Dynamic Pattern Verification for Location-Based Services
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional systems for verifying visits to locations for location-based services are vulnerable to cheating, as they lack robust methods to authenticate and confirm actual visits.
Innovation Solution
A system that generates a unique, non-static pattern at the location, which participants can capture and verify using a mobile device, involving cryptographic encryption and verification processes to ensure authenticity and prevent cheating.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If conventional visit verification systems are used, then the system is simple to operate, but the system is vulnerable to cheating and lacks reliability
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements dynamic patterns that change over time (e.g., rotating visual patterns, changing audio sequences) rather than static verification codes. This dynamic nature prevents cheating while maintaining operational simplicity for users, as they only need to capture or record the pattern without understanding its complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The system pre-generates and stores multiple unique patterns at each location before verification is needed. When a participant visits, the system selects and presents one of these pre-prepared patterns, eliminating the need for complex real-time pattern generation during verification while ensuring uniqueness and anti-cheating capabilities.
2Reliability
If unique non-static patterns are generated at each location, then visit authenticity is improved, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of generating complex unique patterns through sophisticated hardware or algorithms at each location, the system uses copies or representations of patterns (visual images, audio recordings) that can be captured by standard mobile device cameras or microphones. The actual uniqueness is managed server-side, keeping location devices simple.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a server as an intermediary that manages the complex pattern generation, storage, and verification logic. Location devices only need to present or capture patterns, while the server handles the cryptographic encryption, pattern uniqueness management, and verification, thus reducing on-site device complexity.
3Reliability
If cryptographic encryption is used to secure patterns, then security is improved, but processing time increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs cryptographic encryption and pattern generation in advance, before verification is needed. Patterns are pre-encrypted and stored with their cryptographic signatures. During actual verification, the system only needs to compare the captured pattern against stored patterns, significantly reducing processing time while maintaining security.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent extracts the computationally intensive cryptographic operations from the real-time verification process and places them in the pattern generation and storage phase. This separates the heavy processing from the time-critical verification step, allowing fast pattern matching during verification while maintaining strong security through pre-computed cryptographic protection.
Data Source
AI summary
Techniques to verify a participant's visit to a specific location are described. An embodiment may provide a system that generates a pattern that is unique to the location, and that may further be unique to a date or time, a transaction, or other criteria. Participants may capture the pattern, for example, using a mobile device, and transmit the pattern to a verification system. The verification system may decode, translate, decrypt or otherwise obtain information from the pattern. The information obtained from the pattern may be used to verify that the pattern came from the location. The participant may then receive credit for the visit. Other embodiments are described and claimed.