U.S. patent application number 13/752143 was filed with the patent office on 2013-06-06 for system and method for capturing augmented reality electronic signatures.
The applicant listed for this patent is Ranjith Kumaran. Invention is credited to Ranjith Kumaran.
Application Number | 20130143621 13/752143 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 46544542 |
Filed Date | 2013-06-06 |
United States Patent
Application |
20130143621 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Kumaran; Ranjith |
June 6, 2013 |
System and Method for Capturing Augmented Reality Electronic
Signatures
Abstract
A system and method for more accurately and easily recording
signatures electronically/digitally. The preferred signing
experience is generating a "wet" signature by putting a pen to
paper as a pen and paper are ubiquitous and portable as well as
familiar to most people. The present invention preserves this
experience while combining it with a digital rendering of a
document using conventional mobile communication devices having a
camera feature in order to record a wet signature of a user and
store a digital representation of the document that includes the
recorded wet signature in the signature block of the document.
Inventors: |
Kumaran; Ranjith; (San Jose,
CA) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
Kumaran; Ranjith |
San Jose |
CA |
US |
|
|
Family ID: |
46544542 |
Appl. No.: |
13/752143 |
Filed: |
January 28, 2013 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
|
|
|
|
|
|
Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
|
13011914 |
Jan 23, 2011 |
8385981 |
|
|
13752143 |
|
|
|
|
Current U.S.
Class: |
455/556.1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
H04M 2250/52 20130101;
G06F 21/64 20130101; H04M 1/72522 20130101; H04M 1/0266
20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
455/556.1 |
International
Class: |
H04M 1/02 20060101
H04M001/02 |
Claims
1. A method for associating a digital representation of a wet
signature with a digital document, comprising the steps of:
initiating a signature application on a mobile communication device
having a camera and a display; displaying the digital document on
said display of said mobile communication device; positioning said
camera of said mobile communication device over the wet signature
wherein a representation of the wet signature is positioned in a
signature block of the digital document by said signature
application; capturing the wet signature by said camera; capturing
a signature video by the camera of the creation of the wet
signature; identifying authentication information at substantially
the same time as said capturing of the wet signature, wherein said
authentication information includes at least one of a location of
the mobile communication device, a mobile communication device
identifier, a time of the capturing of the wet signature, or
information provided in response to security requests of said
signature application; and storing, by said signature application,
an executed version of the digital document with the wet signature
digital representation in said signature block of the digital
document and said signature video; wherein said executed version of
the electronic document is stored as a first file and said
signature video is stored as a second file, wherein said first file
is associated with said second file.
Description
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application is a continuation of U.S. patent
application Ser. No. 13/011,914 entitled "System and Method for
Capturing Augmented Reality Electronic Signatures" filed on Jan.
23, 2011 which is incorporated by reference herein in its
entirety.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0002] The application related to the field of electronic
signatures and in particular to the capturing of signatures with a
mobile personal device assistant device.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0003] As more paper-based workflows are managed electronically,
such a paperless offices, the need for electronic signatures is
increasing. Conventional solutions attempt to replicate the
experience of signing a document through the emulation of
conventional pen to paper, i.e., "wet," signatures using, for
example, touch screen, computer pen, computer mouse or other
specialized input device. A system requiring a specialized input
device limits the proliferation and adoption of such systems. Using
a finger or other device on a touch screens requires the
specialized touch screen device and is also slow, cumbersome,
unfamiliar to a typical user and frequently results in a signature
that is a poor representation of a wet signature. Similarly, the
use of specialized hardware such as computer pens are unfamiliar to
the typical user as the signature often is misaligned with where
the pen touches the screen, and the touch screen sensitivities
result in "shaky" signatures. In addition, as described above, the
requirement of a specialized pen is a hindrance to adoption of such
systems. The use of a computer mouse is also a poor substitute of a
wet signature as the use of a mouse to sign a document is
unfamiliar and results in signatures that often bear little
resemblance to wet signatures. Such poor representations of
signatures results in authentication concerns.
