Automatic Parental Control via Remote Identification
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing content consumption devices lack effective parental control mechanisms, making it difficult for parents to limit children's access to age-appropriate content, and these controls can often be easily bypassed by tech-savvy children.
Innovation Solution
A system that uses unique remote controls associated with individual users, allowing the media device to identify the user and automatically select content based on the remote control used, ensuring age-appropriate content is displayed by determining the user's identity through signals, fingerprint scanners, motion sensing, or voice recognition.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If traditional parental control menu systems are used, then parents can limit content access, but the system is difficult to find and navigate and can be easily bypassed
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces manual parental control menu navigation with automatic user identification technology. The system uses sensors (camera, microphone, fingerprint scanner) to automatically detect and identify users, eliminating the need for manual menu navigation. This substitution of mechanical interaction with automated recognition systems resolves the contradiction by making the system both reliable (automatic enforcement) and easy to operate (no manual configuration needed).
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs self-identification of users through automated detection mechanisms. Instead of requiring parents to manually set up and navigate complex control menus, the system automatically identifies users and applies appropriate content restrictions based on pre-configured user profiles. This self-service approach improves both reliability through consistent automatic enforcement and ease of operation by eliminating manual setup requirements.
2Object-affected harmful factors
If parental control features are added to content consumption devices, then content can be limited to age-appropriate material, but the control mechanisms become more complex and difficult to navigate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the parental control functionality from complex menu systems and integrates it into the user identification process. By embedding control logic within the automatic recognition system, the harmful factor prevention is achieved through the identification mechanism itself rather than through separate, complex parental control menus. This extraction reduces overall system complexity while maintaining effective content restriction.
Solution Approach 2:
The system merges user identification and content control functions into a single integrated process. The same sensors and processing used to identify users automatically trigger appropriate content restrictions based on user profiles. This merging eliminates the need for separate parental control menu systems, reducing device complexity while maintaining effective prevention of inappropriate content access.
3Adaptability or versatility
If manual parental control setup is required, then parents can configure content restrictions, but the controls can be easily bypassed by tech-savvy children
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces manual parental control configuration with automated biometric or device-based identification. Instead of relying on children not to bypass manual controls, the system uses unique identification mechanisms (fingerprint scanners, camera recognition, microphone voice recognition) that are difficult to bypass. This substitution maintains parental control configuration versatility while dramatically improving reliability by making the controls resistant to bypass attempts.
Solution Approach 2:
The system introduces an intermediary identification layer between the user and content access. Rather than direct manual control entry that children can observe and bypass, the system uses automated identification technology as an intermediary that secretly verifies user identity and applies appropriate restrictions. This intermediary mechanism maintains configuration flexibility while preventing bypass attempts through unobservable automated verification.
Data Source
AI summary
Embodiments described herein include a method that operates by receiving, at a media device, one or more signals from a remote control. The media device identifies a user currently using the remote control based on the signals. Then, the media device selects content to make available based on the identified user. In some embodiments, the media device identifies the user by using the signals to identify the remote control. Then, the media device determines that a user associated with the identified remote control is the user currently using the remote control.