Providing particular level of access to one or more items in response to determining primary control of a computing device

• US 8,839,411 B2
• Filed: 06/30/2011
• Issued: 09/16/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 03/30/2011
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• 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): Homayounmehr, Farid
• Assistant Examiner(s): Debnath, Suman
• Application Number:
  US13/135,392
• Publication Number:
  US 20120254986A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,174 Days
• Field of Search: 726/5, 726/7, 726/17, 726/22, 726/26, 726/28, 713/186, 713/189, 713/323
• US Class Current: 726/17
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/31 User authentication
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/6218 to a system of files or objects, e.g. local or distributed file system or database
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/84 output devices, e.g. displays or monitors
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2221/2113 Multi-level security, e.g. mandatory access control

Abstract

A computationally implemented system and method that is designed to, but is not limited to: determining which of a plurality of users detected in proximate vicinity of a computing device has primary control of the computing device; and providing a particular level of access, via the computing device, to one or more items, the particular level of access to be provided to the one or more items being in response, at least in part, to said determining. 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) a primary control determining module, including one or more hardware processing devices, configured to determine which of a plurality of users in proximate vicinity of a computing device has primary control of the computing device, wherein the primary control determining module includes at least;

(i) the primary control determining module configured to determine automatically which of the plurality of users detected in the proximate vicinity of the computing device has primary control of the computing device, wherein the primary control determining module configured to determine automatically which of the plurality of users detected in the proximate vicinity of the computing device has primary control of the computing device includes at least;

(A) the primary control determining module including a user relinquishment detecting module, including the at least one or more hardware processing devices, configured to determine automatically which of the plurality of users detected in the proximate vicinity of the computing device has primary control of the computing device in response to the user relinquishment detecting module detecting that a user has relinquished primary control of the computing device including at least;

(1) the user relinquishment detecting module for determining automatically which of the plurality of users detected in the proximate vicinity of the computing device has primary control of the computing device in response to detecting that a user has relinquished primary control of the computing device, the user relinquishment detecting module being configured for detecting that a user has relinquished primary control of the computing device based at least in part on one or more movements of the computing device, one or more visual cues, and/or one or more audio cues that when detected allow an inference of a transfer of the computing device from the user; and

(b) an access providing module, including the one or more hardware processing devices, configured to provide a particular level of access to one or more items via the computing device, the access providing module being responsive at least in part to the primary control determining module configured to determine which of a plurality of users in proximate vicinity of a computing device has primary control of the computing device.

2. An article of manufacture, comprising:

a non-transitory medium bearing;

(a) one or more instructions for determining which of a plurality of users detected in proximate vicinity of a computing device has primary control of the computing device, the one or more instructions for determining including at least;

(i) one or more instructions for determining automatically which of the plurality of users detected in the proximate vicinity of the computing device has primary control of the computing device, the one or more instructions for determining automatically including at least;

(A) one or more instructions for determining automatically which of the plurality of users detected in the proximate vicinity of the computing device has primary control of the computing device in response to detecting that a user has relinquished primary control of the computing device;

including at least;

(1) one or more instructions for determining automatically which of the plurality of users detected in the proximate vicinity of the computing device has primary control of the computing device in response to detecting that a user has relinquished primary control of the computing device, the detecting that a user has relinquished primary control of the computing device being based at least in part on one or more movements of the computing device, one or more visual cues, and/or one or more audio cues that when detected allow an inference of a transfer of the computing device from the user; and

(b) one or more instructions for providing a particular level of access, via the computing device, to one or more items, the one or more instructions for providing a particular level of access being responsive, at least in part, to said one or more instructions for determining which of a plurality of users detected in proximate vicinity of a computing device has primary control of the computing device.

3. The article of manufacture of claim 2, wherein said one or more instructions for determining automatically which of the plurality of users detected in the proximate vicinity of the computing device has primary control of the computing device comprises:

one or more instructions for determining automatically which of the plurality of users detected in the proximate vicinity of the computing device has primary control of the computing device in response to detecting presence of the plurality of users in the proximate vicinity of the computing device.

4. The article of manufacture of claim 2, wherein said one or more instructions for determining which of a plurality of users detected in proximate vicinity of a computing device has primary control of the computing device comprises:

one or more instructions for detecting the plurality of users being in the proximate vicinity of the computing device based, at least in part, on data provided by one or more sensors.