[0004] Alternatively, conventional electronic signatures can be
typewritten, such as the name between backslash characters,
"/signature/". However, a problem with this technique is that such
signatures are easy to forge and therefore present authentication
concerns.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0005] An embodiment of the invention is a method for associating a
digital representation of a wet signature with a digital document
that is a digital representation of a document, comprising the
steps of: initiating a signature application on a mobile
communication device having a camera and a display; displaying the
digital document on said display of said mobile communication
device; positioning said camera of said mobile communication device
over the wet signature wherein a representation of the wet
signature is positioned in a signature block of the digital
document by said signature application; capturing the wet signature
by said camera; and storing, by said signature application, an
executed version of the digital document with the wet signature
digital representation in said signature block of the digital
document.
[0006] The features and advantages described in the specification
are not all inclusive and, in particular, many additional features
and advantages will be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art
in view of the drawings, specification, and claims. Moreover, it
should be noted that the language used in the specification has
been principally selected for readability and instructional
purposes, and may not have been selected to delineate or
circumscribe the inventive subject matter.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0007] FIG. 1 is an illustration of components of the invention in
accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.
[0008] FIG. 2 is a detailed illustration of a mobile communication
device in accordance with an embodiment of the present
invention.
[0009] FIG. 3 is a flowchart of a method in accordance with an
embodiment of the present invention.
[0010] FIG. 4 is an illustration of components of the invention in
accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.
[0011] FIG. 5 is an illustration of components of the invention in
accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.
[0012] FIG. 6 is an illustration of components of the invention in
accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.
[0013] FIG. 7 is an illustration of components of the invention in
accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.
[0014] The figures depict various embodiments of the present
invention for purposes of illustration only. One skilled in the art
will readily recognize from the following discussion that
alternative embodiments of the structures and methods illustrated
herein may be employed without departing from the principles of the
invention described herein.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0015] A preferred embodiment of the present invention is now
described with reference to the figures where like reference
numbers indicate identical or functionally similar elements. Also
in the figures, the left most digits of each reference number
corresponds to the figure in which the reference number is first
used.
[0016] FIG. 1 is an illustration of components of the invention in
accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. In one
embodiment the invention includes a mobile communication device
(MCD) 102, paper or other material that can be written upon, for
ease of discussion this will be referred to herein as paper 104,
but can include any material or object that can be written upon,
e.g., desk, hand, blackboard, whiteboard, etc. FIG. 1 also includes
a writing device 106, e.g., a pen, marker, pencil, etc.
[0017] FIG. 2 is a detailed illustration of a mobile communication
device 102 in accordance with an embodiment of the present
invention. Examples of a wireless mobile communication device (MCD)
102 include a cellular phone, personal device assistant (PDA),
smart phone, pocket personal computer (PC), laptop computer, smart
watch or other devices having a processor, communications
capability and are easily transportable, for example. Examples of
applications include applications available for the iPhone.TM. that
is commercially available from Apple Computer, Cupertino, Calif.,
applications for phones running the Android.TM. operating system
that is commercially available from Google, Inc., Mountain View,
Calif., applications for BlackBerry devices, available from RIM,
Ontario Canada, or applications available for Windows Mobile
devices, available from Microsoft Corp., Redmond, Wash. Such
devices are examples of the MCD 102.
[0018] In an embodiment the MCD 102 includes a communications unit
206, a processor 208, an input/output device 212, a camera 216 and
a memory/storage device 204. The MCD 102 has an operating system
and can include various applications either integrated into the
operating system or stored in the memory/storage device 204 and
executed by the processor 208. In an embodiment, the memory device
204 includes a data storage module 222, a software module
(signature app 220), among other software and programs, for
example, that is executed on the MCD 102. The software module can
be an application, such as an iPhone.TM. or Android.TM.-based
application. For ease of discussion this software module will be
referred to herein as a signature application 220. The signature
application 220 can be stored on the MCD 102 and can be part of the
embedded software of the MCD 102 (e.g., iPhone) or integrated into
the MCD's 102 operating system. Alternatively, the application can
be downloaded via a wired or wireless system, e.g., using Apple's
iTunes.TM.. In addition, in an embodiment the software module can
be part of any of a variety of software paradigms, e.g., software
as a service (SaaS), cloud computing. For ease of discussion, the
following description will be based on the model of the software
module being an application that is stored in the MCD memory module
104 and executed by the MCD processor 208.
[0019] FIG. 3 is a flowchart of a method in accordance with an
embodiment of the present invention. Some embodiments of the
operation of the invention will be described with reference to
FIGS. 4-7.
