Patent Application
20240395071
The present invention relates to a method and a system for processing biometric characteristics of a user, and more in particular to a biometric security system for authenticating users based on their corresponding biometric characteristics.
Biometric authentication systems, such as facial recognition systems, are widely used at security checkpoints for authenticating the identity of a user. Biometric authentication is based on a comparison between reference biometric characteristics of the user stored in a corresponding biometric ID profile, also referred to as biometric template, and biometric characteristics obtained from one or more verification images of the user captured by an image capturing device at a biometric authentication touchpoint. In general, the biometric characteristics stored in the user biometric ID profile are obtained during a registration procedure, also referred to as the enrolment stage. During the biometric registration, one or more images of the user are captured using an image capturing device. The captured images are processed to extract a set of biometric information, which are associated with the biometric characteristics of the user, e.g. facial biometric features. For example, the user biometric characteristics may be obtained from images captured by the camera of an electronic user device such as a mobile phone during the biometric enrolment procedure. In general, a biometric authentication system may be provided with one or more biometric authentication touchpoints depending on the application. For example, at an airport, several biometric authentication touchpoints may be provided, e.g. airport passport control, boarding gate, access to certain airport areas, and the like. As discussed previously, biometric authentication is based on the matching accuracy between the stored biometric characteristics of the user and the biometric characteristics obtained from images at the biometric authentication touchpoints. However, the biometric matching accuracy may be affected by several factors, such as optical distortion of the image captured during enrolment or at the biometric authentication touchpoint, age, changes in the user appearance and the like. As a result, the biometric authentication accuracy may be negatively impacted, leading to false-positive and/or false-negative authentication of users. For example, face recognition technology leads to the touchless travel concept, and smartphones prove to be a good aid for it. However, there are technical limitations that can cause accuracy issues during the authentication procedure. For example, optical distortion introduced in the captured image of the user by the image capturing device used during enrolment and/or during authentication may lead to false-positive and/or false-negative authentication results. It is known that the quality of the camera lenses of an image capturing device affects the optical distortion introduced in the captured image. As such, if the camera lens of the device used to capture an “enrolled image” of the user during the enrolment process is different from the quality of the camera lens used by the biometric authentication touchpoint to capture “verification images” during the authentication process, may cause accuracy issues during the comparison of the images, which may lead to false positives or negatives. Similarly, changes in the biometric characteristics of the user, e.g. due to ageing, would further affect the authentication procedure.
Therefore, there is a need to improve the biometric authentication of a user and reduce false positives and false negatives.
An object of the present invention is to provide a method and a system that overcomes the disadvantages of prior art solutions.
In particular, the present invention provides a method and a system for improving the biometric authentication of users by compensating for the optical distortion introduced in the captured images by the image capturing devices used during enrolment and/or authentication. As a result, the biometric matching accuracy during an authentication procedure is improved, thereby reducing false positive or false negative authentication incidents.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a system and a method to compensate for variations in the biometric characteristics of the user introduced over time by different factors such as ageing and the like. The biometric characteristic variations are compensated by determining a time drifting profile of the biometric characteristics of the user. The time drifting profile of biometric characteristics of the user is generated based on biometric data collected over time from previously captured images. Based on the time drifting profile, it is possible to determine how the biometric characteristics of the user would change over a predetermined time frame. In this way, it is possible to determine an expiration date for the biometric characteristics stored in the biometric profile, indicating an expected date for when the stored biometric characteristics would not be valid due to the low biometric matching accuracy with a live image of the user. The time drifting profile is based on modelling future changes in the biometric characteristics of the user based on historic biometric data.