Proximity-based unlocking of communal computing devices

• Main Authors: Kumar, Kiran, Bhattarai, Dipesh, Zhang, Liang, Jain, Raju, Davis, Peter Gregory, Johnson, Jeffrey
• Format: Patent
• Language: English
• Published: 30.01.2024
• Subjects: ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE; ELECTRICITY; TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHICCOMMUNICATION; WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS NETWORKS

A communal computing device, such as an interactive digital whiteboard, can become unlocked if a user is near the device. The communal computing device may use a sensor such as a camera to capture images of a person and obtain an identifier from a personal device such as a smartphone. A cloud-based provider that is trusted by both the communal computing device and the personal device may associate both the image and the identifier of the personal device with the same user identity. Obtaining the user identity from multiple, different sources provides a secure technique for the communal computing device to recognize a user without the user directly interacting with the communal computing device. If the sensor no longer detects the user or the personal device is no longer detected, then the communal computing device may log off the user. The personal device may be used to confirm log off.