[0020] FIG. 4 is an illustration of components of the invention in
accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. As
described above, the present invention is a system and method for
more accurately and easily recording signatures electronically. The
preferred signing experience is generating a "wet" signature by
putting a pen to paper, as a pen and paper are ubiquitous and
portable as well as familiar to most people. The present invention
preserves this experience while combining it with a digital
rendering of a document (referred to herein as a digital document,
the digital document need not be created from a physical document,
that is, it can be a document created using conventional word
processors, e.g., Microsoft Word, and directly stored into a
computer readable memory). The digital document is to be signed in
a manner that overcomes the drawbacks of conventional electronic
signing system and methods, as described above. In particular, MCDs
(102) have become common and many MCDs (102) include a camera 216.
The present invention uses an MCD 102 to record the signature
and/or act of signing and superimposes the signature into the
document. The signer or agent can record and save the superimposed
signature with the document along with authentication
information.
[0021] With reference to FIG. 3, a user can initiate 302 the
signature application 220 on the MCD 102. The steps set forth in
FIG. 3 are illustrative and the steps do not necessarily need to
occur in the order shown. The signature application 220 can operate
along with a document reading and displaying software, e.g.
Microsoft Word, Adobe, etc, or document reading and displaying
software can be part of the signature application 220. The document
reading/displaying feature provides a digital rendering of the
document on the screen of the MCD 102. The signature application
220 can include security protections to enable access only when the
security protections are satisfied. Examples of such security
include the use of a password, voice recognition, retinal scan,
particular location, e.g., within a one mile radius of Fenwick
& West LLP in Mountain View, Calif., fingerprint recognition
possibly readable only by a device with a specific identifier,
e.g., a serial number, SIM (subscriber identity module) card, phone
number, etc.. The signature application 220 utilizes the MCD camera
216 and identifies the signature block area of the document. In an
embodiment, the signature application 302 receives an output from
the camera 216, for example a representation of the signature that
will be received by the camera 216 when the camera is activated,
such as a representation similar to that which may be displayed in
a viewfinder, and superimposes the camera output onto the signature
block area of the document. In alternate embodiments, other
portions of the document can be filled in by the user, e.g., the
date or other information at different areas of the document. The
signature application can perform these functions using a variety
of conventional techniques, e.g., using text field entry, drawing
on a touchscreen in various colors, loading previously recorded
data, e.g., addresses, system clock for time/date.
[0022] With reference to FIG. 4, the user signs 304 the paper 104
using the writing device 106. As seen in FIG. 4, the paper (or
other writing surface) signed need not include the text of the
document, e.g., the paper can be blank prior to signing. In this
embodiment the signature can occur prior to the initiation 302 of
the signing application 220.
[0023] FIG. 5 is an illustration of components of the invention in
accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. The user
places the MCD 102 such that the camera 218 captures the signature
on the paper 104 and that the signature appears in the proper
location 502 in the electronic document displayed on the MCD 102.
The signature application 220 captures 306 the signature,
preferably when the signature is displayed in the proper location
502 in the electronic document. In an embodiment the signature
capture can occur by the pressing of a button or touching a
particular area, e.g., touching the screen on the MCD 102, or using
a verbal command, for example. The document is stored 308 in the
MCD memory module 204 with the signature and additional data such
as the time/date of the signature capture, the location of the
signature capture (which can be based upon location identification
features of the MCD 102, for example), the authentication
information provided by the signature application security features
(for example, a password, fingerprint, voice identification or
other information that is provided in response to a security
information request by the signature application), MCD 102
identification information, retina scan, location information
(using global positioning satellite (GPS) information or other
location determination information/systems such as cellular tower
triangulation based on signal strengths from multiple cellular
towers), device identifier, phone number, etc.. This information
can be stored with the document in the memory module 204, for
example as metadata and/or can be stored as a separate file.
[0024] The additional data can assist in authenticating the
signature. As described above, access to the signature application
220 can require satisfying the security features of the signature
application 220 which can assist in authenticating the user of the
signature application, the use of a particular MCD 102 as
identified by the data can provide additional information to assist
in authenticating the signature. There may also be security
features required to access the MCD 102 which provides additional
security and authentication information.