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a biometric security system comprising one or more biometric authentication touchpoints configured to dynamically adapt their corresponding biometric authentication procedure based on a biometric authentication strength assigned to a biometric ID profile of a user presented for authentication during a security check, e.g. at an airport. The biometric authentication strength of the biometric ID profile may be determined based on the biometric matching accuracy between the biometric characteristics obtained at the biometric authentication touchpoint and the biometric characteristics stored in the biometric user ID profile. For example, higher security measures and authentication checks may be required to authenticate the identity of a user at a security checkpoint having biometric matching accuracy being within a threshold range, e.g. the matching accuracy is below or at a certain value. According to embodiments of the present invention, the user may assess the biometric authentication strength of their biometric ID profile before being presented at a biometric authentication touchpoint for authentication. As a result, the user may take the necessary steps to improve the biometric authentication strength of the corresponding user biometric ID profile. For example, the user may update the enrolled biometric characteristics stored in the corresponding biometric user ID profile. The biometric authentication touchpoints may receive in advance information on the biometric authentication strength of biometric ID profiles of users scheduled to be processed at each biometric authentication touchpoint. As such, the biometric authentication touchpoints may select suitable biometric authentication procedures to authenticate users based on the biometric authentication strength of the corresponding biometric ID profile of each user. For example, the biometric authentication touchpoints may be communicatively coupled to the biometric management system and configured to received and/or request the biometric authentication strength of the biometric profiles of users. For example, based on information provided by a user relating to an upcoming trip, the biometric management system may transmit in advance of the user journey the biometric profile of the user and corresponding authentication strength to one or more biometric authentication touchpoints associated with the journey of the user, e.g. airport, hotel, and the like. Accordingly, each biometric authentication touchpoint may adapt its authentication procedure in accordance with the authentication strength of the biometric ID profile of the user, thereby improving the authentication procedure.
The above objects are achieved according to the systems and methods of the independent claims. Preferred embodiments are described in the dependent claims.
The following drawings are provided as an example to further explain and describe various aspects of the invention:
The present invention will be illustrated using the exemplified embodiments shown in the figures, which will be described in more detail below. It should be noted that any references made to dimensions are only indicative and do not restrict the invention in any way. While this invention has been shown and described with reference to certain illustrated embodiments thereof, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes in form and details may be made therein without departing from the scope of the invention encompassed by the appended claims. Furthermore, while the invention has been described with references to a particular system and method for managing the biometric identities (IDs) of the registered user and a biometric security system thereof, it should be understood by those skilled in the art that changes in form and details may be made to facilitate an assessment of the security strength of a biometric ID in advance of its presentation to a biometric authentication touchpoint without departing from the scope of the invention encompassed by the appended claims.
According to an aspect of the present invention, a method for extracting at a biometric management system biometric characteristics of a user from one or more images is provided. The method comprises:
The optical distortion introduced in the biometric information varies between image capturing devices. As such, when comparing biometric characteristics of a user captured by different image capturing devices with different quality optical lenses, the optical distortion introduced by each image capturing device may lead to a false positive or false negative, thereby compromising the accuracy of the authentication procedure. The method of the present invention facilitates the correction of the optical distortion introduced by the different image capturing devices in the biometric characteristics of a user during an enrolment procedure and/or during an authentication procedure at a biometric authentication touchpoint. The optical correction is performed by applying an optical distortion correction filter, which is selected and, optionally, adapted according to the optical distortion information collected from the images. For example, the optical distortion correction filter may be selected based on the type of optical distortion detected and/or the type of image capturing device used for capturing the image. Once the corrective filter has been applied, the corrected biometric characteristics may be stored in a user biometric ID profile, which is stored in a profile database. The optical distortion characteristics introduced by the different image capturing devices may also be stored in the profile database and associated with the user biometric ID profile. For example, the historical optical distortion information collected from previously captured images captured, e.g. during an enrolment procedure and/or an authentication procedure, may be used to update the corrective filter and its parameters. As a result, continuously updating the corrective filter with historical optical distortion information collected over time during the processing of user images would improve the accuracy of the biometric characteristics stored in the biometric ID profile of the users, thereby increasing the accuracy of an authentication procedure.
