Unauthorized viewer detection system and method

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9794544-B2
Application number	US-201514957297-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 2, 2015
Priority date	Sep 17, 2012
Publication date	Oct 17, 2017
Grant date	Oct 17, 2017

Abstract

A system for detecting and responding to an intruding camera. The system includes an electronic media display device having a screen configured to display content, a sensor, and a processing circuit. The processing circuit is configured to obtain information from the sensor, analyze the information to determine a presence of a camera, and edit any displayed content in response to the presence of the camera.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A system for detecting and responding to an intruding camera, comprising:
an electronic media display device having a screen configured to display content;
a sensor; and
a processing circuit configured to:
obtain information from the sensor;
analyze the information to determine a presence of a camera and whether the camera can resolve any displayed content, wherein determining whether the camera can resolve any displayed content is based on a two dimensional viewing angle of the camera relative to an axis orthogonal to the screen, the two dimensional viewing angle comprising an azimuth component and an elevation component, and wherein determining that the camera can resolve any displayed content comprises determining that both the azimuth component and the elevation component are within maximum azimuth and elevation angle thresholds; and
edit the displayed content in response to the camera being able to resolve the displayed content.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the sensor is coupled to the electronic media display device.

3. The system of claim 1 , wherein the sensor includes a passive imager.

4. The system of claim 3 , wherein the passive imager includes a range-sensitive camera.

5. The system of claim 1 , wherein the processing circuit is further configured to perform calculations using a focal length.

6. The system of claim 1 , wherein the sensor includes a set of two cameras, and wherein the setting is a screen brightness level and the environmental characteristic is a polarization.

7. The system of claim 6 , wherein the processing circuit is further configured to perform calculations based on stereoscopic information.

8. The system of claim 1 , wherein the sensor includes an active imager.

9. The system of claim 1 , wherein the sensor uses a radar.

10. The system of claim 9 , wherein the radar includes a micropower impulse radar (MIR).

11. The system of claim 1 , wherein the sensor includes at least one of light detection and ranging technology (LIDAR), a microphone, an ultrasonic sensor, an infrared sensor, and a near-infrared (NIR) sensor.

12. A method of detecting and responding to an intruding camera, comprising:
displaying content on an electronic media display device having a screen;
obtaining information from a sensor;
analyzing the information to determine a presence of a camera and whether the camera can resolve any displayed content, wherein determining whether the camera can resolve any displayed content is based on a two dimensional viewing angle of the camera relative to an axis orthogonal to the screen, the two dimensional viewing angle comprising an azimuth component and an elevation component, and wherein determining that the camera can resolve any displayed content comprises determining that both the azimuth component and the elevation component are within maximum azimuth and elevation angle thresholds; and
editing the displayed content in response to the camera being able to resolve the displayed content so that the camera can no longer resolve the displayed content.

13. The method of claim 12 , further comprising alerting a user based on determining the presence of the camera and that the camera is able to resolve the displayed content.

14. The method of claim 13 , wherein the alert includes at least one of displaying a flashing content on a portion of the screen and changing a color of a portion of content displayed on the screen.

15. The method of claim 13 , wherein the alert includes displaying a message on the screen.

16. The method of claim 13 , wherein the alert is defined by a user's settings.

17. The method of claim 12 , wherein the editing comprises at least one of turning off the screen, freezing the displayed content, adjusting a brightness of the screen, and muting any audio.

18. The method of claim 12 , wherein the editing comprises disabling a displaying of new content.

19. The method of claim 12 , wherein the editing comprises temporarily disabling any input.

20. The method of claim 12 , wherein the editing comprises degrading the displayed content.

21. The method of claim 20 , wherein the degrading comprises at least one of blurring, dimming, and reducing the size of the displayed content.

22. The method of claim 12 , further comprising distinguishing the camera from an authorized device.

23. A non-transitory computer-readable medium having instructions stored thereon for execution by a processing circuit, the instructions comprising:
instructions for interfacing with an electronic media display device having a screen for visual content;
instructions for obtaining information from a sensor, wherein the information corresponds to the environment around the electronic media display device;
instructions for analyzing the information to determine a presence of a camera and whether the camera can resolve any displayed content, wherein determining whether the camera can resolve any displayed content is based on a two dimensional viewing angle of the camera relative to an axis orthogonal to the screen, the two dimensional viewing angle comprising an azimuth component and an elevation component, and wherein determining that the camera can resolve any displayed content comprises determining that both the azimuth component and the elevation component are within maximum azimuth and elevation angle thresholds; and
instructions for editing the displayed content in response to the camera being able to resolve the displayed content so that the camera can no longer resolve the displayed content.

24. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 23 , wherein the instructions for analyzing the information include instructions to determine an orientation of the camera.

25. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 24 , wherein the orientation of the camera comprises an angle between an imaging direction of the camera and a line of sight from the camera to the electronic media display device.

26. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 23 , further comprising instructions for determining a distance of the camera from the screen based on the information.

27. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 23 , wherein the electronic media display device includes a computer terminal.

28. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 23 , wherein the electronic media display device includes a medical device.

29. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 23 , wherein the electronic media display device includes an automated teller machine.

30. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 23 , further comprising instructions for determining a visibility envelope of the electronic media display device, and wherein analyzing the information to determine the presence of the camera depends on the visibility envelope.

31. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 30 , wherein the visibility envelope is determined using a brightness of the screen.

32. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 30 , wherein the visibility envelope is determined using externally provided information characterizing the visual performance of the screen.

33. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 30 , wherein the visibility envelope i

Assignees

• Elwha Llc

Inventors

• Chan Alistair K
• Duncan William D
• Gates William
• Gerrity Daniel A
• Holman Pablos
• Hyde Roderick A
• Jung Edward K Y
• Kare Jordin T
• Levien Royce A
• Lord Richard T
• Lord Robert W
• Malamud Mark A
• Myhrvold Nathan P
• Rosema Keith D
• Tegreene Clarence T
• Wood Jr Lowell L

Classifications

• G06T2207/10048

  Infrared image · CPC title

• H04N7/18

  Closed-circuit television [CCTV] systems, i.e. systems in which the video signal is not broadcast · CPC title

• G09G5/30

  Control of display attribute · CPC title

• G06T2207/10028

  Range image; Depth image; 3D point clouds · CPC title

• G06T7/593

  from stereo images · CPC title