Automated Assistant Dynamic User Queues for Camera-Based Access Control

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Solution Overview

Problem

Automated assistants struggle to maintain user authentication and efficiently manage access to restricted data when multiple users are present, leading to resource wastage and security vulnerabilities due to background noise and user presence detection failures.

Innovation Solution

Implementing a dynamic user queue system that uses camera-based presence detection to prioritize user access, ensuring only active users with verified presence receive personalized and restricted content, while minimizing latency and resource usage.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Reliability

If voice verification is used for user authentication, then security is improved, but reliability deteriorates when background noise and multiple voices are detected

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveuser authentication accuracyVSAvoidbackground noise interference
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSObject-affected harmful factors

Solution Approach 1:

The patent segments the authentication process into multiple stages: initial voice verification for security, followed by camera-based presence detection for continuous validation. This segmentation allows the system to use different detection methods for different purposes, reducing the impact of background noise on overall authentication reliability.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

The patent introduces camera-based presence detection as an intermediary mechanism between voice verification and data rendering. The camera acts as a mediator that continuously monitors user presence and validates authentication status, providing an additional layer of verification that is not affected by audio background noise.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

2Ease of operation

If automated assistant continues to render data for initial user, then user experience is maintained, but computational resources are wasted

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveuser experience continuityVSAvoidcomputational resource consumption
Core Design Contradiction:
Ease of operationVSLoss of energy

Solution Approach 1:

The patent implements periodic presence checks using the camera to determine whether the authenticated user is still present. Instead of continuously rendering data without verification, the system periodically validates user presence and stops resource-consuming data rendering when the user is detected to have left, thereby reducing energy waste while maintaining user experience during active usage.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #19Periodic action

Solution Approach 2:

The system uses the camera to automatically detect and verify user presence without requiring manual input from the user. This self-service approach allows the system to autonomously manage computational resources by stopping data rendering when the user leaves, eliminating the need for users to manually signal their departure while optimizing resource consumption.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #25Self-service

3Reliability

If automated assistant waits for user return, then authentication security is maintained, but latency increases when another user needs access

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveauthentication securityVSAvoidaccess latency
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSLoss of time

Solution Approach 1:

The patent performs preliminary presence verification using the camera before allowing data rendering to commence. By proactively detecting user presence and validating authentication status before resource-intensive operations begin, the system prevents unnecessary latency and security breaches rather than detecting issues after they occur. This preliminary action enables faster, more secure access when users are present while preventing unauthorized access when users have left.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #10Preliminary action

Data Source

PatentEP3942440B1Assigning priority for an automated assistant according to a dynamic user queue and/or multi-modality presence detection
Publication Date: 2025.08.20 GOOGLE LLC
  • EP3942440B1 patent drawingFigure 1A
  • EP3942440B1 patent drawingFigure 1B
  • EP3942440B1 patent drawingFigure 1C

AI summary

Implementations relate to an automated assistant that provides and manages output from one or more elements of output hardware of a computing device. The automated assistant manages dynamic adjustment of access permissions to the computing device according to, for example, a detected presence of one or more users. An active-user queue can be established each time a unique user enters a viewing window of a camera of the computing device when, up to that point, no user was considered active. Multiple image frames can be captured via the camera and processed to determine whether an initial user remains in the viewing window and/or whether another user has entered the viewing window. The initial user can be considered active as long as they are exclusively detected in the viewing window. Restricted content associated with the user may be rendered by the computing device whilst the user is active.