System and method for information sharing using visual tags
View Patent ↗Source data stored on a source device may be shared with other devices. Sharing the source data may include facilitating communication associated with the source data, based on a communication protocol, between a first device and another device. Receiving a first token associated with the source data may be facilitated. The first token may be encoded to generate a visual tag. An image of the visual tag may be provided to enable a second device to capture the image, retrieve the first token after decoding the visual tag, and use the first token to access the source data utilizing a communication protocol.
1. A non-transitory machine-readable medium comprising instructions stored therein, the instructions executable by one or more processors to perform a method for sharing source data, the method comprising:
identifying, at a first device, a source data for sharing;
communicating an identification of the source data through a proxy server using a first communication protocol between the first device and a remote device;
receiving, by the first device, a first token associated with the source data, wherein the first token comprises a metadata comprising at least one of an identifier of a source device, an identifier of the server, authentication information associated with the source device, authentication information associate with the server, an identifier of the source data, a path of the source data, an identifier of the source data transmitted to the server, or a path of the source data transmitted to the server;
encoding, by the first device, the first token to create a visual tag; and
displaying the visual tag on the first device such that a second device can optically capture the visual tag, decode the visual tag to access the first token, access the source data using the first token and a second communication protocol, wherein the second device is unable to access the source data without using the first token.
2. The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 1 , wherein the source data is identified based on a user action at the first device.
3. The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 1 , wherein:
communicating the identification of the source data includes:
communicating, to the remote device, the identification of the source data, wherein the identification includes at least one of an identifier of a source device containing the source data, a path in a file system of the source device, or a file name; and
communicating, to the remote device, a request for the first token; and
receiving the first token includes receiving the first token in response to the request.
4. The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 1 , wherein:
communicating the identification of the source data includes providing the identification of the source data to the remote device such that the remote device generates the first token in real time in response to receiving the identification of the source data;
receiving the first token includes receiving the first token from the remote device via a proxy server, at the first device, using the first communication protocol, in response to receiving the identification of the source data; and
encoding the first token includes decoding the first token prior to encoding the first visual tag.
5. The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 1 , wherein the first token is encoded by encoding the first token using a visual encoding technique.
6. The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 1 , further comprising notifying the second device when the first device is ready to display the visual tag by sending a message to the second device.
7. The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 1 , further comprising authorizing access to the source data by the second device.
8. The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 1 , wherein the source data is at least one of a media file, a document, remote path information, remote desktop connection information, security information, device management information, or device configuration information.
9. An apparatus for sharing source data comprising:
an identification module configured to:
identify a source data for sharing; and
provide an identification of the source data;
a first network interface configured to support communication based on a first communication protocol between the apparatus and a remote device;
a second network interface configured to support communication, based on the first communication protocol, from the apparatus to the remote device through a proxy server, the identification of the source data;
an encoder configured to:
receive, from the remote device, a first token associated with source data, wherein the first token comprises a metadata comprising at least one of an identifier of a source device, an identifier of the server, authentication information associated with the source device, authentication information associate with the server, an identifier of the source data, a path of the source data, an identifier of the source data transmitted to the server, or a path of the source data transmitted to the server; and
encode the first token using a visual coding technique to generate a visual tag; and
a display configured to display the visual tag such that a first device can capture the visual tag, decode the visual tag to access the first token, access the source data using the first token and a second communication protocol, wherein the second device is unable to access the source data without using the first token.
10. The apparatus of claim 9 , wherein the source data is identified based on a user action at the apparatus.
11. The apparatus of claim 9 , wherein:
the identification module provides the identification of the source data by:
communicating, to the remote device, the identification of the source data, wherein the identification includes at least one of an identifier of a source device containing the source data, a path in a file system of the source device, or a file name; and
communicating, to the remote device, a request for the first token; and
receiving the first token includes receiving the first token in response to the request.
12. The apparatus of claim 9 , wherein:
the identification module provides the identification of the source data by providing the identification of the source data to the remote device such that the remote device generates the first token in real time in response to receiving the identification of the source data; and
the encoder receives the first token by receiving the first token from the remote device via a proxy server, at the apparatus, using the first communication protocol, in response to receiving the identification of the source data and encodes the first token by decoding the first token prior to encoding the first visual tag.
13. The apparatus of claim 9 , wherein the first token is encoded by encoding the first token using a visual encoding technique.
14. The apparatus of claim 9 , further comprising notifying the first device when the apparatus is ready to display the visual tag by sending a message to the first device.
15. A method for sharing source data comprising:
identifying, at a first device, a source data for sharing;
communicating an identification of the source data through a proxy server using a first communication protocol between the first device and a remote device;
receiving, by the first device, a first token associated with the source data, wherein the first token comprises a metadata comprising at least one of an identifier of a source device, an identifier of the server, authentication information associated with the source device, authentication information associate with the server, an identifier of the source data, a path of the source data, an identifier of the source data transmitted to the server, or a path of the source data transmitted to the server;
encoding, by the first device, the first token to create a visual tag; and
displaying the visual tag on the first device such that a second device can optically capture the visual tag, decode the visual tag to access the first token, access the source data using the first token and a second communication protocol, wherein the second device is unable to access the source data without using the first token.
16. The method of claim 15 , wherein the source data is identified based on a user action at the first device.
17. The method of claim 15 , wherein:
communicating the identification of the source data includes providing the identification of the source data to the remote device such that the remote device generates the first token in real time in response to receiving the identification of the source data;
receiving the first token includes receiving the first token from the remote device via a proxy server, at the first device, using the first communication protocol, in response to receiving the identification of the source data; and
encoding the first token includes decoding the first token prior to encoding the first visual tag.
18. The method of claim 15 , wherein the first token is encoded by encoding the first token using a visual encoding technique.
19. The method of claim 15 , further comprising notifying the second device when the first device is ready to display the visual tag by sending a message to the second device.