According to embodiments of the first aspect, the step of determining the relative optical distortion comprises comparing the at least one image with stored images captured from different image capturing devices. For example, different optical distortion characteristics may be introduced by the different image capturing devices, e.g. at different authentication touchpoints of an airport. The relative optical distortion between images of the same planar surface in space may be determined based on their homography relationship. The corrective filter may be selected based on the relative optical distortion detected by the homography relationship between the images. For example, depending on the type of the optical distortion introduced in the image, e.g. its deviation from a rectilinear projection, a corresponding corrective filter may be selected, or the corrective filter parameters may be adapted so as to correct the detected optical distortion.
According to embodiments of the first aspect, the relative optical distortion is determined between images of the user captured from two image capturing devices. For example, when processing a plurality of images, each captured from a different image capturing device, the relative optical distortion may be determined between each set of two images. The resulting relative optical distortion between two sets of images is then compared until the relative optical distortion for the complete set of images is determined.
According to embodiments of the first aspect, the step of determining the relative optical distortion comprises comparing the extracted biometric characteristics from each image with a reference set of undistorted biometric information associated with the user stored in a biometric ID profile of the user obtained from a profile database of the biometric management system. To further enhance the accuracy of the authentication procedure or as an alternative to the comparison of the images obtained from different capturing devices, the relative optical distortion may be determined based on the comparison of the captured images with an undistorted reference image that may be generated based on optical distortion information collected over time from a plurality of images associated with the corresponding user and or other registered users. In general, as more images of users are processed, it becomes possible to determine the optical image distortion introduced by different types of image capturing devices, thereby enhancing the capabilities of the corrective filter in correcting and/or compensating the distorted image of the biometric characteristics of the user during the authentication procedure and/or during enrolment. In this way, the images of the user compared during authentication are of the same quality, thereby enhancing the authentication procedure.
According to embodiments of the first aspect, the relative optical distortion is determined based on a comparison of stored images of the user captured at different points in time. To compensate for other distortion factors, such as age, the biometric characteristics may be determined and/or enhanced with information obtained from images of the user captured at different points in time, thereby improving the authentication accuracy and reducing the false positives/negatives.
According to embodiments of the first aspect, determining the optical distortion comprises:
The facial expression of the user captured in the image may also introduce an optical distortion in the corresponding biometric characteristics. As such, a facial expression detection analyser may be used to detect the facial expression of the user and associate the detected expression with an optical distortion level. Since facial expressions may alter the facial features, the expression analyser may estimate a relative optical distortion against the same facial expression with compensated facial features, e.g. a reference facial expression.
According to embodiments of the first aspect, the step of determining the biometric characteristics of the user further comprises the step of updating the corrective filter with the optical distortion information extracted from each image during the processing of the extracted biometric information. The optical distortion information may comprise any one, or a combination, of an image optical distortion value introduced in each image by a camera lens of the corresponding image capturing device, a relative optical distortion value introduced in each image in relation to images captured by different image capturing devices, and an optical distortion value introduced by a detected facial expression. For example, the corrective filter may be selected based on the image capturing device. Furthermore, the corrective filter may be updated with distortion information from the different image capturing devices, thereby enhancing the compensation of the distortion.
According to embodiments of the first aspect, the step of determining the biometric characteristics of the user further comprises:
According to embodiments of the first aspect, the step of determining the biometric characteristics further comprises the step of:
According to embodiments of the first aspect, the step of determining the biometric authentication strength level of a biometric ID profile of a user further comprises the step of selecting, based on the determined biometric authentication strength of the biometric ID profile of the user, a biometric authentication procedure for authenticating the identity of the user at one or more security touchpoints that are communicatively coupled to the biometric management system, the biometric authentication procedure being indicative of a set of security measures and/or security checks to be performed at each security touchpoint to authenticate the identity of the user.
