JP2007249797A - Portable information terminal authentication system, portable information terminal authentication method and portable information terminal authentication program - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an authentication system for a portable information terminal, allowing use of a security lock with the same convenience as the case when the security lock is not used. <P>SOLUTION: When a hinge state detection part 1 detects that a hinge of a cellphone comes into a specific state, an imaging part 2 is driven, a face of an operator of the cellphone is photographed to acquire an image, Next, a face authentication means 31 decides whether the face inside the acquired image and previously registered face data are a face and face data of the same person or not. When it is decided that the face inside the image is the face of the same person as a registered person, a lock release means 32 releases the security lock of the cellphone. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a mobile information terminal authentication system, a mobile information terminal authentication method, and a mobile information terminal authentication program, and in particular, authenticates a person without requiring a special operation for authentication by using a face authentication function. The present invention relates to an authentication system, an authentication method, and an authentication program for portable information terminals.

  Conventional authentication systems for portable information terminals include an authentication system using a several-digit password or fingerprint information of Non-Patent Document 1 and an authentication system using a face image taken by a camera of Non-Patent Document 2.

  In an authentication system using a personal identification number or a fingerprint, each time the user executes a specific function with a security lock, the user has to input the personal identification number or fingerprint information and unlock the lock.

Further, in the authentication system using the face image, it is necessary to press the authentication execution button every time authentication is performed.
Moreover, as a technique of face collation processing, for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2003-323622 describes a face collation technique.

JP 2003-323622 A NTT DoCoMo F900iC Instruction Manual Basics p. 201 NTT DoCoMo P901iC Instruction Manual p. 342-344

  The first problem is that when executing a specific function for which a security lock is applied, convenience is reduced as compared to when the lock is not used. The reason is that it is necessary to manually input a personal identification number or fingerprint information to release the lock, or to press an authentication button to start authentication.

  An object of the present invention is to provide a portable information terminal authentication system, a portable information terminal authentication method, and a portable information terminal authentication program that can use the security lock with the same convenience as when the security lock is not used.

  The portable information terminal authentication system of the present invention includes an imaging unit such as a camera, a hinge operation detection unit, a face authentication unit, and a lock release unit, and the user operates the hinge unit of the portable information terminal by the hinge operation detection unit. When it is detected that the security lock function has been changed to a usable state, the imaging unit is activated to acquire the user's face image, the face image acquired by the face authentication means, and a pre-registered registration It is determined whether or not the face data is the same person. If it is determined that the face data is the same person, the operation is performed to release the lock.

  The object of the present invention can be achieved by adopting such a configuration and executing face authentication and unlocking in conjunction with each other after the hinge operation by the user.

  The first effect is to provide an authentication system for a portable information terminal that can use the security lock with the same convenience as when the security lock is not used.

  The reason for this is that when the user uses the portable information terminal function, which is the hinge operation of the portable information terminal, the authentication process is completed without requiring human operations, and the security lock is released. This is because it can be done.

  Next, the best mode for carrying out the invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

  Referring to FIG. 1, a first embodiment of the present invention includes a hinge state detection unit 1 that monitors the state of a hinge of a portable information terminal, and an imaging unit 2 that captures an image of a person to be authenticated and acquires an image. The data processing device 3 operates under program control, and the storage device 4.

  The storage device 4 includes a registered face data storage unit 41 in which a face image of the user of the portable information terminal is converted into face data used for matching.

  The data processing device 3 includes a face authentication unit 31 and a lock release unit 32.

  Each of these means operates as follows.

  When the hinge state detection unit 1 detects that the hinge state has changed to a state preset in the system, the image pickup unit 2 is driven and the face authentication means 31 is started. The hinge state set in advance is, for example, a state in which a folded portable information terminal is folded in half and the inner screen is visible to the user (FIG. 7) or In the case of a rotary type portable information terminal called a revolver type, the dial key can be seen by rotating (FIG. 8).

  The face authentication unit 31 determines whether the face of the person to be authenticated in the image obtained from the imaging unit 2 and the registered face data registered in advance in the registered face data storage unit 41 are the same person.

  When it is determined that the face image acquired by the face authentication unit 31 is the same person as that of the registered person, the lock release unit 32 releases the security lock.

  Next, the overall operation of the present embodiment will be described in detail with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS.

  First, when the hinge state detection unit 1 detects that the state of the hinge has changed to a state set in advance by the system (step A1 in FIG. 2), the imaging unit 2 is driven to capture the face image of the person to be authenticated. (Step A2). Next, the degree of coincidence between the face image photographed by the face authentication means 31 and the registered face data is calculated (step A3), and it is determined whether or not the person shown in the face image is the same person as the registered person ( Step A4). If it is finally determined that the person is a registered person, the lock release means 32 releases the security lock (step A5), and the process is terminated. If it is not determined to be a registered person, the lock state is not changed and the process is terminated.

