Selective item access provision in response to active item ascertainment upon device transfer

• US 8,615,797 B2
• Filed: 08/23/2011
• Issued: 12/24/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 03/30/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Elwha LLC (Intellectual Ventures LLC)
• Original Assignee: Elwha LLC (Intellectual Ventures LLC)
• Inventors: Levien, Royce A., Lord, Richard T., Lord, Robert W., Malamud, Mark A., Rinaldo, John D. Jr., Tegreene, Clarence T.
• Primary Examiner(s): HERZOG, MADHURI R
• Application Number:
  US13/199,286
• Publication Number:
  US 20120254984A1
• Time in Patent Office: 854 Days
• Field of Search: 726 1- 4, 726 16- 17, 726 26- 30, 713164-167, 713182-186, 455403-4144, 4554561-460, 455/26.1, 455410-411, 455/463
• US Class Current: 726/16
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/35 communicating wirelessly

Abstract

A computationally implemented method includes, but is not limited to: determining that a computing device used by a first user has been transferred from the first user to a second user; ascertaining, in response to said determining, which of one or more items that are at least conditionally accessible through the computing device are active; and providing one or more selective levels of access to the one or more items based, at least in part, on said ascertaining. In addition to the foregoing, other method aspects are described in the claims, drawings, and text forming a part of the present disclosure.

Claims

1. A system, comprising:

a transfer determining module configured to determine that a computing device used by a first user has been transferred from the first user to a second user, the transfer determining module including at least;

a transfer determining module including a visual cue detecting module configured to determine that the computing device has been transferred from the first user to the second user when the visual cue detecting module at least detects presence or absence of one or more visual cues in proximate vicinity of the computing device that when detected implies transfer of the computing device between two users, the transfer determining module including a visual cue detecting module including at least;

a visual cue detecting module including a face detecting module configured to detect presence or absence of one or more visual cues in the proximate vicinity of the computing device when the face detecting module at least detects presence of a first face associated with the first user and a second face associated with the second user in the proximate vicinity of the computing device, the second face being detected as being closer to the computing device than the first face;

an active ascertaining module configured to ascertain, responsive, at least in part, to said transfer determining module, which of one or more items that are at least conditionally accessible through the computing device are active; and

an access providing module configured to provide one or more selective levels of access to the one or more items responsive, at least in part, to said active ascertaining module; and

wherein at least one of the transfer determining module configured to determine that a computing device used by a first user has been transferred from the first user to a second user, the active ascertaining module, or the access providing module is implemented at least in part with one or more processing devices.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein said transfer determining module comprises:

a transfer determining module including a particular movement detecting module configured to determine that the computing device has been transferred from the first user to the second user when the particular movement detecting module at least detects that the computing device has moved in a particular manner that upon being detected as occurring at least implies that the computing device has been transferred between at least two users.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein said transfer determining module including a particular movement detecting module comprises:

a particular movement detecting module including the moving away detecting module configured to detect that the computing device has moved in the particular manner when the moving away detecting module at least detects that the computing device has moved away from the first user.

4. The system of claim 2, wherein said transfer determining module including a particular movement detecting module comprises:

a particular movement detecting module including a vibration detecting module configured to detect that the computing device has moved in the particular manner when the vibration detecting module at least detects that the computing device is no longer vibrating in a manner that matches with a vibration pattern that the computing device was detected having during use of the computing device by the first user.

5. The system of claim 2, wherein said transfer determining module including a particular movement detecting module comprises:

a particular movement detecting module including a three-dimensional movement detecting module configured to detect that the computing device has moved in the particular manner when the three-dimensional movement detecting module at least detects that the computing device has moved in a particular three-dimensional movement that implies that the computing device has been transferred from the first user to the second user.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein said transfer determining module including a visual cue detecting module comprises:

a visual cue detecting module including a lighting change detecting module configured to detect presence or absence of one or more visual cues in the proximate vicinity of the computing device when the lighting change detecting module detects at least a change in lighting in the proximate vicinity of the computing device that implies that the computing device has at least moved.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein said transfer determining module including a visual cue detecting module comprises:

a transfer determining module including a face detecting module configured to determine that the computing device has been transferred from the first user to the second user when the face detecting module at least detects presence of at least one face in the proximate vicinity of the computing device not associated with the first user.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein said transfer determining module including a visual cue detecting module comprises:

a visual cue detecting module including an eye detecting module configured to detect presence or absence of one or more visual cues in the proximate vicinity of the computing device when the eye detecting module detects presence of at least one eye in the proximate vicinity of the computing device not associated with the first user.