The present invention enables the determination of a biometric matching score indicating the matching accuracy between the biometric characteristics of the user stored in the biometric ID profile of the user, referred to as reference biometric characteristics, and biometric characteristics extracted from a verification image referred to as biometric verification characteristics. The biometric score may be used to determine the authentication strength of the user reference biometric characteristics stored in the biometric ID profile in advance of the presentation of the user at a biometric authentication touchpoint. For example, in the case of a user planning to go on a journey, the corresponding biometric matching score of the user may be determined in advance of their journey. The authentication strength, biometric matching score, and/or the biometric profile of the user may be communicated to each biometric authentication touchpoint along the user's journey, e.g. airport security touchpoints and the like. Depending on the generated biometric matching score, a number of follow-up actions may be triggered. For example, in the case that the biometric matching score is below or at a threshold range, the user may receive a notification at a software application running on an electronic user device, e.g. phone, tablet, computer, and the like. The notification may indicate that the user needs to update the biometric ID profile by following a registration process. Following the notification, a number of follow-up actions may be triggered on the software application indicating the steps to be taken to perform the registration process, e.g. the registration process may open on the user interface of the software application. The authentication strength level associated with a biometric matching score may indicate the authentication procedure to be followed at the different biometric authentication touchpoints along the user's journey and/or the likelihood that the authentication process would be successful. The authentication strength, biometric matching score, and/or the biometric profile of the user may be communicated to each biometric authentication touchpoint along the user's journey in advance of the authentication of the user. For example, the biometric management system, based on information on the user journey or a prompt by the biometric authentication touchpoints, may transmit the required information to one or more biometric authentication touchpoints. Accordingly, each touchpoint may select an appropriate authentication procedure based on the user matching score and/or authentication strength level. The severity level of the authentication procedure, which is indicative of the security checks to be performed for the user authentication, may be adapted according to the matching score and/or authentication strength of the user biometric ID profile.
According to embodiments of the first aspect, the step of updating the biometric ID profile of the user comprises assigning to the biometric ID profile of the user an expected expiration date, wherein assigning the expected expiration date is based on the determined biometric matching score and on a time drifting biometric ID profile of the user indicating an expected change of the biometric characteristics of the user over time.
According to embodiments of the first aspect, the time drifting profile of the user is generated by a trained neural network based on historical biometric information extracted from images of the user over a period of time captured by one or more image capturing devices; and
Based on the biometric matching score, the present invention may further determine the expiration date of the biometric characteristics stored in the user biometric ID profile, thereby indicating a period for which the biometric ID profile of the user is valid. The expiration date may be determined by means of a time drifting profile of the user biometric characteristics generated by means of a trained neural network using as inputs historical biometric characteristics obtained from previously captured images. The time drifting profile may be associated with an ageing profile of the user and may further include other biometric information such as appearance changes. The time drifting profile may be used to update the biometric features stored in the biometric ID profile. For example, based on the time drifting profile, the neural network may update the biometric characteristics of the user, e.g. to compensate for the effect of ageing. In this way, the accuracy of the authentication procedure may be further improved.
According to embodiments of the first aspect, the biometric information is obtained from a face scan, a fingerprint scan, an iris scan, or a blood vessel such as a vein scan.
According to embodiments of the first aspect, the distortion introduced in an image obtained by an image capturing device is associated with a radial or tangential distortion introduced due to a limitation of the camera lenses of the image capturing device.
According to embodiments of the first aspect, the step of updating the biometric ID profile of a user further comprises assigning, based on the matching score being greater than a biometric matching score threshold, monetary rewards to the user, e.g. discounts, points, and the like, which can be exchanged for services or products at different distribution channels.
According to embodiments of the first aspect, a reward is awarded to the user each time an authentication procedure is successfully completed at a biometric security touchpoint.
The traveller may be further offered rewards for maintaining a high biometric matching score, thereby further enhancing the accuracy of the authentication procedure and reduce the processing required at the biometric authentication touchpoints.
According to a second aspect of the present invention, a biometric management system is provided, which comprises:
The present invention further offers a biometric management system for managing the biometric ID profiles of the user. The biometric management system is accessible by biometric touchpoints and users registered for a particular service. The biometric ID profile facilitates the communication and processing of biometric information from the users and/or the biometric authentication touchpoints. For example, the biometric management system may be part of a travel service configured to facilitate faster and accurate processing of registered passengers along their journey.
