STIMULI-BASED AUTHENTICATION

• US 20170228526A1
• Filed: 02/04/2016
• Published: 08/10/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 02/04/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Lenovo Global Technologies International Ltd. (Lenovo Group Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: Lenovo Singapore Pte Limited (Lenovo Group Ltd.)
• Inventors: WALTERMANN, ROD D., CHUMBALKAR, NAGANANDA, MCLEAN, JAMES G., CUDAK, GARY D.
• Granted Patent: US 10,169,560 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/32 using biometric data, e.g. fingerprints, iris scans or voiceprints
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0861 using biometrical features, e.g. fingerprint, retina-scan cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for entity authentication using biological data H04L9/3231

Abstract

A method for stimuli-based authentication includes presenting one or more stimuli to a person. The method includes measuring a brainwave response of the person to the one or more stimuli, and authenticating the person based on the measured brainwave response.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

presenting one or more stimuli to a person;

measuring a brainwave response of the person to the one or more stimuli; and

authenticating the person based on the measured brainwave response.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising recording a plurality of brainwave responses of the person to a plurality of stimuli, wherein the one or more presented stimuli are selected from the plurality of stimuli.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein one or more of the plurality of stimuli is selected by the person for recording a response based on an emotional relevance of the one or more selected stimuli to the person.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein recording a plurality of brainwave responses of the person to a plurality of stimuli comprises recording multiple brainwave responses for a stimulus.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more presented stimuli comprise one or more of a visual stimulus, an audio stimulus, an audiovisual stimulus, a tactile stimulus, and an olfactory stimulus.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the one or more presented stimuli comprise multiple stimuli of more than one type.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more presented stimuli are presented to the person one at a time in a random order.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more presented stimuli are presented to the person for random durations.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein authenticating the person comprises comparing the measured brainwave response to one or more prerecorded responses to determine a likelihood that the person is correctly identified, the prerecorded responses comprising prerecorded responses of the person to the one or more presented stimuli.

10. The method of claim 9, further comprising presenting one or more additional stimuli to the person, measuring an additional brainwave response of the person to the one or more additional stimuli, and comparing the measured additional brainwave response to one or more prerecorded responses to determine an updated likelihood that the person is correctly identified, in response to the likelihood failing to satisfy a confidence threshold, wherein the prerecorded responses comprise prerecorded responses of the person to the one or more additional stimuli.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the person is authenticated based on the measured brainwave response and on one or more inputs from the person other than a brainwave response.

12. A program product comprising a computer readable storage medium that stores code executable by a processor, the executable code comprising code to perform:

presenting one or more stimuli to a person;

measuring a brainwave response of the person to the one or more stimuli; and

authenticating the person based on the measured brainwave response.

13. The program product of claim 12, the executable code further comprising code to perform:

recording a plurality of brainwave responses of the person to a plurality of stimuli, wherein the one or more presented stimuli are selected from the plurality of stimuli.

14. The program product of claim 13, wherein one or more of the plurality of stimuli is selected by the person for recording a response based on an emotional relevance of the one or more selected stimuli to the person.

15. The program product of claim 13, wherein recording a plurality of brainwave responses of the person to a plurality of stimuli comprises recording multiple brainwave responses for a stimulus.

16. A system comprising:

an electroencephalography (“

EEG”

) monitor;

a stimulus module configured to present one or more stimuli to a person;

a response module configured to measure a brainwave response of the person to the one or more stimuli using the EEG monitor; and

an authentication module configured to authenticate the person based on the measured brainwave response.

17. The system of claim 16, further comprising:

a response recorder module configured to record a plurality of brainwave responses of the person to a plurality of stimuli, wherein the one or more presented stimuli are selected from the plurality of stimuli; and

a data storage device for storing the recorded brainwave responses.

18. The system of claim 17, wherein one or more of the plurality of stimuli is selected by the person for recording a response based on an emotional relevance of the one or more selected stimuli to the person.

19. The system of claim 17, wherein recording a plurality of brainwave responses of the person to a plurality of stimuli comprises recording multiple brainwave responses for a stimulus.

20. The system of claim 16, further comprising a confidence module configured to compare the measured brainwave response to one or more prerecorded responses to determine a likelihood that the person is correctly identified, the prerecorded responses comprising prerecorded responses of the person to the one or more presented stimuli.