Vehicle Digital Assistant Authentication

• US 20200135190A1
• Filed: 10/26/2018
• Published: 04/30/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 10/26/2018
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLC (Ford Motor Company)
• Original Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLC (Ford Motor Company)
• Inventors: Kaja, Nevrus, Green, Glen Munro
• Granted Patent: US 10,861,457 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 2360/148 Instrument input by voice
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 2360/176 Camera images
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 2360/741 Instruments adapted for user detection
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 35/00 Instruments specially adapted for vehicles; Arrangement of instruments in or on vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 35/10 Input arrangements, i.e. from user to vehicle, associated with vehicle functions or specially adapted therefor
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 35/28 characterised by the type of the output information, e.g. video entertainment or vehicle dynamics information; characterised by the purpose of the output information, e.g. for attracting the attention of the driver
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 35/53 Movable instruments, e.g. slidable
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 35/60 Instruments characterised by their location or relative disposition in or on vehicles arrangements of lighting devices on dashboards B60Q3/10
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 35/65 Instruments specially adapted for specific vehicle types or users, e.g. for left- or right-hand drive
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 35/85 Arrangements for transferring vehicle- or driver-related data
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2040/0809 Driver authorisation; Driver identity check
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 40/08 related to drivers or passengers
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/32 using biometric data, e.g. fingerprints, iris scans or voiceprints
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2221/2111 Location-sensitive, e.g. geographical location, GPS
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2221/2113 Multi-level security, e.g. mandatory access control
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/167 Audio in a user interface, e.g. using voice commands for navigating, audio feedback
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 20/593 Recognising seat occupancy
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 40/172 Classification, e.g. identification
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 15/22 Procedures used during a speech recognition process, e.g. man-machine dialogue
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 17/00 Speaker identification or verification techniques
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 2015/223 : Execution procedure of a spoken command
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 2015/227 : of the speaker; Human-factor methodology

Abstract

A vehicle includes a controller, programmed to responsive to detecting a voice command from a user and a location of the user inside the vehicle via a microphone, authenticate an identity of the user using facial recognition on an image captured, by a camera, of the location of the user; and responsive to a successful authentication, execute the voice command.

Claims

1. A vehicle, comprising:

a controller, programmed to

responsive to detecting a voice command from a user and a location of the user inside the vehicle via a microphone, authenticate an identity of the user using facial recognition on an image captured, by a camera, of the location of the user; and

responsive to a successful authentication, execute the voice command.

2. The vehicle of claim 1, wherein the controller is further programmed to authenticate the identity of the user using voice print analysis on the voice command received.

3. The vehicle of claim 1, wherein the controller is further programmed to detect the location of the user using a signal from a seat sensor.

4. The vehicle of claim 1, wherein the controller is further programmed to authenticate the identity of the user via a mobile device wirelessly connected to the vehicle and having a user profile of the user.

5. The vehicle of claim 1, wherein the controller is further programmed to send the image of the user to a server via a communication network through a telematics control unit (TCU) and receive authentication of the user from the server in response.

6. The vehicle of claim 1, wherein the controller is further programmed to analyze the voice command to detect whether an authentication is required.

7. The vehicle of claim 1, wherein the controller is further programmed to detect whether the voice command is occupancy-dependent based on the voice command and the identity of the user.

8. The vehicle of claim 7, wherein the controller is further programmed to, responsive to detecting the voice command is occupancy-dependent, authenticate an identity of a second vehicle user to confirm that the voice command can be executed.

9. The vehicle of claim 8, wherein the controller is further programmed to

control one or more cameras to capture one or more images of a vehicle cabin;

and

authenticate the identity of the second vehicle user with facial recognition on the one or more images captured by the one or more cameras.

10. The vehicle of claim 8, wherein the controller is further programmed to authenticate the identity of the second vehicle user by sending a user profile of the second vehicle user to a server via a TCU.

11. The vehicle of claim 1, wherein the controller is further programmed to move the camera toward the location of the user from who the voice command is made.

12. A vehicle, comprising:

a controller, programmed to

responsive to detecting a door opening or closing event, detect an occupancy of the vehicle via a camera, and authenticate an identity of a first user and an identity of a second user via facial recognition on an image captured via the camera;

responsive to receiving a voice command from a first user via a microphone, analyze the voice command to detect whether the voice command is occupancy-dependent based on predefined rules; and

responsive to detecting the voice command is occupancy-dependent, verify if a predefined occupancy-dependent condition is met through the identity of the second user.

13. The vehicle of claim 12, wherein the controller is further programmed to detect the occupancy of the vehicle via a seat sensor.

14. The vehicle of claim 12, wherein the controller is further programmed to authenticate the identity of the second user via a mobile device with a user profile wirelessly connected to the vehicle.

15. The vehicle of claim 14, wherein the controller is further programmed to authenticate the identity of the second user by sending the user profile to a server via a TCU and receiving authentication from the server.

16. The vehicle of claim 12, wherein the controller is further programmed to identify, among the first user and the second user, a source user who made the voice command via a location signal sent from the microphone provided with an omni-direction feature.

17. A method for a vehicle, comprising:

responsive to receiving an input indicative of an upcoming voice command, activating an omni-directional microphone and a camera;

receiving a voice command from a user via the microphone;

detecting a direction from which the voice command is received via the microphone;

capturing an image inside a vehicle cabin via the camera;

authenticating an identity of the user by facial recognition on the image based on the direction received from the microphone; and

responsive to a successful authentication, executing the voice command.

18. The method of claim 17, further comprising:

rotating the camera to focus on the direction received from the microphone.

19. The method of claim 17, further comprising:

responsive to detecting the voice command is occupancy-dependent based on predefined rules, authenticating an identity of a second user by facial recognition on the image; and

executing the voice command.

20. The method of claim 17, further comprising:

authenticating the identity of the user by voice print analysis on the voice command received.