According to a further aspect of the present invention, a biometric security system is provided, which comprises:
According to embodiments of the third aspect, each biometric authentication touchpoint is configured to select a biometric authentication procedure for authenticating the user based at least on the biometric matching score assigned to the corresponding biometric ID profile of the user.
The present invention further offers a biometric security system, whereby registered biometric touchpoints access the biometric information of registered users stored in the biometric management system for authentication purposes. The biometric authentication touchpoints may be added to the biometric security system based on the service provided to the user. For example, in the case of a traveller/passenger, the biometric authentication touchpoints may be added based on the biometric authentication points provided along the user's journey, e.g. airport checks, hotel checks, and the like.
The extracted biometric characteristics are stored in a biometric identity (ID) profile of a user 130, stored in a profile database 111 of the biometric management system 110. The biometric ID profile may contain a set of registered biometric characteristics and other information for identifying the user, such as a password, name, address, and the like. For example, a user 130 may register a biometric ID profile in the biometric management system 110 by accessing a software application running on an electronic device 140, the enrolment module 114. Using the electronic device 140 or another image capturing device, one or more images of the user 130 may be obtained, e.g. face scan, fingerprint scan, voice recording, and the like. The enrolment module 114 may process the images to obtain the biometric characteristics of the user 130. Accessing the biometric management system 110 may be performed through a secure channel where user 130 is verified and authenticated. The user authentication may be performed using known solutions, such as two-factor authentication, a private key, and the like. The biometric touchpoints 120 may request access to biometric IDs of users from the biometric management system 110. For example, a biometric authentication touchpoint 120 at an airport facility may request the biometric ID profiles of a passenger due to arrive or that has arrived at the airport. As such, a pre-screening of the biometric ID profiles may be performed to determine the level of security, also referred to as authentication severity level, required to authenticate the expected passengers at the biometric authentication touchpoints. Furthermore, a pre-screening of biometric ID profiles may flag potential issues with a particular biometric ID, e.g. be part of a high-risk list, spoof attacks, and the like. The biometric management system 110 may be provided with a monitoring module 112, which is configured to monitor a range of parameters associated with the biometric ID profile. For example, the monitoring module 112 may monitor parameters selected from a group, which includes but is not limited to historical biometric authentication transactions, the severity level of each historical biometric authentication transaction, number of successful biometric authentication transactions, quality of the biometric scan obtained during enrolment, a set of extracted hard and soft biometric characteristics associated with the corresponding registered user, the type and technology of the system used to obtain the biometric scan of the registered user, the registration date of the biometric ID profile, or the time drifting profile of the user. The biometric processing module 113 is configured to assess the authentication strength of a biometric ID profile of a registered user. For example, at the request of a user 130 and/or a biometric authentication touchpoint 120, processor 113 may be configured to assess the authentication strength of a registered biometric ID profile before it is used at a biometric authentication touchpoint.
In the context of the present invention, biometric characteristics may refer to physical or behavioural human characteristics, which can be used to digitally identify a person to grant access to places, systems, devices or data. The biometric characteristics may be categorised into hard and soft biometric characteristics, as shown in
In the context of the present invention, a biometric scan may refer to any means for detecting and extracting biometric information associated with a user from one or more images. For example, a biometric scan may be performed on images, recordings, data—e.g. DNA data, electrical signals—e.g. EEG, spectral data obtained from a spectral sensor, and the like.
In the context of the present invention, an image capturing device may be any device capable of obtaining an image of a subject. Such devices may include, but not be limited to, cameras, voice recorders, fingerprint readers, iris scanners, vein scanners, gait assessment devices, sensors, spectral imaging devices, wearable sensors, handwriting detection devices, typing detection devices for keystroke recognition, and the like.
