Picture Password Grid Offset for Small Display Precision
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional picture password systems are cumbersome and inaccurate on small display screens, such as smartphones, due to the difficulty in precisely selecting grid locations with a finger or stylus, leading to reduced entropy and usability issues across varying display sizes.
Innovation Solution
A device and method that displays an image with an overlaid grid, allowing input at one location to highlight an element at a second location offset from the first, maintaining or improving precision and entropy by adjusting the offset based on display size and type, enabling seamless picture password authentication across different devices.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If a grid overlay is displayed on small screens for picture password authentication, then input precision should improve, but the display area available for the image and grid elements decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the display area into functional zones: a first area for displaying the picture password image and a second area for receiving input actions. This segmentation allows the grid overlay to be positioned in the second area where it does not obstruct the image, enabling precise input selection without sacrificing image visibility on small screens
Solution Approach 2:
The patent positions the grid overlay in a spatial dimension separate from the main image display area. By placing the grid in a second display area adjacent to or overlapping partially with the image, the system enables precise grid element selection without the grid elements competing for the same visual space, thus maintaining both precision and display area
2Measurement precision
If the grid overlay is positioned to maximize input precision, then authentication accuracy improves, but the image visibility and user recognition of picture elements deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies different visual properties to different regions of the display. The first area displays the image with full visual quality for recognition, while the second area contains the grid overlay optimized for input precision. This local differentiation ensures that image visibility is maintained in the first area while input accuracy is optimized in the second area
Solution Approach 2:
The grid overlay acts as an intermediary layer that mediates between the image and the input mechanism. By positioning the grid in a second display area that may partially overlap or be adjacent to the image area, the grid enables precise input selection without completely obscuring the image, thus maintaining both authentication accuracy and image visibility
3Device complexity
If a fixed grid structure is used for picture passwords, then implementation simplicity is maintained, but adaptability to different display sizes and types is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a dynamic grid positioning system where the grid overlay can be positioned in different areas of the display based on the device type and screen characteristics. The system determines whether to display the grid in a first or second area, and adjusts the offset between input location and highlighted grid element based on display size, thereby adapting the fixed grid structure to various display configurations without increasing implementation complexity
Data Source
AI summary
Embodiments described herein relate to a device operable to process input for a picture password for proof of knowledge. In some embodiments, the device includes a display, an input subsystem, processor(s), and memory containing instructions executable by the processor(s) such that the device is operative to display, on the display of the device, an image for the picture password proof of knowledge. The image is associated with an overlaid grid comprising a plurality of elements, and each element corresponds to a distinct area of the image. The device is further operative to, in response to receiving an input via the input subsystem at a first location of the display, highlight an element of the overlaid grid at a second location on the first image on the display. The second location is offset from the first location by a predetermined offset.