9. The system of claim 8, wherein said visual cue detecting module including an eye detecting module comprises:

an eye detecting module configured to detect presence of at least one eye in the proximate vicinity of the computing device not associated with the first user by at least detecting presence of at least one eye in the proximate vicinity of the computing device that is recognized as being associated with the second user.

10. The system of claim 1, wherein said transfer determining module including a visual cue detecting module comprises:

a visual cue detecting module configured to detect presence or absence of one or more visual cues in the proximate vicinity of the computing device by at least detecting absence of a visual cue associated with the first user in the proximate vicinity of the computing device for at least a predefined period of time, the absence of the visual cue for at least a predefined period of time being indicative of the first user not being in the proximate vicinity of the computing device.

11. The system of claim 1, wherein said transfer determining module comprises:

a transfer determining module including an audio cue detecting module configured to determine that the computing device has been transferred from the first user to the second user when the audio cue detecting module at least detects presence or absence of one or more audio cues in proximate vicinity of the computing device that when detected implies transfer of the computing device between two users.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein said transfer determining module including an audio cue detecting module comprises:

an audio cue detecting module including a voice pattern detecting module configured to detect presence or absence of one or more audio cues in the proximate vicinity of the computing device when the voice pattern detecting module at least detects presence of at least one audio voice pattern not associated with the first user in the proximate vicinity of the computing device.

13. The system of claim 12, wherein said audio cue detecting module including a voice pattern detecting module comprises:

a voice pattern detecting module configured to detect presence of at least one audio voice pattern not associated with the first user in the proximate vicinity of the computing device by at least detecting presence of at least one audio voice pattern that is recognized as being associated with the second user in the proximate vicinity of the computing device.

14. The system of claim 1, wherein said transfer determining module comprises:

a transfer determining module including a geographic location determination module configured to determine that a computing device used by a first user has been transferred from the first user to a second user, the determination being initiated in response to geographic location of the computing device as determined by the geographic location determination module.

15. The system of claim 1, wherein said active ascertaining module comprises:

an active electronic file detecting module configured to detect, in response to said determining by the transfer determining module, which one or more electronic files that are at least conditionally accessible through the computing device are active.

16. The system of claim 1, wherein said active ascertaining module comprises:

an active application detecting module configured to detect, in response to said determining by the transfer determining module, which one or more applications that are at least conditionally accessible through the computing device are active.

17. The system of claim 1, wherein said active ascertaining module comprises:

an active password detecting module configured to detect, in response to said determining by the transfer determining module, which one or more passwords that are at least conditionally accessible through the computing device are active.

18. The system of claim 1, wherein said active ascertaining module comprises:

an active website detecting module configured to detect, in response to said determining by the transfer determining module, which one or more websites that are at least conditionally accessible through the computing device are active.

19. The system of claim 1, wherein said active ascertaining module comprises:

an active ascertaining module configured to ascertain, in response to said determining by the transfer determining module, which of one or more items that were accessible through the computing device when the computing device was being used by the first user are active.

20. The system of claim 1, wherein said active ascertaining module comprises:

an open item ascertaining module configured to ascertain, in response to said determining by the transfer determining module, which of one or more items that are at least conditionally accessible through the computing device are open.

21. The system of claim 20, wherein said open item ascertaining module comprises:

an open item ascertaining module configured to ascertain, in response to said determining by the transfer determining module, which of one or more items that are at least conditionally accessible through the computing device are open items that have been opened by the first user.

22. The system of claim 1, wherein said active ascertaining module comprises:

a running item ascertaining module configured to ascertain, in response to said determining by the transfer determining module, which of one or more items that are at least conditionally accessible through the computing device are running.

23. The system of claim 22, wherein said running item ascertaining module comprises:

a running item ascertaining module configured to ascertain, in response to said determining by the transfer determining module, which of one or more items that are at least conditionally accessible through the computing device are running items that were being run by the first user.

24. The system of claim 1, wherein said active ascertaining module comprises:

an automatically retrievable item ascertaining module configured to ascertain, in response to said determining by the transfer determining module, which of one or more items that are at least conditionally accessible through the computing device are automatically retrievable.

