- Lightmark tries to verify the authenticity of any video – from any camera
- It turns your physical recording location into the verifiable fingerprint
- Video piracy and deepfakes could be ended with this technology
British startup Lightmark claims it has developed a completely new approach to video authentication that embeds a fingerprint of light into footage as it is recorded, rather than trying to figure out a way to verify authenticity afterwards.
The system works by adjusting set lighting in ways so small that the human eye can’t pick up – but crucially, cameras can.
When a video is then recorded under these altered conditions, it automatically records a hidden signature associated with the physical environment that can be used as a fingerprint to verify authenticity later.
Physical location watermarks
The resilience of this new type of system is important, the startup says, because it can’t be added after capture, it survives compression and filtering, it doesn’t need special tools (and works with smartphone cameras), and it’s designed to resist AI hacking attempts.
“I am confident that we have a really working solution to one of the biggest problems in the age of digital communication and media,” wrote founder and inventor Daniel Oblitas Garafulic. “We can now create a space where video recordings can be trusted beyond doubt.”
Lightmark positions the technology in two separate fields – first, it is an answer to the age-old problem of online piracy. The company used the May 2024 fight between Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk as an example, noting that the event lost more than £100 million to illegal streaming in a single night.
The company says its system could help identify exactly which camera feed or venue source is behind the leak of the pirated footage.
Globally, Kearney says the online video piracy market is estimated to be worth a staggering $75 billion a year in lost revenue, but by 2028 this could rise to $125 billion as the trend shows no signs of slowing down.
Second, the technology could also be used to rule out AI-generated deepfakes and other video-based disinformation campaigns, with the founders crediting deepfakes with fooling three out of four potential victims.
Lightmark’s work is notable for two different reasons – the shift from trying to determine authenticity by content is circulated to “pre-capture authentication” and the addition of using physical “trusted recording environments” on top of existing software solutions.
“Lightmark turns the lighting in a Ministry of Defense facility, research and development laboratory or command center into a tamper-proof signature on every video filmed inside it,” said Bifrost’s Director of Defense Nicholas MacGowan.
In a press release, the startup criticized existing systems as inadequate, where C2PA metadata standards are not protected from being stripped and AI-based detectors are more prone to error.
A UK patent application for the technology, covering 15 core claims, has already been filed, and the startup is looking to raise £1.5 million to move from prototype to early commercial deployments as soon as 2027.
Lightmark’s technology can be useful across political speeches, interviews, press conferences and other international discussions, such as those conducted by the United Nations. Its developers also claim it could have major implications for defense and intelligence, as well as war crimes investigations and frontline reporting amid ongoing geopolitical tensions.
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