5. The article of manufacture of claim 4, wherein said one or more instructions for detecting the plurality of users being in the proximate vicinity of the computing device based, at least in part, on data provided by one or more sensors comprises:

one or more instructions for detecting the plurality of users being in the proximate vicinity of the computing device based, at least in part, on data provided by one or more movement sensors.

6. The article of manufacture of claim 4, wherein said one or more instructions for detecting the plurality of users being in the proximate vicinity of the computing device based, at least in part, on data provided by one or more sensors comprises:

one or more instructions for detecting the plurality of users being in the proximate vicinity of the computing device based, at least in part, on data provided by one or more visual sensors.

7. The article of manufacture of claim 4, wherein said one or more instructions for detecting the plurality of users being in the proximate vicinity of the computing device based, at least in part, on data provided by one or more sensors comprises:

one or more instructions for detecting the plurality of users being within a distance from the computing device from which a user can be at least visually detected using the one or more sensors included with the computing device.

8. The article of manufacture of claim 4, wherein said one or more instructions for detecting the plurality of users being in the proximate vicinity of the computing device based, at least in part, on data provided by one or more sensors comprises:

one or more instructions for detecting the plurality of users being within a distance from the computing device from which a user can at least be audibly detected using the one or more sensors included with the computing device.

9. The article of manufacture of claim 4, wherein said one or more instructions for detecting the plurality of users being in the proximate vicinity of the computing device based, at least in part, on data provided by one or more sensors comprises:

one or more instructions for detecting the plurality of users being in the proximate vicinity of the computing device by detecting presence of all users who are within a predefined distance from the computing device.

10. The article of manufacture of claim 2, wherein said one or more instructions for determining which of a plurality of users detected in proximate vicinity of a computing device has primary control of the computing device comprises:

one or more instructions for detecting spatial locations of the plurality of users with respect to the computing device.

11. The article of manufacture of claim 10, wherein said one or more instructions for detecting spatial locations of the plurality of users with respect to the computing device comprises:

one or more instructions for detecting which of the plurality of users is or are spatially nearest to the computing device.

12. The article of manufacture of claim 11, wherein said one or more instructions for detecting which of the plurality of users is or are spatially nearest to the computing device comprises:

one or more instructions for detecting visually which of the plurality of users is or are spatially nearest to the computing device.

13. The article of manufacture of claim 12, wherein said one or more instructions for detecting visually which of the plurality of users is or are spatially nearest to the computing device comprises:

one or more instructions for detecting visually that one or more particular detected faces from a plurality of detected faces belonging to the plurality of users detected in the proximate vicinity of the computing device as being visually nearest to the computing device.

14. The article of manufacture of claim 11, wherein said one or more instructions for detecting which of the plurality of users is or are spatially nearest to the computing device comprises:

one or more instructions for detecting audibly which of the plurality of users is or are audibly nearest to the computing device.

15. The article of manufacture of claim 14, wherein said one or more instructions for detecting audibly which of the plurality of users is or are audibly nearest to the computing device comprises:

one or more instructions for detecting audibly that one or more particular detected voices from a plurality of detected voices associated with the plurality of users detected in the proximate vicinity of the computing device as being audibly nearest to the computing device.

16. The article of manufacture of claim 10, wherein said one or more instructions for detecting spatial locations of the plurality of users with respect to the computing device comprises:

one or more instructions for detecting spatial locations of the plurality of the users relative to specific orientation of the computing device, the computing device having at least a first side and a second side opposite of the first side, the first side having at least a display screen.

17. The article of manufacture of claim 16, wherein said one or more instructions for detecting spatial locations of the plurality of the users relative to specific orientation of the computing device, the computing device having at least a first side and a second side opposite of the first side, the first side having at least a display screen comprises:

one or more instructions for detecting which of the plurality of users is or are spatially located principally on the side of the first side of the computing device.

18. The article of manufacture of claim 17, wherein said one or more instructions for detecting which of the plurality of users is or are spatially located principally on the side of the first side of the computing device comprises:

one or more instructions for detecting which of the users is spatially located centered on the first side or spatially centered closest to center of the first side.

19. The article of manufacture of claim 18, wherein said one or more instructions for detecting which of the users is spatially located centered on the first side or spatially centered closest to center of the first side comprises:

one or more instructions for detecting an eye or a pair of eyes that are centered or nearest to center of the first side of the computing device, the eye or the pair of eyes that are detected belonging to one of the plurality of users.

20. The article of manufacture of claim 18, wherein said one or more instructions for detecting which of the users is spatially located centered on the first side or spatially centered closest to center of the first side comprises:

one or more instructions for detecting a face that is centered or nearest to center of the first side of the computing device, the face that is detected belonging to one of the plurality of users.