25. The system of claim 1, wherein said access providing module comprises:

a visual access providing module and an audio access providing module configured to provide one or more selective levels of audio and viewing access to the one or more items based, at least in part on said ascertaining by the active ascertaining module.

26. The system of claim 1, wherein said access providing module comprises:

an editorial access providing module configured to provide one or more selective levels of editorial access to the one or more items based, at least in part on said ascertaining by the active ascertaining module.

27. The system of claim 1, wherein said access providing module comprises:

a functional access providing module configured to provide one or more selective levels of functional access to the one or more items based, at least in part on said ascertaining by the active ascertaining module.

28. The system of claim 1, wherein said access providing module comprises:

an access providing module configured to provide one or more selective levels of access to the one or more items, the one or more selective levels of access to be provided to the one or more items being selected based at least in part on said ascertaining by the active ascertaining module and based at least in part on said determining by the transfer determining module.

29. The system of claim 1, wherein said access providing module comprises:

an access providing module configured to provide one or more selective levels of access to the one or more items, the one or more selective levels of access to be provided to the one or more items being selected based at least in part on type of access that the first user enjoyed with respect to the one or more items that were ascertained to be active.

30. The system of claim 1, wherein said access providing module comprises:

an access providing module configured to provide a plurality of selective levels of access to a plurality of items based, at least in part, on said ascertaining by the active ascertaining module.

31. The system of claim 30, wherein said access providing module comprises:

an access providing module configured to provide at least two selective levels of access to the plurality of items including at least a first level of access to a first one or more items and a second level of access to a second one or more items in response to said ascertaining by the active ascertaining module, the first level of access being a greater extent of access than the second level of access.

32. The system of claim 31, wherein said access providing module comprises:

an access providing module configured to provide the first level of access to the first one or more items and the second level of access to the second one or more items, the first one or more items being one or more items that were ascertained by the active ascertaining module to be active and the second one or more items being one or more items that were ascertained by the active ascertaining module not to be active.

33. The system of claim 31, wherein said access providing module comprises:

an access providing module including an associated item determining module configured to provide the first level of access to the first one or more items and the second level of access to the second one or more items, the first one or more items including one or more items that are determined by the associated item determining module to be associated with one or more items that were ascertained by the active ascertaining module to be active.

34. The system of claim 33, wherein said access providing module including an associated item determining module comprises:

an access providing module including a common folder item determining module configured to provide the first level of access to the first one or more items and the second level of access to the second one or more items, the first one or more items including one or more items that are determined by the common folder item determining module to be included in one or more folders that include the one or more items that were ascertained by the active ascertaining module to be active.

35. The system of claim 33, wherein said access providing module including an associated item determining module comprises:

an access providing module including a same type item determining module configured to provide the first level of access to the first one or more items and the second level of access to the second one or more items, the first one or more items including one or more items that are determined by the same type item determining module to be the same type of items as the one or more items that were ascertained by the active ascertaining module to be active.

36. The system of claim 33, wherein said access providing module including an associated item determining module comprises:

an access providing module including a common third party entity association determining module configured to provide the first level of access to the first one or more items and the second level of access to the second one or more items, the first one or more items including one or more items that are determined by the common third party entity association determining module to be associated with one or more third party entities that are associated with the one or more items that were ascertained by the active ascertaining module to be active.

37. The system of claim 33, wherein said access providing module including an associated item determining module comprises:

an access providing module including a common predefined time association determining module configured to provide the first level of access to the first one or more items and the second level of access to the second one or more items, the first one or more items including one or more items that are determined by the common predefined time association determining module to have been associated with at least one of predefined time segments or points in time that are associated with the one or more items that were ascertained by the active ascertaining module to be active.

38. The system of claim 31, wherein said access providing module comprises:

an access providing module including an unassociated item determining module configured to provide the first level of access to the first one or more items and the second level of access to the second one or more items, the second one or more items including one or more items that are determined by the unassociated item determining module to be not associated with one or more items that were ascertained by the active ascertaining module to be active.

39. The system of claim 38, wherein said access providing module including an unassociated item determining module comprises:

an access providing module including a folder excluded item determining module configured to provide the first level of access to the first one or more items and the second level of access to the second one or more items, the second one or more items including one or more items that are determined by the folder excluded item determining module to be not included in one or more folders that include the one or more items that were ascertained by the active ascertaining module to be active.