In the context of the present invention, a biometric authentication touchpoint 120 may be any device capable of authenticating a user 120 based on at least one biometric characteristic. Biometric authentication touchpoints 120 may verify the identity of a user at least based on biometric characteristics of a user. For example, the biometric authentication touchpoint 120 may verify the user's identity based on a biometric matching accuracy obtained from a comparison between a registered biometric ID associated with the user 130 and a biometric scan of the user obtained from a scanning device. The biometric authentication touchpoint 120, following a successful authentication of the user identity, may allow access to the user to a secure area and/or provide goods and services. The biometric authentication touchpoint may include but not be limited to a security checkpoint, border control, point of sale, point of access, point of recognition, and the like. In accordance with embodiments of the present invention, the term biometric authentication touchpoint may be considered as any device and or group of devices capable of authenticating a user, based at least on biometric information of the user obtained from a face scan or a fingerprint scan, or an iris scan, or a voice recording, or a vein scan, and the like.
In the context of the present invention, a biometric authentication procedure indicates the security procedures and checks that may be applied at a biometric authentication touchpoint 120 to authenticate, verify, and identify users. The type of procedures and/or checks performed at a biometric authentication touchpoint 120 may vary depending on the biometric matching accuracy between the registered ID and the captured biometric scan of the user. Each biometric authentication touchpoint 120 may require a target biometric matching accuracy to successfully authenticate the identity of a user 130. The biometric authentication touchpoints 120 may initiate additional authentication procedures and security checks to authenticate a user 130. For example, a biometric ID with high matching accuracy, e.g. the biometric accuracy is within a preferred range, may authenticate user 130 via an automatic biometric authentication procedure, e.g. automated border control electronic gate. On the contrary, if the biometric matching accuracy is below a predetermined target value, additional security checks and procedures may be initiated at the biometric authentication checkpoint, such as agent verification requiring other identity forms to identify the user 130. For example, at an airport, a traveller having a registered biometric ID with a low biometric matching accuracy, following a false negative biometric matching at an electronic gate, may be directed to a passport control area where additional identity checks may be carried out. The additional security checks may result in extra delays, extra resources for the airport security, and the non-identification of the user 130.
In the context of the present invention, the authentication severity level, also referred to as security level, of an authentication procedure of a biometric authentication touchpoint 120 indicates the additional security checks to be performed for authenticating a registered user 114. The severity level of the authentication procedure at a biometric authentication touchpoint 120 may depend on the biometric ID's security strength, which indicates the expected biometric matching accuracy of the biometric ID at a biometric authentication touchpoint 120. The severity of an authentication procedure may be expressed as a value, a range, or a level, e.g. high, low, medium.
Similarly, users 130 associated with a medium level of severity may be subjected to a more rigorous authentication procedure that may involve a semi-automatic authentication procedure. E.g. an agent may also be present at an electronic gate to check the passport. However, users 130 associated with a high severity level may be subjected to an authentication procedure that involves extra security checks: e.g. may involve an agent, such as a police officer, performing a number of security checks that may go beyond checking the biometric ID. The extra security checks may involve, but not be limited to, the presentation of documents that prove the identity of the user 130, cross-checking the identity of a user across different departments, and the like.
In the context of the present invention, the different levels of authentication severity for an authentication procedure: high, medium, and low, may be associated with the type and number of security checks expected to be performed at a biometric authentication touchpoint during an authentication procedure. For example, a low severity level may indicate that it is likely that the authentication procedure would be automatic, e.g. using an electronic gate. A medium-level may indicate that an agent may be present during the automatic authentication. A high severity level may indicate that an agent would perform the authentication and that further identification means may be necessary. Severity may be determined based on a linear or weighted linear combination, direct or inverse, of the biometric matching value assigned to a registered user's biometric ID.
In the context of the present invention, the biometric matching score of a biometric ID profile, also referred to as a biometric score, may indicate the security strength of a biometric ID. The security strength of a biometric ID is related to the probability that the biometric ID is correctly matched with the biometric characteristics of the user captured at biometric authentication touchpoint 120. The security strength and/or the biometric matching value may be expressed as a value, a range, or a level, e.g. high, low, medium.
