Locking and unlocking a mobile device using facial recognition

• US 9,477,829 B2
• Filed: 02/17/2015
• Issued: 10/25/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 03/16/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Original Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Inventors: Zhao, Lihua, Tsai, Richard
• Primary Examiner(s): Mehmood, Jennifer
• Assistant Examiner(s): Jiang, Yong Hang
• Application Number:
  US14/624,443
• Publication Number:
  US 20150193611A1
• Time in Patent Office: 616 Days
• Field of Search: 340/5.1, 340/5.8, 340/5.81, 340/5.83, 340/5.82, 340/5.53
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/32 using biometric data, e.g. fingerprints, iris scans or voiceprints
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 40/161 Detection; Localisation; Normalisation
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 40/172 Classification, e.g. identification
• 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
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/06 Authentication
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/065 Continuous authentication
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/40 Security arrangements using identity modules
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/02 Terminal devices

Abstract

In an embodiment of the invention, an unlocked mobile device is configured to capture images, analyze the images to detect a user'"'"'s face, and automatically lock the device in response to determining that a user'"'"'s face does not appear in the images. The camera capturing and face recognition processing may be triggered by the device having detected that it has been motionless for a threshold period of time. In another embodiment, a locked mobile device is configured to capture an initial image using its camera, capture a new image in response to detecting movement of the device, determine that the device moved to a use position, capture a subsequent image in response to determining that the device moved to a use position, analyze the subsequent image to detect a user'"'"'s face, and unlock the device in response to detecting the user'"'"'s face. Other embodiments are also described and claimed.

Claims

1. A non-transitory machine readable medium including instructions which, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform operations to lock a mobile device having a camera, the operations comprising:

while the mobile device is unlocked and in response to detecting that the mobile device has been motionless for a threshold period, capturing one or more images using a low power operational mode of the camera, wherein detecting that the device has been motionless includes detecting movement and orientation of the device using an inertial sensor;

analyzing the images to determine whether a face appears in the one or more images; and

locking the mobile device in response to determining that the face does not appear in the one or more images for the threshold period.

2. The medium of claim 1, wherein capturing the one or more images comprises capturing one or more images in response to detecting that the device is idle.

3. The medium of claim 1, wherein capturing the one or more images comprises:

monitoring a motion state of the mobile device to detect whether the device is motionless.

4. The medium of claim 1, wherein the inertial sensor includes a tilt sensor.

5. The medium of claim 1, wherein detecting that the device has been motionless includes filtering sensor data to remove spurious signals.

6. The medium of claim 5, wherein the spurious signals are filtered in response to a signal from an ambient light sensor.

7. The medium of claim 1, wherein determining that the face does not appear in the one or more images for the threshold period comprises:

determining that the face does not appear in at least one of the one or more images;

capturing one or more additional images for a predetermined period; and

locking the device in response to determining that the face does not appear in the one or more additional images.

8. The medium of claim 7, wherein the predetermined period is configurable via a graphical interface of the device.

9. The medium of claim 1, wherein locking the device comprises disabling at least a portion of a graphical interface of the device.

10. The medium of claim 9, wherein locking the device comprises disabling at least a portion of applications and functions of the device.

11. The medium of claim 10, wherein the portion of the graphical interface, functions or applications of the device that are disabled by the locking is configurable.

12. A mobile device, comprising:

one or more processors;

a camera having a low power operational mode;

an inertial sensor to detect orientation and movement of the device; and

a non-transitory machine readable medium including instructions to cause the one or more processors to;

capture one or more images using the low power operational mode of the camera while the device is unlocked and in response to a detection that the mobile device has been motionless for a threshold period, wherein the detection that the mobile device has been motionless includes to detect movement and orientation of the device via the inertial sensor;

analyze the images to determine whether a face appears in the one or more images; and

lock the mobile device in response to a determination that the face does not appear in the one or more images for the threshold period.

13. The mobile device as in claim 12, wherein to capture the one or more images includes to capture one or more images in response to a detection that the device is idle.

14. The mobile device as in claim 12, wherein to capture the one or more images includes to monitor a motion state of the mobile device to detect whether the device is motionless.

15. The mobile device as in claim 12, wherein the inertial sensor includes a tilt sensor.

16. The mobile device as in claim 12, wherein to detect that the device has been motionless includes to filter sensor data to remove spurious signals.

17. The mobile device as in claim 16, wherein the spurious signals are to be filtered in response to a signal from an ambient light sensor.

18. The mobile device as in claim 12, wherein to determine that the face does not appear in the one or more images for the threshold period includes to:

determine that the face does not appear in at least one of the one or more images;

capture one or more additional images for a predetermined period; and

lock the device in response to a determination that the face does not appear in the one or more additional images.

19. The mobile device as in claim 12, wherein the predetermined period is to be configurable via a graphical interface of the mobile device.

20. The mobile device as in claim 12, wherein locking the device includes to disable at least a portion of a graphical interface of the device and disable at least a portion of applications and functions of the device.

21. A system to lock a mobile device having a camera, the system comprising:

a non-transitory machine-readable storage device; and

one or more processors coupled to the non-transitory machine-readable storage device, the one or more processors to execute instructions stored in the storage device to perform operations while the mobile device is unlocked, the operations including;

in response to detecting that the mobile device has been motionless for a threshold period, capturing one or more images using a low power operational mode of the camera, wherein detecting that the device has been motionless includes detecting movement and orientation of the device using an inertial sensor;

analyzing the images to determine whether a face appears in the one or more images; and

locking the mobile device in response to determining that the face does not appear in the one or more images for the threshold period.

22. The system as in claim 21, the operations additionally including capturing one or more images in response to detecting that the device is idle.

23. The system as in claim 21, wherein capturing the one or more images comprises monitoring a motion state of the mobile device to detect whether the device is motionless.

24. The system as in claim 21, wherein the inertial sensor includes a tilt sensor.

25. The system as in claim 21, wherein detecting that the device has been motionless includes filtering sensor data to remove spurious signals in response to a signal from an ambient light sensor.

26. The system as in claim 21, wherein determining that the face does not appear in the one or more images for the threshold period comprises:

determining that the face does not appear in at least one of the one or more images;

capturing one or more additional images for a predetermined period; and

locking the device in response to determining that the face does not appear in the one or more additional images.

27. The system as in claim 21, wherein locking the device comprises disabling at least a portion of a graphical interface of the device and disabling at least a portion of applications and functions of the device.