21. The article of manufacture of claim 2, wherein said one or more instructions for determining which of a plurality of users detected in proximate vicinity of a computing device has primary control of the computing device comprises:

one or more instructions for detecting that the computing device is exhibiting one or more movements that at least substantially matches with one or more signature movements of a particular user from the plurality of users detected in the proximate vicinity of the computing device.

22. The article of manufacture of claim 2, wherein said one or more instructions for determining which of a plurality of users detected in proximate vicinity of a computing device has primary control of the computing device comprises:

one or more instructions for detecting that the computing device is exhibiting one or more movements that although is determined to be associated with a human does not match with signature movements of one or more primary users of the computing device, the one or more primary users having greater access rights to the computing device than one or more secondary users of the computing device.

23. The article of manufacture of claim 2, wherein said one or more instructions for providing a particular level of access, via the computing device, to one or more items, the one or more instructions for providing a particular level of access being responsive, at least in part, to said one or more instructions for determining which of a plurality of users detected in proximate vicinity of a computing device has primary control of the computing device comprises:

one or more instructions for providing a first level of access, via the computing device, to the one or more items, the first level of access to be provided to the one or more items being in response, at least in part, to said determining, and the first level of access to the one or more items being a lower level of access to the one or more items than a second level of access to the one or more items that was provided at least immediately prior to said determining.

24. The article of manufacture of claim 2, wherein said one or more instructions for providing a particular level of access, via the computing device, to one or more items, the one or more instructions for providing a particular level of access being responsive, at least in part, to said one or more instructions for determining which of a plurality of users detected in proximate vicinity of a computing device has primary control of the computing device comprises:

one or more instructions for providing a first level of access, via the computing device, to the one or more items, the first level of access to be provided to the one or more items being in response, at least in part, to said determining, and the first level of access to the one or more items being a higher level of access to the one or more items than a second level of access to the one or more items that was provided at least immediately prior to said determining.

25. The article of manufacture of claim 2, wherein said one or more instructions for providing a particular level of access, via the computing device, to one or more items, the one or more instructions for providing a particular level of access being responsive, at least in part, to said one or more instructions for determining which of a plurality of users detected in proximate vicinity of a computing device has primary control of the computing device comprises:

one or more instructions for providing a particular level of viewing access, via the computing device, to the one or more items, the particular level of viewing access to be provided to the one or more items being in response, at least in part, to said determining.

26. The article of manufacture of claim 25, wherein said one or more instructions for providing a particular level of viewing access, via the computing device, to the one or more items, the particular level of viewing access to be provided to the one or more items being in response, at least in part, to said determining comprises:

one or more instructions for providing at least limited viewing access, via a user interface, to the one or more items, the at least limited viewing access to be provided to the one or more items being in response, at least in part, to said determining.

27. The article of manufacture of claim 26, wherein said one or more instructions for providing at least limited viewing access, via a user interface, to the one or more items, the at least limited viewing access to be provided to the one or more items being in response, at least in part, to said determining comprises:

one or more instructions for hiding visually, via the user interface, at least one or more visual representations of the one or more items, the hiding visually of the at least one or more visual representations of the one or more items being in response, at least in part, to said determining.

28. The article of manufacture of claim 27, wherein said one or more instructions for hiding visually, via the user interface, at least one or more visual representations of the one or more items, the hiding visually of the at least one or more visual representations of the one or more items being in response, at least in part, to said determining comprises:

one or more instructions for replacing visually, via the user interface, at least one or more visual representations of the one or more items with one or more obfuscating locum tenentes, the replacing visually of the at least one or more visual representations with the obfuscating locum tenentes being in response, at least in part, to said determining.

29. The article of manufacture of claim 25, wherein said one or more instructions for providing a particular level of viewing access, via the computing device, to the one or more items, the particular level of viewing access to be provided to the one or more items being in response, at least in part, to said determining comprises:

one or more instructions for providing at least greater viewing access, via a user interface, to the one or more items, the at least greater viewing access to be provided to the one or more items being in response, at least in part, to said determining.

30. The article of manufacture of claim 29, wherein said one or more instructions for providing at least greater viewing access, via a user interface, to the one or more items, the at least greater viewing access to be provided to the one or more items being in response, at least in part, to said determining comprises:

one or more instructions for providing visually, via the user interface, at least one or more visual representations of the one or more items, the providing visually of the one or more visual representations being in response, at least in part, to said determining.

