Massachusetts Institute of Technology

The Escher Group, Ltd.

Joshua R Smith

Neil Adam Gershenfeld

Michael J Murphy

Paul Michael Yarin

Eric Metois

Andrew Victor Sutherland, Ii

Andrew V Sutherland

Ravikanth Pappu

Will Crosby

E Rehmi Post

Margaret Orth

Emily Cooper

A system and method for linking data objects and physical objects of various kinds to an identified user is described. The system provides to the identified user information relating to the delivery status of mail pieces directed to or sent by the user, and the user then tracks and traces the mail pieces. The system further provides to the identified user information relating to continued sessions through which the user provides to a postal service system information relating to mailing labels and postage.

System for personal mail piece tracking and tracing from multiple sources by user identifier

Personal mail piece and electronic mail tracking system

A workpiece authentication system uses shape recovery techniques to extract explicit three dimensional ('3-D') features of the surface geometry of the designated portion of a workpiece from images produced using different lighting conditions. The system then bases authentication on the 3-D surface features. The system recovers surface normals, or equivalently gradients, for selected locations within a designated portion of the workpiece from multiple enrollment images produced under different illumination conditions. The system then encodes the surface normal information into authentication indicia that is placed on the workpiece and/or stores the surface normals or related information. Thereafter, the system determines that a given workpiece is authentic if the surface normals recovered from various verification images correspond to the stored surface normal information or the surface normal information encoded into the indicia. Alternatively, the system may use the surface normals to predict what an image should contain when the workpiece is subjected to a particular lighting condition. The system then determines that the workpiece is authentic if the predicted image and the image produced using the workpiece correspond. The system may instead encode brightness patterns associated with one or more enrollment images into the indicia. The system then recovers surface normals from images produced during verification operations, predicts what the brightness image should contain and compares the enrollment image to the prediction.

System and method for authentication of a workpiece using three dimensional shape recovery

A workpiece authentication technique is provided. The technique bases workpiece authentication upon intrinsic physical characteristics of the workpiece, including one or more images of topographical appearance of at least one portion of the workpiece.

Workpiece authentication based upon one or more workpiece images

Three-dimensional characteristics of a complex physical structure are used to generate a unique identifier. In effect, the characteristics reperesent the basis of a &ldquo;physical one-way hash function&rdquo; that faciliates ready derivation of an identifier based on the physical structure, the structure itself being very difficult to reproduce given only the identifier. The characteristics may be read using a non-contact probe and without the need for precise registration.

Identification and verification using complex, three-dimensional structural features

Postal indicia for an envelope

Fabrics are used as integral elements of electrical circuitry&mdash;to facilitate control over the operation of external components connected thereto, to serve as substrates onto which electrical components are connected, or as the electrical components themselves. In one aspect, selective, anisotropic electrical conductivity is achieved using conductive fibers running along one weave direction and non-conductive fibers running along the opposite direction. The conductive fibers, which may be continuous or arranged in lanes, serve as electrical conduits capable of carrying data signals and/or power, and may be connected, for example, to electrical components soldered directly onto the fabric. In a second aspect, passive electrical components are integrated directly textiles using threads having selected electrical properties.

Electrically active textiles and articles made therefrom

Apparatus for resolving movement of a mass within a defined space utilizes at least one electrode proximate to the space to be observed. An AC signal is applied to the electrode, and the current measured from that electrode and also to any other electrodes included in the system, and which are effectively connected to the ground return of the AC-coupled electrode. A person (or object) to be sensed intercepts a part of the electric field extending beween the AC-coupled 'sending' electrode and the other 'receiving' electrodes, the amount of the field intercepted depending on the size and orientation of the sensed person, whether or not the person provides a grounding path, and the geometry of the distributed electrodes. Given the nonlinear spatial dependence of the field, multiple electrodes can reliably distinguish among a set of expected cases. The invention detects motion by taking sequential measurements at different times and utilizing the time variation in signal magnitudes as well as the absolute magnitudes themselves.

Apparatus for resolving presence and orientation within a defined space

Apparatus and methods for resolving movement of a mass within a defined space utilizes at least one electrode proximate to the space to be observed. An AC signal is applied to the electrode, and the current measured from that electrode and also to any other electrodes included in the system and which are effectively connected to the ground return of the AC-coupled electrode. A person (or object) to be sensed intercepts a part of the electric field extending beween the AC-coupled 'sending' electrode and the other 'receiving' electrodes, the amount of the field intercepted depending on the size and orientation of the sensed person, whether or not the person provides a grounding path, and the geometry of the distributed electrodes. Given the nonlinear spatial dependence of the field, multiple electrodes can reliably distinguish among a set of expected cases. The invention detects motion by taking sequential measurements at different times and utilizing the time variation in signal magnitudes as well as the absolute magnitudes themselves.

