Microsoft Corporation
Digital watermarking leveraging anomalous mesh elements

Abstract:

A technique is described herein for adding a digital watermark to a mesh. The mesh describes a three-dimensional object using a plurality of vertices and edges, which together define a plurality of polygonal shapes (e.g., triangles). The technique involves identifying at least one anomalous element of the mesh. The technique then supplements one or more of the anomalous elements by adding a computer-readable code to the anomalous element(s). That computer-readable code includes a digital watermark. An anomalous element corresponds to a part of the mesh that qualifies as a statistically atypical occurrence within the mesh, based on a specified rule that defines what constitutes a statistically atypical occurrence. In a reading stage, the technique finds the anomalous element(s). It then reads the digital watermark that has been encoded into the anomalous element(s).