Obstruction detection of a transaction device display screen

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11488454-B2
Application number	US-202017247100-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 30, 2020
Priority date	Nov 30, 2020
Publication date	Nov 1, 2022
Grant date	Nov 1, 2022

Abstract

In some implementations, a transaction device may include a display screen, at least one photosensitive sensor configured to detect a luminance of a viewing surface of the display screen, and one or more processors. The one or more processors may be configured to monitor an output of the at least one photosensitive sensor, determine that the output is indicative of an obstruction on the display screen based on the output indicating a change to the luminance of the viewing surface of the display screen, and disable one or more operations of the transaction device based on determining that the output is indicative of the obstruction on the display screen.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A transaction device capable of obstruction detection, the transaction device comprising:
a display screen;
at least one photosensitive sensor configured to detect a luminance of a viewing surface of the display screen; and
one or more processors configured to:
monitor an output of the at least one photosensitive sensor;
determine that the output is indicative of an obstruction on the display screen based on the output indicating a change to the luminance of the viewing surface of the display screen; and
disable one or more operations of the transaction device based on determining that the output is indicative of the obstruction on the display screen.

2. The transaction device of claim 1 , wherein the display screen is an edge-lit display screen.

3. The transaction device of claim 1 , wherein the at least one photosensitive sensor is disposed on at least one edge of the display screen.

4. The transaction device of claim 1 , wherein the at least one photosensitive sensor is positioned in front of the viewing surface of the display screen.

5. The transaction device of claim 4 , further comprising an arm having a distal end directed toward the viewing surface of the display screen,
wherein the at least one photosensitive sensor is disposed on the distal end of the arm.

6. The transaction device of claim 1 , wherein the one or more processors are further configured to:
receive a request to authenticate a user device; and
cause the display screen to display a code used for authentication of the user device.

7. The transaction device of claim 1 , wherein the one or more processors are further configured to:
receive a request to perform an operation; and
deny the request based on determining that the output is indicative of the obstruction on the display screen.

8. The transaction device of claim 7 , wherein the operation comprises one or more of:
authenticating a user device,
accessing data, or
executing a transaction.

9. A method of obstruction detection, comprising:
monitoring, by a device, an output of at least one photosensitive sensor configured to detect a luminance of a viewing surface of a display screen of the device;
determining, by the device, that the output is indicative of an obstruction on the display screen based on the output indicating a change to the luminance of the viewing surface of the display screen; and
performing, by the device, one or more actions based on determining that the output is indicative of the obstruction on the display screen.

10. The method of claim 9 , wherein the display screen is an edge-lit display screen.

11. The method of claim 9 , wherein the luminance of the viewing surface of the display screen is a luminance of reflected light in the display screen.

12. The method of claim 9 , wherein the luminance of the viewing surface of the display screen is a luminance of light emitted from the display screen.

13. The method of claim 9 , wherein the change to the luminance satisfies a threshold value.

14. The method of claim 9 , further comprising:
receiving a request to perform an operation; and
denying the request based on determining that the output is indicative of the obstruction on the display screen.

15. The method of claim 14 , wherein the operation comprises one or more of:
authenticating a user device,
accessing data, or
executing a transaction.

16. The method of claim 9 , wherein performing the one or more actions comprises one or more of:
disabling one or more operations of the device,
disabling one or more components of the device,
transmitting a message indicating the obstruction on the display screen,
capturing an image of an environment of the device, or
outputting an error message on the display screen.

17. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing a set of instructions, the set of instructions comprising:
one or more instructions that, when executed by one or more processors of a device, cause the device to:
receive, from at least one photosensitive sensor configured to detect a luminance of a viewing surface of a display screen, information indicating a change to the luminance of the viewing surface of the display screen; and
disable one or more operations of the device based on receiving the information indicating the change to the luminance.

18. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 17 , wherein the display screen is an edge-lit display screen.

19. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 17 , wherein the change to the luminance of the viewing surface is relative to a baseline luminance for the viewing surface.

20. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 17 , wherein the one or more instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, further cause the device to:
disable one or more components of the device,
transmit a message indicating an obstruction on the display screen,
capture an image of an environment of the device, or
output an error message on the display screen.

Assignees

• Capital One Services Llc

Inventors

• Waldron Michael
• Wurmfeld David Kelly

Classifications

• G09G2360/144

  the light being ambient light · CPC title

• G09G2370/04

  Exchange of auxiliary data, i.e. other than image data, between monitor and graphics controller · CPC title

• G06F3/14

  Digital output to display device {; Cooperation and interconnection of the display device with other functional units} · CPC title

• G09G2360/145

  the light originating from the display screen · CPC title

• G07F19/209 Primary

  Monitoring, auditing or diagnose of functioning of ATMs · CPC title