Method and apparatus for characterizing movement of a mass within a

A quasi-electrostatic sensing system surrounds an electrically conductive mass with an electric field, the magnitude of which is sensed at one or more locations to resolve a property of interest concerning the mass. The object intercepts a part of the electric field extending beween the AC-coupled 'sending' electrode and the other 'receiving' electrodes, the amount of the field intercepted depending on the size and orientation of the sensed mass, whether or not the mass provides a grounding path, and the geometry of the distributed electrodes. Because the response of the field to an object is a complex nonlinear function, adding electrodes can always distinguish among more cases. In other words, each electrode represents an independent weighting of the mass within the field; adding an electrode provides information regarding that mass that is not redundant to the information provided by the other electrodes. A 'forward model' that relates the behavior of the system to variations in the property to be measured is established, and 'inversion' of this model facilitates recovery of the property based on system behavior. The invention is amenable to a wide variety of usages including the detection of user positions and gestures as a means of conveying two- and/or three-dimensional information to, for example, computers, appliances, televisions, furniture, etc.; provision of data input or instructional commands to a device; or sensing of proximity to a reference object for security purposes, to warn of danger, or to conserve energy by withholding power until a potential user approaches the object.

Method and apparatus for determining three-dimensional position,

A method for resolving presence, orientation and activity of a person within a defined space utilizes at least two electrodes proximate to the space to be observed. A characterization of the position and orientation is obtained by providing a pattern of measurement clusters each associated with a position and an orientation. An AC signal is applied to one electrode, and the current measured from that electrode to any other electrodes included in the system, and which are effectively connected to the ground return of the AC-coupled electrode. A person (or object) to be sensed intercepts a part of the electric field extending between the AC-coupled 'sending' electrode and the other 'receiving' electrodes, the amount of the field intercepted depending on the size and orientation of the sensed person, whether or not the person provides a grounding path, and the geometry of the distributed electrodes. Given the nonlinear spatial dependence of the field, multiple electrodes can reliably distinguish among a set of expected cases. The invention can be configured to detect not only static positions and orientations, but also motion through a defined space. This is accomplished by taking sequential measurements at different times and utilizing the time variation in signal magnitudes as well as the absolute magnitudes themselves.

Method for resolving presence, orientation and activity in a defined

Apparatus and methods for resolving presence, orientation and activity of a person within a defined space utilizes at least one electrode proximate to the space to be observed. An AC signal is applied to the electrode, and the current measured from that electrode and also to any other electrodes included in the system, and which are effectively connected to the ground return of the AC-coupled electrode. A person (or object) to be sensed intercepts a part of the electric field extending beween the AC-coupled 'sending' electrode and the other 'receiving' electrodes, the amount of the field intercepted depending on the size and orientation of the sensed person, whether or not the person provides a grounding path, and the geometry of the distributed electrodes. Given the nonlinear spatial dependence of the field, multiple electrodes can reliably distinguish among a set of expected cases. The invention can be configured to detect not only static positions and orientations, but also motion through a defined space. This is accomplished by taking sequential measurements at different times and utilizing the time variation in signal magnitudes as well as the absolute magnitudes themselves.

Apparatus and method for characterizing movement of a mass within a

A quasi-electrostatic sensing system surrounds an electrically conductive mass with an electric field, the magnitude of which is sensed at one or more locations to resolve a property of interest concerning the mass. The object intercepts a part of the electric field extending between the AC-coupled 'sending' electrode and the other 'receiving' electrodes, the amount of the field intercepted depending on the size and orientation of the sensed mass, whether or not the mass provides a grounding path, and the geometry of the distributed electrodes. Because the response of the field to an object is a complex nonlinear function, adding electrodes can always distinguish among more cases. In other words, each electrode represents an independent weighting of the mass within the field; adding an electrode provides information regarding that mass that is not redundant to the information provided by the other electrodes. A 'forward model' that relates the behavior of the system to variations in the property to be measured is established, and 'inversion' of this model facilitates recovery of the property based on system behavior. The invention is amenable to a wide variety of usages including the detection of user positions and gestures as a means of conveying two- and/or three-dimensional information to, for example, computers, appliances, televisions, furniture, etc.; provision of data input or instructional commands to a device; or sensing of proximity to a reference object for security purposes, to warn of danger, or to conserve energy by withholding power until a potential user approaches the object.

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Cambridge, MA, United States of America

Joshua R Smith