40. The system of claim 38, wherein said access providing module including an unassociated item determining module comprises:

an access providing module including a different type item determining module configured to provide the first level of access to the first one or more items and the second level of access to the second one or more items, the second one or more items including one or more items that are determined by the different type item determining module to be different type of items from the one or more items that were ascertained by the active ascertaining module to be active.

41. The system of claim 38, wherein said access providing module including an unassociated item determining module comprises:

an access providing module including a third party entity unassociated item determining module configured to provide the first level of access to the first one or more items and the second level of access to the second one or more items, the second one or more items including one or more items that are determined by the third party entity unassociated item determining module to be not associated with one or more third party entities that are associated with the one or more items that were ascertained by the active ascertaining module to be active.

42. The system of claim 38, wherein said access providing module including an unassociated item determining module comprises:

an access providing module including a predefined time unassociated item determining module configured to provide the first level of access to the first one or more items and the second level of access to the second one or more items, the first one or more items including one or more items that are determined by the predefined time unassociated item determining module to have not been associated with at least one of predefined time segments or points in time that are associated with the one or more items that were ascertained by the active ascertaining module to be active.

43. The system of claim 31, wherein said access providing module comprises:

an access providing module configured to provide the first level of access to the first one or more items and the second level of access to the second one or more items, the second level of access to be provided to the second one or more items being at least limited access to the second one or more items.

46. The system of claim 1, wherein said visual cue detecting module including a face detecting module configured to detect presence or absence of one or more visual cues in the proximate vicinity of the computing device when the face detecting module at least detects presence of a first face associated with the first user and a second face associated with the second user in the proximate vicinity of the computing device, the second face being detected as being closer to the computing device than the first face comprises:

a face detecting module configured to detect the presence of the first face associated with the first user and the second face associated with the second user during a hand-off of the computing device from the first user to the second user, the hand-off consuming a finite period of time.

47. The system of claim 46, wherein the face detecting module configured to detect the presence of the first face associated with the first user and the second face associated with the second user during a hand-off of the computing device from the first user to the second user, the hand-off consuming a finite period of time comprises:

a face detecting module configured to detect the first face at a first time associated with the hand-off of the computing device from the first user to the second user and to detect the second face at a second time associated with the hand-off of the computing device from the first user to the second user, the second time being later in time than the first time.

44. A computationally-implemented system, comprising:

circuitry for determining that a computing device used by a first user has been transferred from the first user to a second user, the circuitry for determining including at least;

circuitry for determining that the computing device has been transferred from the first user to the second user based at least in part on a detection of a presence or absence of one or more visual cues in proximate vicinity of the computing device that when detected implies transfer of the computing device between two users, the circuitry for determining that the computing device has been transferred from the first user to the second user including at least;

circuitry for detecting a presence or an absence of one or more visual cues in the proximate vicinity of the computing device based at least in part on a detection of a presence of a first face associated with the first user and a second face associated with the second user in the proximate vicinity of the computing device, the second face being detected as being closer to the computing device than the first face;

circuitry for ascertaining, responsive, at least in part, to said circuitry for determining that a computing device used by a first user has been transferred from the first user to a second user, which of one or more items that are at least conditionally accessible through the computing device are active; and

circuitry for providing one or more selective levels of access to the one or more items responsive, at least in part, to said circuitry for ascertaining.

45. An article of manufacture, comprising:

a non-transitory storage medium bearing at least;

one or more instructions for determining that a computing device used by a first user has been transferred from the first user to a second user, the one or more instructions for determining including at least;

one or more instructions for determining that the computing device has been transferred from the first user to the second user based at least in part on a detection that the computing device has moved in a particular manner that upon being detected as occurring at least implies that the computing device has been transferred between at least two users, the one or more instructions for determining that the computing device has been transferred from the first user to the second user including at least;

one or more instructions for detecting that the computing device has moved in the particular manner based at least in part on a detection that the computing device is no longer vibrating in a manner that matches with a vibration pattern that the computing device was detected having during use of the computing device by the first user;

one or more instructions for ascertaining, in response to said determining, which of one or more items that are at least conditionally accessible through the computing device are active; and

one or more instructions for providing one or more selective levels of access to the one or more items based, at least in part, on said ascertaining.