31. The article of manufacture of claim 30, wherein said one or more instructions for providing visually, via the user interface, at least one or more visual representations of the one or more items, the providing visually of the one or more visual representations being in response, at least in part, to said determining comprises:

one or more instructions for providing visually, via the user interface, one or more of the visual representations of the one or more items, the one or more of the visual representations not being previously provided via the user interface at least immediately prior to said determining.

32. The article of manufacture of claim 31, wherein said one or more instructions for providing visually, via the user interface, one or more of the visual representations of the one or more items, the one or more of the visual representations not being previously provided via the user interface at least immediately prior to said determining comprises:

one or more instructions for replacing visually, via the user interface, one or more obfuscating locum tenentes of the one or more items with the one or more of the visual representations of the one or more items, the one or more obfuscating locum tenentes being available for presentation via the user interface at least immediately prior to said determining.

33. The article of manufacture of claim 2, wherein said one or more instructions for providing a particular level of access, via the computing device, to one or more items, the one or more instructions for providing a particular level of access being responsive, at least in part, to said one or more instructions for determining which of a plurality of users detected in proximate vicinity of a computing device has primary control of the computing device comprises:

one or more instructions for providing a particular level of audio access, via the computing device, to the one or more items, the particular level of audio access to be provided to the one or more items being in response, at least in part, to said determining.

34. The article of manufacture of claim 2, wherein said one or more instructions for providing a particular level of access, via the computing device, to one or more items, the one or more instructions for providing a particular level of access being responsive, at least in part, to said one or more instructions for determining which of a plurality of users detected in proximate vicinity of a computing device has primary control of the computing device comprises:

one or more instructions for presenting, via the computing device, the one or more items in one or more formats that allow one or more editorial actions to be available for execution on one or more parts of the one or more items, the one or more formats of the one or more items to be presented being in response, at least in part, to said determining.

35. The article of manufacture of claim 2, wherein said one or more instructions for providing a particular level of access, via the computing device, to one or more items, the one or more instructions for providing a particular level of access being responsive, at least in part, to said one or more instructions for determining which of a plurality of users detected in proximate vicinity of a computing device has primary control of the computing device comprises:

one or more instructions for presenting, via the computing device, the one or more items in one or more formats that allow one or more functionalities of the one or more items to be available for execution, the one or more formats of the one or more items to be presented being in response, at least in part, to said determining.

36. The article of manufacture of claim 2, wherein said one or more instructions for providing a particular level of access, via the computing device, to one or more items, the one or more instructions for providing a particular level of access being responsive, at least in part, to said one or more instructions for determining which of a plurality of users detected in proximate vicinity of a computing device has primary control of the computing device comprises:

one or more instructions for providing a particular level of access, via the computing device, to one or more items that are ascertained to be affiliated with one or more particular entities, the particular level of access to be provided to the one or more items being in response, at least in part, to said determining and said ascertaining that the one or more items are affiliated with the one or more particular entities.

37. The article of manufacture of claim 36, wherein said one or more instructions for providing a particular level of access, via the computing device, to one or more items that are ascertained to be affiliated with one or more particular entities, the particular level of access to be provided to the one or more items being in response, at least in part, to said determining and said ascertaining that the one or more items are affiliated with the one or more particular entities comprises:

one or more instructions for providing the particular level of access, via the computing device, to the one or more items that are ascertained to be affiliated with one or more particular entities, the one or more items being ascertained to include one or more voice patterns that matches with one or more signature voice patterns affiliated with the one or more particular entities.

38. The article of manufacture of claim 36, wherein said one or more instructions for providing a particular level of access, via the computing device, to one or more items that are ascertained to be affiliated with one or more particular entities, the particular level of access to be provided to the one or more items being in response, at least in part, to said determining and said ascertaining that the one or more items are affiliated with the one or more particular entities comprises:

one or more instructions for providing the particular level of access, via the computing device, to the one or more items that are ascertained to be affiliated with one or more particular entities, the one or more items being ascertained to include one or more words, phrases, and/or numbers that match with one or more words, phrases, and/or numbers affiliated with the one or more particular entities.

39. The article of manufacture of claim 2, wherein said one or more instructions for providing a particular level of access, via the computing device, to one or more items, the one or more instructions for providing a particular level of access being responsive, at least in part, to said one or more instructions for determining which of a plurality of users detected in proximate vicinity of a computing device has primary control of the computing device comprises:

one or more instructions for providing the particular level of access, via the computing device, to the one or more items based on access rights to the one or more items of a particular user from a plurality of users determined to have primary control of the computing device, the access rights of the particular user being the basis for the particular level of access to be provided to the one or more items based, at least in part, on the particular user having the lowest access rights to the one or more items among the plurality of users determined to have primary control of the computing device.

