SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR IDENTIFYING A USER OF AN ELECTRONIC DEVICE

• US 20130222277A1
• Filed: 05/16/2012
• Published: 08/29/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 02/23/2012
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: The Nielsen Company LLC (MOOD Media Corporation)
• Original Assignee: The Nielsen Company LLC (MOOD Media Corporation)
• Inventors: O'Hara, James Michael
• Application Number:
  US13/473,361
• Publication Number:
  US 20130222277A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 345/173
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/32 using biometric data, e.g. fingerprints, iris scans or voiceprints

Abstract

Systems and methods for identifying a user of an electronic device are disclosed. An example method includes capturing a physical characteristic of a hand of a user via a sensor on a computing device. The characteristic is captured as the user touches the computing device for a purpose different from user identification. The example method includes determining an identifier associated with the user based on the captured characteristic.

Claims

1. A method of identifying a user comprising:

capturing a characteristic of a hand of a user via a sensor on a computing device, the characteristic being captured as the user touches the computing device for a purpose different from user identification;

determining an identifier associated with the user based on the captured characteristic; and

exporting the identifier to a collection site.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the characteristic of the user is a physical characteristic, and the characteristic comprises at least one of a fingerprint, a palm print, a shape of one end of a finer, a size of one end of a finger, a shape of a fingertip, or a size of a fingertip.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the computing device comprises at least one of a mobile device, a tablet computer, a touchscreen device or a touchless touchscreen device.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the sensor comprises a camera.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

collecting measurement data via the computing device, the measurement data being representative of the user'"'"'s activity on the mobile device; and

exporting the measurement data to the collection site.

6. The method of claim 5, further comprising associating the measurement data with the identifier of the user.

7. A system to identify a user comprising:

a sensor to capture a characteristic of a hand of a user, the characteristic being captured as the user touches a computing device for a purpose different from user identification; and

a user identifier to determine an identifier associated with the user based on the characteristic.

8. The system of claim 7, wherein the characteristic of the user is a physical characteristic, and the characteristic comprises at least one of a fingerprint, a palm print, a shape of one end of a finer, a size of one end of a finger, a shape of a fingertip, or a size of a fingertip.

9. The system of claim 8, wherein the computing device comprises at least one of a mobile device, a tablet computer, a touchscreen device or a touchless touchscreen device.

10. The system of claim 8, wherein the sensor comprises a camera.

11. The system of claim 8, further comprising:

an activity data collector to collect measurement data via the computing device, the measurement data being representative of the user'"'"'s activity on the computing device.

12. The system of claim 11, further comprising an exporter to export the measurement data to a collection site.

13. The system of claim 11, further comprising a database to associate the measurement data with the identifier of the user.

14. A tangible computer-readable medium comprising instructions that, when executed, cause a computing device to at least:

capture a characteristic of a hand of a user via a sensor on a computing device, the characteristic being captured as the user touches the computing device for a purpose different from user identification;

determine an identifier associated with the user based on the captured characteristic; and

export the identifier to a collection site.

15. The computer-readable medium of claim 14, wherein the characteristic of the user is a physical characteristic, and the characteristic comprises at least one of a fingerprint, a palm print, a shape of one end of a finer, a size of one end of a finger, a shape of a fingertip, or a size of a fingertip.

16. The computer-readable medium of claim 14, wherein the computing device comprises at least one of a mobile device, a tablet computer, a touchscreen device or a touchless touchscreen device.

17. The computer-readable medium of claim 14, wherein the sensor comprises a camera.

18. The computer-readable medium of claim 14, further comprising instructions that cause the computing device to:

collect measurement data via the computing device, the measurement data being representative of the user'"'"'s activity on the mobile device; and

export the measurement data to the collection site.

19. The computer-readable medium of claim 18, further comprising instructions that cause the computing device to associate the measurement data with the identifier of the user.