  Next, the face authentication means (31 in FIG. 1) will be described with reference to FIG. The face authentication unit 31 includes a face detection unit 311, a face data creation unit 312, and a face collation unit 313.

  Upon receiving the start signal, the face detection unit 311 specifies the face position from the input face image. For the face detection processing mentioned here, the literature “Suzuki, Hosoi, Sakurai, Sato,“ Development of high-speed face detection processing using a ring filter ”, 2003 IEICE General Conference Proceedings, p. 251”. Can be used.

  The face data creation unit 312 creates face data necessary for face matching from the position of the identified face in the image.

  The face collating unit 313 collates the created face data with the registered face data, determines whether the face data is the same person as the registered face data, and outputs a collation result. The face data creation unit 312 creates face matching data used by the face matching unit 333. As the face matching process, for example, when the face matching method disclosed in Patent Document 1 (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2003-323622) is used, face matching data necessary for this method is created.

  In this embodiment, since the authentication is automatically started when the hinge portion is changed to a specific state by the user, and the lock is released when the authentication is successful, the security lock of the portable information terminal is configured. The security lock function can be provided with the same convenience as when not applying the function.

  Next, the best mode for carrying out the second invention of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. Referring to FIG. 4, the best mode for carrying out the second invention of the present invention is the best for the data processing apparatus 5 operating by program control to implement the first invention shown in FIG. In addition to the configuration of the data processing device 3 in the embodiment, the image recording means 33 is added, and the storage device 6 is the storage device in the best mode for carrying out the first invention shown in FIG. In addition to the configuration of FIG. 4, an authentication failure image storage unit 42 that stores an authentication failure image that is determined not to be a registered person by face authentication is added.

  The image recording unit 33 stores the face image used for authentication in the authentication failure image storage unit 42 when it is determined that the input face image is not a registered person as a result of the face authentication performed by the face authentication unit 31. .

  Next, the overall operation of the present embodiment will be described in detail with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS.

  Since the operations of the hinge state detection unit 1, the imaging unit 2, and the lock release means 32 in the present embodiment indicated by steps A1 to A3 and A5 in FIG. 5 are the same as those of the first embodiment, the description is omitted. Omitted.

  In the best mode for carrying out the first invention, when it is determined that the face image input by the face authentication means 31 is different from the registered person, no processing is performed and the processing is terminated. In the present embodiment, when the face authentication unit 31 determines that the input face image is different from the registered person, the image used for face authentication is stored in the authentication failure image storage unit 42 as a log image, and the process ends ( Step B1).

  When saving the log image, it is also possible to save only the face area used for face authentication by the face authentication means 31.

  In the best mode for carrying out the present invention, in addition to the effects described in the first embodiment, the face image taken when the unlocking fails is stored as a log image. Therefore, it is possible to confirm the face of the unauthorized access person to the portable information terminal. In addition, with such a configuration, it is possible to expect an effect of suppressing unauthorized access.

  Next, the best mode for carrying out the third invention of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. Referring to FIG. 6, the best mode for carrying out the third invention of the present invention is the same as the first and second embodiments of the present invention, the hinge state detection unit 1, the imaging unit 2, and the memory. It has a device 6 and a data processing device 7, and further has an external storage medium 8.

  The external storage medium 8 stores an authentication program for a portable information terminal, is read by the data processing device 7 and controls the operation of the data processing device 7, and the data processing device 3 in the first and second embodiments and 5 is executed.

  Next, the operation of the best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described using specific examples. Such an example corresponds to the second embodiment of the present invention.

  This embodiment assumes a foldable camera-equipped mobile phone, the imaging unit 2 is a camera inside the mobile phone, and the lock function locks all functions other than the call function and clock function of the mobile phone. To do.

  When the user uses a function other than the call of the mobile phone, the user opens the folded mobile phone in the same manner as when the lock is not applied. With this hinge state change as a trigger, the camera is activated and the face detection process is started.

  The user slightly adjusts the orientation of the mobile phone or the position of the face so that the face falls within the angle of view of the camera. When a face is detected in the camera image, face data used for the next collation is created. Subsequently, the created face data for collation is collated with the registered face data, and it is determined whether or not the person to be authenticated is a registered person.

  If it is determined that the user is the registrant, the lock is released and the person to be authenticated is allowed to operate the mobile phone. If it is determined that the user is not the registrant, the verification image is stored as an authentication failure image, and the user is not permitted to operate the mobile phone.

  The authorized user of the mobile phone can see the authentication failure image later, and can see the face picture of the person who tried to gain unauthorized access to the mobile phone. The above processing can also be used for a mobile phone having a rotary hinge or a sliding hinge, a notebook personal computer having a hinge, and the like.

  As described above, the authentication method of the present invention as in this embodiment can improve the safety of information in the portable information terminal while having the same convenience as when the security lock is not applied to the portable information terminal. .

