits or information for configuring hardware circuits such as microcode or configuration information for an FPGA or other PLD. 
     The input/output (“I/O”) interface  450  may be configured to couple to one or more external devices, to receive data from the one or more external devices, and to send data to the one or more external devices. Such external devices along with the various internal devices may also be known as peripheral devices. The I/O interface  450  may include both electrical and physical connections for coupling the various peripheral devices to the computing machine  400  or the processor  410 . The I/O interface  450  may be configured to communicate data, addresses, and control signals between the peripheral devices, the computing machine  400 , or the processor  410 . The I/O interface  450  may be configured to implement any standard interface, such as small computer system interface (“SCSI”), serial-attached SCSI (“SAS”), fiber channel, peripheral component interconnect (“PCI”), PCI express (PCIe), serial bus, parallel bus, advanced technology attached (“ATA”), serial ATA (“SATA”), universal serial bus (“USB”), Thunderbolt, FireWire, various video buses, and the like. The I/O interface  450  may be configured to implement only one interface or bus technology. Alternatively, the I/O interface  450  may be configured to implement multiple interfaces or bus technologies. The I/O interface  450  may be configured as part of, all of, or to operate in conjunction with, the system bus  420 . The I/O interface  450  may include one or more buffers for buffering transmissions between one or more external devices, internal devices, the computing machine  400 , or the processor  410 . 
     The I/O interface  450  may couple the computing machine  400  to various input devices including mice, touch-screens, scanners, electronic digitizers, sensors, receivers, touchpads, trackballs, cameras, microphones, keyboards, any other pointing devices, or any combinations thereof. The I/O interface  450  may couple the computing machine  400  to various output devices including video displays, speakers, printers, projectors, tactile feedback devices, automation control, robotic components, actuators, motors, fans, solenoids, valves, pumps, transmitters, signal emitters, lights, and so forth. 
     The computing machine  400  may operate in a networked environment using logical connections through the network interface  460  to one or more other systems or computing machines across the network  470 . The network  470  may include wide area networks (WAN), local area networks (LAN), intranets, the Internet, wireless access networks, wired networks, mobile networks, telephone networks, optical networks, or combinations thereof. The network  470  may be packet switched, circuit switched, of any topology, and may use any communication protocol. Communication links within the network  470  may involve various digital or an analog communication media such as fiber optic cables, free-space optics, waveguides, electrical conductors, wireless links, antennas, radio-frequency communications, and so forth. 
     The processor  410  may be connected to the other elements of the computing machine  400  or the various peripherals discussed herein through the system bus  420 . It should be appreciated that the system bus  420  may be within the processor  410 , outside the processor  410 , or both. According to some embodiments, any of the processor  410 , the other elements of the computing machine  400 , or the various peripherals discussed herein may be integrated into a single device such as a system on chip (“SOC”), system on package (“SOP”), or ASIC device. 
     Embodiments may comprise a computer program that embodies the functions described and illustrated herein, wherein the computer program is implemented in a computer system that comprises instructions stored in a machine-readable medium and a processor that executes the instructions. However, it should be apparent that there could be many different ways of implementing embodiments in computer programming, and the embodiments should not be construed as limited to any one set of computer program instructions. Further, a skilled programmer would be able to write such a computer program to implement an embodiment of the disclosed embodiments based on the appended flow charts and associated description in the application text. Therefore, disclosure of a particular set of program code instructions is not considered necessary for an adequate understanding of how to make and use embodiments. Further, those skilled in the art will appreciate that one or more aspects of embodiments described herein may be performed by hardware, software, or a combination thereof, as may be embodied in one or more computing systems. Moreover, any reference to an act being performed by a computer should not be construed as being performed by a single computer as more than one computer may perform the act. 
     The example embodiments described herein can be used with computer hardware and software that perform the methods and processing functions described previously. The systems, methods, and procedures described herein can be embodied in a programmable computer, computer-executable software, or digital circuitry. The software can be stored on computer-readable media. For example, computer-readable media can include a floppy disk, RAM, ROM, hard disk, removable media, flash memory, memory stick, optical media, magneto-optical media, CD-ROM, etc. Digital circuitry can include integrated circuits, gate arrays, building block logic, field programmable gate arrays (FPGA), etc. 
     The example systems, methods, and acts described in the embodiments presented previously are illustrative, and, in alternative embodiments, certain acts can be performed in a different order, in parallel with one another, omitted entirely, and/or combined between different example embodiments, and/or certain additional acts can be performed, without departing from the scope and spirit of various embodiments. Accordingly, such alternative embodiments are included in the inventions described herein. 
     Although specific embodiments have been described above in detail, the description is merely for purposes of illustration. It should be appreciated, therefore, that many aspects described above are not intended as required or essential elements unless explicitly stated otherwise. Modifications of, and equivalent components or acts corresponding to, the disclosed aspects of the example embodiments, in addition to those described above, can be made by a person of ordinary skill in the art, having the benefit of the present disclosure, without departing from the spirit and scope of embodiments defined in the following claims, the scope of which is to be accorded the broadest interpretation so as to encompass such modifications and equivalent structures.