Authenticating Users via Physical Interaction Characteristics
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing authentication methods, such as passcode-based and biometric systems, face limitations including false positives and negatives, leading to cumbersome user experiences and security concerns.
Innovation Solution
The use of user physical interaction characteristics, such as swipe speed, finger conductivity, and device angle, to generate a user identity confidence score, which determines the necessity of passcode or biometric authentication, thereby enhancing authentication without impacting user experience.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If passcode or biometric authentication is required for every access, then device security is improved, but user experience deteriorates due to frequent authentication requests
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary authentication by analyzing user interaction characteristics (typing rhythm, swipe patterns, device handling) before requiring formal passcode or biometric authentication. This preliminary assessment allows the system to pre-determine authentication needs based on established user behavior profiles, reducing unnecessary authentication prompts and improving user experience while maintaining security.
2Reliability
If biometric authentication systems are implemented, then authentication capability is improved, but false positives and negatives increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system merges multiple authentication modalities including biometric data, passcode verification, and behavioral analysis of user interaction characteristics. By combining these diverse authentication methods and cross-validating them against each other, the system reduces false positives and negatives that occur with single-method biometric systems, achieving more accurate and reliable authentication decisions.
3Reliability
If multiple authentication methods are required, then authentication reliability is improved, but system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system dynamically adjusts authentication requirements based on contextual factors including user behavior analysis, device location, time of access, and security risk assessment. Rather than requiring multiple authentication methods uniformly, the system adaptively selects appropriate authentication levels, maintaining high reliability when needed while reducing complexity for low-risk scenarios, thereby optimizing the balance between security and usability.
Data Source
AI summary
User physical interaction characteristics information or the way a user physically interacts with a device is analyzed to aid in authenticating a user of a device. User physical interaction characteristics information such as swipe speed, finger area, finger conductivity, finger angle, device angle, movement patterns, acceleration, etc., provide signatures that are distinctive for particular individuals and possibly unique if measured to a sufficiently high level of precision. In some examples, a device measures finger positions, finger pad sizes, moisture level, acceleration, displacement, and changes in finger pad size for a particular user and compares the measurements to physical interaction characteristics measured during subsequent usage of the device to verify that a user is an authorized user.