Managed biometric identity

• US 8,924,735 B2
• Filed: 02/15/2013
• Issued: 12/30/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 02/15/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Forbes, Ronald, Dedhia, Bhaven, Keosababian, Tim, Leyvand, Tommer, Li, Jinyu, Gerken, Timothy
• Primary Examiner(s): PERUNGAVOOR, VENKATANARAY
• Application Number:
  US13/768,144
• Publication Number:
  US 20140237587A1
• Time in Patent Office: 683 Days
• US Class Current: 713/186
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/00 Security arrangements for protecting computers, components thereof, programs or data against unauthorised activity
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/32 using biometric data, e.g. fingerprints, iris scans or voiceprints

Abstract

A computing system such as a game console maintains and updates a biometric profile of a user. In one aspect, biometric data of the user is continuously obtained from a sensor such as an infrared and visible light camera, and used to update the biometric profile using a machine learning process. In another aspect, a user is prompted to confirm his or her identify when multiple users are detected at the same time and/or when the user is detected with a confidence level which is below a threshold. A real-time image of the user being identified can be displayed on a user interface with user images associated with one or more accounts. In another aspect, the biometric profile is managed by a shell on the computing system, where the shell makes the biometric profile available to any of a number of applications on the computing system.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method for recognizing a user, comprising:

obtaining biometric data of a first user from a sensor while the first user is in a field of view of the sensor;

determining a biometric profile which is a best match to the biometric data of the first user, the biometric profile is linked to a first user account;

determining a confidence level of the best match;

determining whether the confidence level is in a first, second or third range;

if the confidence level is in the first range, signing the first user into the first user account without prompting the first user to confirm his or her identity;

if the confidence level is in the second range, which is below the first range, displaying an image of a user associated with the first user account on a user interface while prompting the first user to confirm his or her identity; and

if the confidence level is in the third range, which is below the second range, determining a biometric profile which is a second best match to the biometric data of the first user, the biometric profile which is the second best match is linked to a second user account, and displaying the image of the user associated with the first user account and an image of a user associated with the second user account on the user interface while prompting the first user to confirm his or her identity.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein:

if the confidence level is in the second range, displaying a real-time image of the first user from the sensor with the image of the user associated with the first user account on the user interface.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, where the method performed further comprises:

in response to the first user confirming his or her identity, signing the first user into the first user account.

18. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein:

if the confidence level is in the second range, the user confirms his or her identity by selecting a yes or a no response from the user interface.

19. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein:

if the confidence level is in the third range, the user confirms his or her identity by selecting the image of the user associated with the first user account or the image of the user associated with the first user account from the user interface.

4. A computer-readable storage device having computer-readable software embodied thereon for programming a processor to perform a method for recognizing a user, the method comprising:

signing a first user into an account in a computing system, the account associates the first user with a biometric profile of the first user, the biometric profile comprises biometric data of the first user obtained from a sensor;

obtaining additional biometric data of the first user from the sensor while the first user is signed into the account and while the first user is in a field of view of the sensor;

updating the biometric profile based on the additional biometric data;

performing a filtering process which provides the additional biometric data within a defined range of head orientations of the first user in which the first user is facing the sensor, the biometric data of the biometric profile is also within the defined range of head orientations.

5. The computer-readable storage device of claim 4, wherein:

the biometric data of the biometric profile is classified into different categories based on biometric data-gathering conditions; and

a rate of the obtaining the additional biometric data is based on a current biometric data-gathering condition and an amount of biometric data which has been gathered with the current biometric data-gathering condition, the rate is relatively higher when the amount of biometric data which has been gathered with the current biometric data-gathering condition is relatively lower.

6. The computer-readable storage device of claim 5, wherein:

the different categories include categories for different lighting conditions.

7. The computer-readable storage device of claim 4, wherein:

the different categories include categories for distance of the first user from the sensor.

8. The computer-readable storage device of claim 4, wherein:

the biometric profile is managed by a shell on the computing system; and

the shell makes the biometric profile available to any of a plurality of applications on the computing system so that the plurality of applications can identify the first user using the biometric profile.

9. The computer-readable storage device of claim 4, wherein:

the sensor comprises an active infrared sensor; and

the additional biometric data comprises facial recognition data.

10. The computer-readable storage device of claim 4, wherein:

the updating comprises performing a machine learning process in which the biometric profile is trained using the additional biometric data.

11. The computer-readable storage device of claim 4, wherein the method performed further comprises:

performing a filtering process which provides the additional biometric data within a plurality of defined ranges of head orientations of the first user in which the first user is facing the sensor, the biometric data of the biometric profile is also within the plurality of defined range of head orientations, and the biometric data of the biometric profile is updated separately for each defined range of head orientations.

12. The computer-readable storage device of claim 4, wherein the method performed further comprises:

obtaining other biometric data of the first user before the first user is signed into the account and while the first user is in the field of view of the sensor; and

updating the biometric profile based on the additional biometric data when the first user confirms his identity to the computing system and indicates an intent to interact with the computing system.

13. A computing system, comprising:

a storage device comprising processor readable code; and

a processor in communication with the storage device, the processor executes the processor readable code to;

obtain biometric data of a first user from a sensor while the first user is in a field of view of the sensor, store the biometric data in a cache to provide cached biometric data which represents several minutes worth of biometric data, make a detection of an intent by the first user to interact with the computing system, in response to the detection of the intent by the first user to interact with the computing system, initiate a process to allow the user to sign into an account, the account associates the first user with a biometric profile of the first user, the biometric profile is obtained using the cached biometric data, and the biometric data is obtained before the detection of the intent by the first user to interact with the computing system.

14. The computing system of claim 13, wherein:

the processor makes the detection of the intent by the first user to interact with the computing system based on a movement of the first user in the field of view.

15. The computing system of claim 13, wherein:

the processor makes the detection of the intent by the first user to interact with the computing system based on a voice command which is correlated to a position of the first user in the field of view.

16. The computing system of claim 13, wherein:

the processor obtains additional biometric data of the first user from the sensor while the first user is signed into the account and while the first user is in the field of view of the sensor, and updates the biometric profile based on the additional biometric data.

17. The computing system of claim 13, wherein:

the processor obtains biometric data of a second user who is with the first user in the field of view of the sensor and, in response, provides a prompt to the first user to distinguish himself or herself from the second user, and the processor, to provide the prompt, displays a real-time image of the first user and the second user from the sensor in which the first user is visually distinguished from the second user.

20. The computing system of claim 13, wherein:

the processor makes the detection of the intent by the first user to interact with the computing system based on a location of a controller device which is correlated to a position of the first user in the field of view, and the location of the controller device is tracked by an infrared camera.