Similarly, the biometric authentication touchpoints 120 may directly request an assessment of the security strength of registered users' biometric ID profiles. For example, the biometric authentication touchpoints may be configured to receive the biometric matching score and/or the corresponding biometric ID profiles of registered users in advance of their arrival at the biometric authentication touchpoints 120. At step 320, the processing module 113 may retrieve from the database 111 the requested biometric ID or IDs and accordingly retrieve and process at step 330 associated parameters from the monitoring module 112. The parameters that may be monitored by the monitoring module 112 may include but are not limited to historical biometric authentication transactions, the severity level of each historical biometric authentication transaction, the number of successful biometric authentication transactions, quality of the biometric scan obtained during enrolment, a set of extracted hard and soft biometric characteristics associated with the corresponding registered user, the type and technology of the system used to obtain the biometric scan of the registered user, the registration date of the biometric ID. The monitored parameters may be the same for all the biometric IDs or vary depending on the biometric ID profile of the user. For example, the parameters to be monitored may vary depending on the consent provided by the user. The processing module 113 may determine at step 340, based on the values of the monitored parameters, a biometric matching score for the requested biometric ID. For example, processing module 113 may place a weight on each of the monitored parameters. Accordingly, the processing module 113 may determine the expected biometric matching accuracy of the registered biometric ID based on a linear or weighted linear combination, direct or inverse, of monitored parameters. The biometric processing module 113 may then compare at step 350 the biometric matching score of the requested biometric ID profile with a target biometric matching score for each of the selected biometric authentication touchpoints 120. Based on the results of the comparison, the biometric processing module 113 at step 360 may determine an authentication strength level of the biometric ID profile indicating the security severity level of the biometric authentication procedure to be executed at each of the selected set of biometric authentication touchpoints to authenticate the registered user. The information related to the biometric score and the severity level may be displayed on a graphic user interface (GUI) of a software application running on an electronic device of the user 130. The biometric processing module 113 may be configured to periodically check the biometric matching score of registered biometric IDs and notify the corresponding users 130 at their electronic device. The biometric processing module 113 may be configured to notify users 130 when the biometric score of their biometric ID profile reaches or is below a predetermined threshold. The biometric processing module 113 may issue a notification to the user 130 to update their biometric ID profile, for example, through the enrolment module 114. Furthermore, the biometric IDs and/or the biometric score of registered users 130 may be communicated to the biometric authentication touchpoints 120. Accordingly, the biometric authentication touchpoints 120 may adapt the severity level of their authentication procedure based on the biometric scores received.
The biometric management system 110 may be configured to determine an expiry date for each of the registered biometric IDs and their corresponding biometric matching value.
As shown in
Based on the time drifting model, a time drifting profile may be generated for the registered user 130. The biometric management system may comprise a compensation module configured to update, based on the time drifting profile, the registered biometric ID of the user, as shown in
According to an embodiment, the authentication, verification, and identification of the user may be performed by the biometric management system 110. A biometric scan obtained at a biometric authentication touchpoint may be compared using the biometric processing module 113 to the registered biometric ID to determine a match. The biometric ID profile may be updated based on the time-drifting profile to improve the biometric accuracy with the real-time biometric scan obtained at the biometric authentication touchpoint. Similarly, using the time-drifting model, a comparison may be made between the current biometric ID profile of the user and a corresponding time-drifted profile to determine the authentication strength level of the current biometric ID profile. As such, the biometric ID profile of a user may be assessed periodically for a number of parameters such as biometric score, authentication strength, the severity of the authentication procedure, and the like.
The database management system 110 may be communicatively coupled to a traveller profile associated with a reward programme, as shown in
The distortion correction module 160 is configured for determining the relative distortion introduced by the image capturing device 190. The relative distortion may be determined by comparing an image of the user obtained from a preferred image capturing device 190, e.g. a selfie taken with the user's phone, with an undistorted reference image. A relative distortion analyser may be provided to analyse the differences between the two images and estimate the relative distortion introduced by the image capturing device 190, which is subsequently compensated during image warping to generate a corrected version of the image taken by the user using an electronic device, e.g. a phone.
