Systems and methods for discerning eye signals and continuous biometric identification

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10156900-B2
Application number	US-201715418034-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jan 27, 2017
Priority date	May 9, 2014
Publication date	Dec 18, 2018
Grant date	Dec 18, 2018

Abstract

Apparatus, systems, and methods are provided for substantially continuous biometric identification (CBID) of an individual using eye signals in real time. The apparatus is included within a wearable computing device with identification of the device wearer based on iris recognition within one or more cameras directed at one or both eyes, and/or other physiological, anatomical and/or behavioral measures. Verification of device user identity can be used to enable or disable the display of secure information. Identity verification can also be included within information that is transmitted from the device in order to determine appropriate security measures by remote processing units. The apparatus may be incorporated within wearable computing that performs other functions including vision correction, head-mounted display, viewing the surrounding environment using scene camera(s), recording audio data via a microphone, and/or other sensing equipment.

First claim

We claim:

1. A system comprising:
a headgear configured to be worn on a head of a user;
a first camera mounted on the headgear such that the first camera is oriented toward an eye of the user when the headgear is worn for monitoring the eye;
a processing unit operatively coupled to the first camera and configured to:
analyze an image from at least the first camera to identify a first iris of the eye;
analyze the image to identify features of the first iris;
determine a precision and number of Gabor coefficients of a biometric description of a second iris based on a desired level of security;
compare the features of the first iris to the precision and number of Gabor coefficients of the biometric description of the second iris;
confirm an identity of the user based on the features of the first iris matching the precision and number of Gabor coefficients of the biometric description of the second iris; and
authorize the user to perform one or more actions upon confirming the identity of the user;

a display mounted on the headgear such that the display is viewable by the user when the headgear is worn, the display operatively coupled to the processing unit;
a sight shield mountable to the headgear to at least partially cover the display to prevent information presented on the display from being viewable by other than the eye of the user when the headgear is worn; and
a sensor for determining a position of the sight shield, the sensor operatively coupled to the processing unit;
wherein the processing unit is configured to authorize the user to access information via the display upon confirming the identity of the user and confirming that the sight shield is mounted to the headgear to at least partially cover the display via a signal from the sensor.

2. The system of claim 1 , further comprising:
at least a second camera mounted on the headgear such that the second camera is oriented toward the eye of the user from a different angle than the first camera when the headgear is worn for monitoring the eye, the at least a second camera operatively coupled to the processing unit; and
wherein the processing unit is configured to:
analyze one or more images from the first camera and the at least second camera to identify the first iris of the eye;
select, from the first and second cameras, a chosen camera providing a view of the first iris based on the one or more images; and
analyze the view to identify features of the first iris by analyzing the image from the chosen camera of the one or more images to identify the features of the first iris.

3. The system of claim 2 , wherein the processing unit is configured to select the chosen camera based on a shape of the first iris identified in the one or more images from the first camera and the at least second camera.

4. The system of claim 2 , wherein the processing unit is configured to select the chosen camera based on a shape of the first iris identified in a first image from the first camera being closer to circular than a shape of the first iris identified in a second image from the at least second camera.

5. The system of claim 2 , wherein the processing unit is configured to select the chosen camera based on at least a portion of the first iris being identifiable from an image of the one or more images and satisfying a minimum stringency threshold needed to confirm the identity of the user.

6. The system of claim 1 , further comprising:
a display mounted on the headgear such that the display is viewable by the user when the headgear is worn, the display operative coupled to the processing unit; and
wherein the processing unit is configured to
authorize the user to perform one or more actions via the display upon confirming the identity of the user; and
modify an opacity of the display to preserve security of information presented on the display to the user.

7. The system of claim 6 , wherein the processing unit is configured to
identify one or more regions on the display where secure information is rendered; and
modify the one or more regions to render the regions substantially opaque while the secure information is rendered.

8. The system of claim 1 , further comprising:
a scene camera mounted on the headgear and such that the scene camera is oriented away from the eye of the user and toward a scene viewed by the eye when the headgear is worn, the scene camera operatively coupled to the processing unit; and
wherein the processing unit is configured to store to memory scene images captured by the scene camera.

9. The system of claim 1 , further comprising:
a wireless transceiver mounted on the headgear and operatively coupled to the first camera, and
wherein the processing unit comprises a processor remote from the headgear and wirelessly coupled to the first camera via the wireless transceiver.

10. The system of claim 1 , further comprising one or more sources of illumination mounted on the headgear such that the one or more sources of illumination are oriented toward the eye when the headgear is worn.

11. The system of claim 1 , wherein the processing unit is configured to:
confirm the identity of the user based on the features of the first iris by comparing the features of the first iris to known features of at least one known user to find a match.

12. A system comprising:
a headgear configured to be worn on a head of a user;
a plurality of cameras mounted on the headgear such that the cameras are oriented toward an eye of the user from different angles when the headgear is worn for monitoring the eye;
a processing unit operatively coupled to the plurality of cameras and configured to:
analyze one or more images from the plurality of cameras to identify a first iris of the eye;
select at least one of the plurality of cameras based on the one or more images, the selected at least one of the plurality of cameras providing a desired view of the first iris;
analyze an image from the at least one of the plurality of cameras to identify features of the first iris;
determine a precision and number of Gabor coefficients of a biometric description of a second iris based on a desired level of security;
compare the features of the first iris to the precision and number of Gabor coefficients of the biometric description of the second iris;
confirm an identity of the user based on the comparison of the features of the first iris to the precision and number of Gabor coefficients of the biometric description of the second iris; and
authorize the user to perform one or more actions upon confirming the identity of the user;

a display mounted on the headgear such that the display is viewable by the user when the headgear is worn, the display operatively coupled to the processing unit;
a sight shield mountable to the headgear to at least partially cover the display to prevent information presented on the display from being viewable by other than the eye of the user when the headgear is worn; and
a sensor for determining a position of the sight shield, the sensor operatively coupled to the processing unit;
wherein the processing unit is configured to authorize the user to access information via the display upon confirming the identity of the user and confirming that the sight shield is mounted to the headgear to at least partially cover the display via a signal from the sensor.

13. The system of claim 12 , wherein the processing unit is configured to:
select images from multiple cameras of the plurality of cameras, the multiple cameras of the plurality of cameras providing desired views of the first iris;
create a composite representation of the first iris from the

Assignees

• Google Inc
• Google Llc

Inventors

• Publicover Nelson
• Marggraff Lewis

Classifications

• H04N23/90

  Arrangement of cameras or camera modules, e.g. multiple cameras in TV studios or sports stadiums · CPC title

• H04L63/0861

  using biometrical features, e.g. fingerprint, retina-scan (cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for entity authentication using biological data H04L9/3231) · CPC title

• G06T19/006

  Mixed reality (object pose determination, tracking or camera calibration for mixed reality G06T7/00) · CPC title

• G06F3/017

  Gesture based interaction, e.g. based on a set of recognized hand gestures (interaction based on gestures traced on a digitiser G06F3/04883) · CPC title

• G02B2027/0138

  comprising image capture systems, e.g. camera · CPC title