Environmental Feature Authentication for Secure Account Access
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional graphical authentication systems for accessing user accounts are cumbersome, require users to remember specific points of interest in images, and fail to accurately recognize environmental objects or places, leading to reduced accuracy and erroneous results.
Innovation Solution
A system and method that utilize environmental data from sensors to extract unique features of an environment, compare these features over time, and generate a confidence score to enable secure access to user accounts, eliminating the need for remembering credentials by using a combination of 2D and 3D representations of the environment.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If conventional graphical authentication systems are used, then user identity verification is achieved, but users must remember specific points of interest in images which is tedious and difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The system automatically captures environmental data from sensors and extracts unique features without requiring user intervention. The environmental representation is generated and stored autonomously, eliminating the need for users to manually select points of interest or remember credentials.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces manual credential selection and memorization with automated environmental sensing and feature extraction. Sensors automatically capture environmental data, and algorithms automatically extract unique features, substituting mechanical user actions with automated computational processes.
2Extent of automation
If conventional graphical authentication systems are used, then authentication functionality is provided, but the system is unable to automatically recognize in real-time environmental objects or places
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary environmental scanning and feature extraction during an initial phase, storing the environmental representation before authentication is needed. This preliminary action enables real-time comparison during authentication without requiring complex real-time processing.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an environmental representation as an intermediary between the physical environment and the authentication system. Sensors capture environmental data, which is processed into a stored representation that serves as a mediator for comparison during authentication, improving both automation and accuracy.
3Measurement precision
If conventional systems map identified objects with the scene of the real-time environment, then object recognition is attempted, but erroneous results are generated which reduces system accuracy
Solution Approach 1:
The system creates a stored copy of the environmental representation during an initial phase. During authentication, the current environmental data is compared against this stored copy rather than attempting to identify and map objects in real-time, eliminating errors from real-time object recognition.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of attempting to fully recognize and map all objects in the environment (excessive action), the system extracts and compares only unique environmental features (partial action). This selective approach to feature comparison improves accuracy by focusing on distinctive characteristics rather than attempting complete environmental understanding.
Data Source
AI summary
A system for securely accessing a user account is disclosed. The system includes an environmental data subsystem to receive a set of environmental data representative of an environment from sensors, wherein the set of environmental data includes a first set of environmental data received at a first time instant and a second set of environmental data received at a second time instant; an environment identification subsystem to extract a first set of unique features of the environment from the first set of environmental data and a second set of unique features of the environment from the second set of environmental data; an environmental data comparison subsystem to compare the second set of unique features with the first representation of the first set of unique features, to determine similarities between the second set of unique features and the first representation, to generate a confidence score based on the similarity analysis.