Facial Detection Authentication for Electronic Messages

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Solution Overview

Problem

Current electronic message transmission systems lack assurance that only the intended recipient views or receives the message, leading to potential unauthorized access and exposure of personal information.

Innovation Solution

Facial detection technology is employed to authenticate message recipients by capturing and comparing images of users attempting to access messages with encoded facial features, ensuring only the intended recipient can view the message.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Reliability

If traditional electronic message transmission is used, then ease of operation is improved, but security and reliability deteriorate due to inability to ensure only intended recipient accesses the message

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvemessage delivery securityVSAvoidmessage access convenience
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSEase of operation

Solution Approach 1:

The system performs preliminary facial authentication before message delivery by capturing the recipient's facial image, encoding facial features, and verifying identity in advance. This preliminary verification ensures only the intended recipient can access the message, resolving the security-convenience contradiction by establishing security prerequisites before message transmission.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #10Preliminary action

Solution Approach 2:

The patent introduces facial feature encoding and image comparison technology as an intermediary authentication mechanism between the sender and recipient. This intermediary verification process confirms the recipient's identity without requiring physical presence or complex manual verification, maintaining ease of operation while improving reliability.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

2Reliability

If facial detection authentication is implemented, then security and reliability are improved, but device complexity increases due to additional authentication components

Engineering Contradiction:
Improverecipient verification accuracyVSAvoidauthentication system complexity
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent replaces complex manual verification processes with automated facial detection and image comparison systems. By using optical recognition and biometric authentication, the system achieves high verification accuracy while reducing the need for complex mechanical or procedural authentication mechanisms.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #28Mechanics substitution (Replace mechanical system)

Solution Approach 2:

The system creates and stores encoded facial feature templates as digital copies for authentication purposes. These encoded facial images serve as verification references, allowing the system to authenticate recipients through comparison without requiring physical identification documents or complex verification procedures, thus reducing overall system complexity.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #26Copying

3Loss of information

If facial images are captured and compared for authentication, then privacy protection is improved, but loss of information increases due to processing and storage of biometric data

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvebiometric data processingVSAvoidunauthorized access risk
Core Design Contradiction:
Loss of informationVSObject-affected harmful factors

Solution Approach 1:

The patent extracts only essential facial feature characteristics from complete facial images, encoding and storing only these specific biometric traits rather than full facial images. This extraction approach minimizes the amount of biometric data processed and stored, reducing information loss and privacy risks while maintaining authentication effectiveness.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #2Taking out (Extraction)

Solution Approach 2:

The system applies different processing qualities to different data elements: complete facial images are captured temporarily for authentication but only encoded facial features are stored long-term. This local quality differentiation ensures high-quality authentication verification while minimizing the storage and processing of sensitive biometric information, reducing privacy risks.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #3Local quality

Data Source

PatentEP2761823B1Methods and apparatuses for electronic message authentication
Publication Date: 2017.11.22 NOKIA TECHNOLOGIES OY
  • EP2761823B1 patent drawingFigure 1
  • EP2761823B1 patent drawingFigure 2
  • EP2761823B1 patent drawingFigure 3

AI summary

Various methods are provided for facilitating the message recipient authentication using facial detection. One example method may include receiving a message. The message may include a plurality of encoded facial features that identify a message recipient. The method may further include causing an image to be captured of the message recipient in an instance in which the message is accessed. The method may also include authenticating the message recipient based on the captured image and the received plurality of encoded features provided with the received message. Similar and related example apparatuses and example computer program products are also provided.