  The present invention can be applied to authentication applications using biological information or artifact information that can be acquired in a non-contact manner using a camera other than the face.

[BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS] It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the best form for implementing 1st invention of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows operation | movement of the best form for implementing 1st invention. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the face authentication means of 1st invention. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the best form for implementing 2nd invention of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows operation | movement of the best form for implementing 2nd invention. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the best form for implementing 3rd invention of this invention. It is a figure explaining the structure of a foldable portable information terminal and its hinge. It is a figure explaining the structure of a rotation type personal digital assistant and its hinge.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Hinge state detection part 2 Imaging part 3, 5, 7 Data processing apparatus 4, 6 Storage apparatus 8 External storage medium 31 Face authentication means 32 Lock release means 33 Image recording means 41 Registered face data storage part 42 Authentication failure image storage part 311 Face detection means 312 Face data creation means 313 Face collation means

Claims (21)

The image acquired when the state of the hinge that is a component of the terminal is in a predetermined state is collated with face data registered in advance,
A portable information terminal authentication system, wherein the lock state is released when the collation is successful.   The portable information terminal authentication system according to claim 1, wherein when the collation fails, information of the acquired image is recorded in a storage unit that can be confirmed by a user. The portable information terminal authentication system according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the predetermined state of the hinge is a state in which information of the portable information terminal is changed to a state in which the information can be browsed.   The portable information terminal authentication system according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the predetermined state of the hinge is a state in which the hinge is changed from a folded state to an opened state.   The predetermined state of the hinge is a state in which the key input unit of the portable information terminal has changed from a state where the key input unit is not exposed to the outside to a state where the key input unit is exposed to the outside by an operation such as rotation, sliding, opening, etc. The portable information terminal authentication system according to claim 1 or 2, wherein The face authentication means includes a face detection means for specifying a position of a face in the image;
Face data creation means for creating face data for verification from the detected face position;
Face matching means for determining the degree of coincidence between the created face data and pre-registered face data;
The personal digital assistant authentication system according to any one of claims 1 to 5, further comprising:   7. The portable information terminal authentication system according to claim 2, wherein the acquired image information is a face area image used for face authentication. A face authentication step of collating an image acquired when the state of the hinge, which is a component of the terminal, is a predetermined state with face data registered in advance;
A portable information terminal authentication method, comprising: a lock release step of releasing a lock state when the verification is successful.   9. The portable information terminal authentication method according to claim 8, further comprising the step of storing the acquired image information in a storage unit that can be confirmed by a user when the verification fails.   The portable information terminal authentication method according to claim 8 or 9, wherein the predetermined state of the hinge is a state in which information of the portable information terminal is changed to a state in which information can be browsed. The portable information terminal authentication method according to claim 8 or 9, wherein the predetermined state of the hinge is a state in which the hinge is changed from a folded state to an opened state.   The predetermined state of the hinge is a state in which the key input unit of the portable information terminal has changed from a state where the key input unit is not exposed to the outside to a state where the key input unit is exposed to the outside by an operation such as rotation, sliding, opening, etc. 10. The portable information terminal authentication method according to claim 8 or 9, wherein: The face authentication step includes a face detection step for specifying a position of a face in the image;
A face data creation step for creating face data for verification from the detected face position;
The portable information terminal authentication method according to any one of claims 8 to 12, further comprising a face collation step for determining a degree of coincidence between the created face data and face data registered in advance.   14. The portable information terminal authentication method according to claim 9, wherein the acquired image information is a face area image used for face authentication.   A portable information terminal authentication characterized by causing a computer to execute an unlocking step of releasing a locked state when the collation is successful for an image acquired when the state of a hinge as a component of the terminal is in a predetermined state program. 16. The portable information terminal authentication program according to claim 15, further causing the computer to execute a step of storing the acquired image information in a storage unit that can be confirmed by a user when the verification fails. The portable information terminal authentication program according to claim 15 or 16, wherein the predetermined state of the hinge is a state in which information of the portable information terminal is changed to a state in which information can be browsed.   The portable information terminal authentication program according to claim 15 or 16, wherein the predetermined state of the hinge is a state changed from a folded state to an opened state.   The predetermined state of the hinge is a state in which the key input unit of the portable information terminal has changed from a state where the key input unit is not exposed to the outside to a state where the key input unit is exposed to the outside by an operation such as rotation, sliding, opening, etc. 10. The personal digital assistant authentication program according to claim 8 or 9, The face authentication step includes a face detection step for specifying a position of a face in the image;
A face data creation step for creating face data for verification from the detected face position;
The portable information terminal authentication program according to any one of claims 15 to 19, which causes a computer to execute a face collation step for determining a degree of coincidence between the created face data and face data registered in advance. . 21. The portable information terminal authentication program according to claim 16, wherein the acquired image information is a face area image used for face authentication.

Images