40. The article of manufacture of claim 2, wherein said one or more instructions for providing a particular level of access, via the computing device, to one or more items, the one or more instructions for providing a particular level of access being responsive, at least in part, to said one or more instructions for determining which of a plurality of users detected in proximate vicinity of a computing device has primary control of the computing device comprises:

one or more instructions for providing the particular level of access, via the computing device, to the one or more items based on access rights to the one or more items of a particular user from a plurality of users determined to have primary control of the computing device, the access rights of the particular user being the basis for the particular level of access to be provided to the one or more items based, at least in part, on the particular user having the highest access rights to the one or more items among the plurality of users determined to have primary control of the computing device.

41. The article of manufacture of claim 2, wherein said non-transitory medium further bearing:

one or more instructions for generating an alert to indicate that the particular level of access has been provided to the one or more items in response to said providing.

42. The article of manufacture of claim 2, wherein said one or more instructions for determining automatically which of the plurality of users detected in the proximate vicinity of the computing device has primary control of the computing device in response to detecting that a user has relinquished primary control of the computing device comprise:

one or more instructions for determining automatically which of the plurality of users detected in the proximate vicinity of the computing device has primary control of the computing device in response to detecting that a user has relinquished primary control of the computing device, the detecting that a user has relinquished primary control of the computing device being based at least in part on one or more movements of the computing device.

43. The article of manufacture of claim 42, wherein said one or more instructions for determining automatically which of the plurality of users detected in the proximate vicinity of the computing device has primary control of the computing device in response to detecting that a user has relinquished primary control of the computing device, the detecting that a user has relinquished primary control of the computing device being based at least in part on one or more movements of the computing device comprise:

one or more instructions for detecting that a user has relinquished primary control of the computing device, the detecting that a user has relinquished primary control of the computing device being based at least in part on one or more movements of the computing device that are sensed at least in part with one or more movement sensors configured to sense the one or more movements of the computing device.

44. The article of manufacture of claim 43, wherein said one or more instructions for detecting that a user has relinquished primary control of the computing device, the detecting that a user has relinquished primary control of the computing device being based at least in part on one or more movements of the computing device that are sensed at least in part with one or more movement sensors configured to sense the one or more movements of the computing device comprises:

one or more instructions for detecting that a user has relinquished primary control of the computing device, the detecting that a user has relinquished primary control of the computing device being based at least in part on one or more movements of the computing device that are sensed at least in part with one or more accelerometers configured to sense the one or more movements of the computing device.

45. The article of manufacture of claim 2, wherein said one or more instructions for determining automatically which of the plurality of users detected in the proximate vicinity of the computing device has primary control of the computing device comprise:

one or more instructions for automatically, upon the computing device awakening from an off-state or a sleep mode, detecting presence of one or more users in the proximate vicinity of the computing device.

46. The article of manufacture of claim 45, wherein said one or more instructions for automatically, upon the computing device awakening from an off-state or a sleep mode, detecting presence of one or more users in the proximate vicinity of the computing device comprise:

one or more instructions for automatically, upon the computing device awakening from an off-state or a sleep mode, activating one or more movement sensors, one or more visual sensors, and/or one or more audio sensors in order to detect presence of one or more users in the proximate vicinity of the computing device.

47. The article of manufacture of claim 2, wherein the one or more movements of the computing device, one or more visual cues, and/or one or more audio cues that when detected allow an inference of a transfer of the computing device from the user comprises:

the one or more movements of the computing device, one or more visual cues, and/or one or more audio cues signaling a transfer of the computing device from the user.

48. The article of manufacture of claim 2, wherein the one or more movements of the computing device, one or more visual cues, and/or one or more audio cues that when detected allow an inference of a transfer of the computing device from the user comprises:

the one or more movements of the computing device, one or more visual cues, and/or one or more audio cues constituting or contemporaneous with a transfer of the computing device from the user.

49. The article of manufacture of claim 2, wherein the one or more movements of the computing device, one or more visual cues, and/or one or more audio cues that when detected allow an inference of a transfer of the computing device from the user comprises:

the one or more movements of the computing device, one or more visual cues, and/or one or more audio cues constituting or contemporaneous with input indicating that a transfer of the computing device from the user has occurred.