Using video manipulation to protect privacy in remote presence systems

Abstract

Remote presence systems that allow remote operators to physically move around the world, observe it, and, in some cases, manipulate it, introduce a new set of privacy concerns. Traditional telepresence systems allow remote users to passively observe, forcing them to look at whatever the camera is pointing at. If we want something to remain private, then we simply do not put it in front of the camera. Remote presence systems, on the other hand, allow active observation, and put the control of the camera in the hands of the remote operator. They can drive around, and look at the world from different viewpoints, which complicates privacy protection. In this paper, we look at how we can establish privacy protections for remote presence systems by manipulating the video data sent back to them. We evaluate a number of manipulations of these data, balancing privacy protection against the ability to perform a given task, and report on the results of two studies that attempt to evaluate these techniques.