The distortion correction module 160 may further comprise an expression analyser 161 configured to analyse the captured image to determine the user's facial expression. It is known that facial expressions introduce further distortions in the biometric features. The expression analyser 161 detects the distortion introduced into the image by the facial expression of the user, e.g. by comparing the captured facial expression with a reference compensated facial expression following the example shown in
The optical distortion may be further compensated based on information obtained from images of different users captured by different image capturing devices 190, as shown in
In general, as has been previously described, different parameters may be taken into account for calculating the biometric score of a user profile according to embodiments of the present invention.
In general, the routines executed to implement the embodiments of the invention, whether implemented as part of an operating system or a specific application, component, program, object, module or sequence of instructions, or even a subset thereof, may be referred to herein as “computer program code,” or simply “program code.” Program code typically comprises computer-readable instructions that are resident at various times in various memory and storage devices in the computer and that, when read and executed by one or more processors in a computer, cause that computer to perform the operations necessary to execute operations and/or elements embodying the various aspects of the embodiments of the invention. The computer-readable program instructions for carrying out operations of the embodiments of the invention may be, for example, assembly language or either source code or object code is written in any combination of one or more programming languages.
The program code embodied in any of the applications/modules described herein is capable of being individually or collectively distributed as a program product in a variety of different forms. In particular, the program code may be distributed using the computer-readable storage medium, having the computer-readable program instructions thereon for causing a processor to carry out aspects of the embodiments of the invention. Computer-readable storage media, which is inherently non-transitory, may include volatile and non-volatile, and removable and non-removable tangible media implemented in any method or technology for storage of information, such as computer-readable instructions, data structures, program modules, or other data. Computer-readable storage media may further include RAM, ROM, erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), flash memory or other robust state memory technology, portable compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), or other optical storage, magnetic cassettes, magnetic tape, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium that can be used to store the desired information and which can be read by a computer. A computer-readable storage medium should not be construed as transitory signals per se (e.g., radio waves or other propagating electromagnetic waves, electromagnetic waves propagating through a transmission media such as a waveguide, or electrical signals transmitted through a wire). Computer-readable program instructions may be downloaded to a computer, another type of programmable data processing apparatus, or another device from a computer-readable storage medium or an external computer or external storage device via a network. Computer-readable program instructions stored in a computer-readable medium may be used to direct a computer, other types of programmable data processing apparatus, or other devices to function in a particular manner, such that the instructions stored in the computer-readable medium produce an article of manufacture including instructions that implement the functions/acts specified in the flowcharts, sequence diagrams, and/or block diagrams. The computer program instructions may be provided to one or more processors of a general-purpose computer, special purpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, such that the instructions, which execute via the one or more processors, cause a series of computations to be performed to implement the functions and/or acts specified in the flowcharts, sequence diagrams, and/or block diagrams.
In certain alternative embodiments, the functions and/or acts specified in the flowcharts, sequence diagrams, and/or block diagrams may be re-ordered, processed serially, and/or processed concurrently without departing from the scope of the invention. Moreover, any of the flowcharts, sequence diagrams, and/or block diagrams may include more or fewer blocks than those illustrated consistent with embodiments of the invention.
The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the embodiments of the invention. As used herein, the singular forms “a”, “an” and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprise” and/or “comprising,” when used in this specification, specify the presence of stated characteristics, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other characteristics, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof. Furthermore, to the extent that the terms “includes”, “having”, “has”, “with”, “comprised of”, or variants thereof are used in either the detailed description or the claims, such terms are intended to be inclusive in a manner similar to the term “comprising”.
While a description of various embodiments has illustrated all of the inventions and while these embodiments have been described in considerable detail, it is not the intention of the Applicants to restrict or in any way limit the scope of the appended claims to such detail. Additional advantages and modifications will readily appear to those skilled in the art. The invention in its broader aspects is therefore not limited to the specific details, representative apparatus and method, and illustrative examples shown and described. Accordingly, departures may be made from such details without departing from the spirit or scope of the Applicants general inventive concept.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 21306382.9 | Oct 2021 | EP | regional |
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/EP2022/068948 | 7/7/2022 | WO |