[0025] In addition, since the user uses a writing device 106 and
writing surface 104 to create a wet signature, which is consistent
with the signature process that the user is accustomed to, the
signature itself provides a measure of authentication as the
signature can be compared with other signatures of the user. In
addition, the additional data collected, as described above, such
as the time/date of the signature capture, the location of the
signature capture (which can be based upon location identification
features of the MCD 102, for example), the authentication
information provided by the signature application security
features, and/or MCD 102 identification information, for example,
also assist in authenticating the signature and the user (person
signing the document).
[0026] FIG. 6 is an illustration of components of the invention in
accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. In another
embodiment, the signature application 220 captures a video of the
signature creation. This can be done using a video capture function
of the MCD 102. In one embodiment, after initiation 302 of the
signature application 220, the user positions the MCD 102 such that
the signature on the paper 104 is positioned such that the
signature appears at the proper location 602 of the document
representation. The user can select a video capture mode and
initiate 306 the video capture. Using the writing device 106, the
user signs 304 the document which is captured as a video signature
and/or a static digital signature and the captured video and/or
static signatures are stored 308 in the memory device 104 as part
of the document file and/or as a separate file, for example. In an
alternate embodiment, the document and additional information can
be transmitted to a storage device (not shown) that is remote from
the MCD 102 using, for example, conventional communication methods,
e.g., wireless telephone communication network, Bluetooth
communication protocol, a WiFi network, etc.. FIG. 7 is an
illustration of components of the invention in accordance with an
embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 7, the signature is
shown in the signature block of the document.
[0027] In addition to the information described above that can be
stored as part of the signature capture event, the video provides
additional information that can be used to authenticate the
signature and the user.
[0028] Reference in the specification to "one embodiment" or to "an
embodiment" means that a particular feature, structure, or
characteristic described in connection with the embodiments is
included in at least one embodiment of the invention. The
appearances of the phrase "in one embodiment" or "an embodiment" in
various places in the specification are not necessarily all
referring to the same embodiment.
[0029] Some portions of the detailed description are presented in
terms of algorithms and symbolic representations of operations on
data bits within a computer memory. These algorithmic descriptions
and representations are the means used by those skilled in the data
processing arts to most effectively convey the substance of their
work to others skilled in the art. An algorithm is here, and
generally, conceived to be a self-consistent sequence of steps
(instructions) leading to a desired result. The steps are those
requiring physical manipulations of physical quantities. Usually,
though not necessarily, these quantities take the form of
electrical, magnetic or optical signals capable of being stored,
transferred, combined, compared and otherwise manipulated. It is
convenient at times, principally for reasons of common usage, to
refer to these signals as bits, values, elements, symbols,
characters, terms, numbers, or the like. Furthermore, it is also
convenient at times, to refer to certain arrangements of steps
requiring physical manipulations or transformation of physical
quantities or representations of physical quantities as modules or
code devices, without loss of generality.
[0030] However, all of these and similar terms are to be associated
with the appropriate physical quantities and are merely convenient
labels applied to these quantities. Unless specifically stated
otherwise as apparent from the following discussion, it is
appreciated that throughout the description, discussions utilizing
terms such as "processing" or "computing" or "calculating" or
"determining" or "displaying" or "determining" or the like, refer
to the action and processes of a computer system, or similar
electronic computing device (such as a specific computing machine),
that manipulates and transforms data represented as physical
(electronic) quantities within the computer system memories or
registers or other such information storage, transmission or
display devices.
[0031] Certain aspects of the present invention include process
steps and instructions described herein in the form of an
algorithm. It should be noted that the process steps and
instructions of the present invention could be embodied in
software, firmware or hardware, and when embodied in software,
could be downloaded to reside on and be operated from different
platforms used by a variety of operating systems. The invention can
also be in a computer program product which can be executed on a
computing system.
[0032] The present invention also relates to an apparatus for
performing the operations herein. This apparatus may be specially
constructed for the purposes, e.g., a specific computer, or it may
comprise a general-purpose computer selectively activated or
reconfigured by a computer program stored in the computer. Such a
computer program may be stored in a computer readable storage
medium, such as, but is not limited to, any type of disk including
floppy disks, optical disks, CD-ROMs, magnetic-optical disks,
read-only memories (ROMs), random access memories (RAMs), EPROMs,
EEPROMs, magnetic or optical cards, application specific integrated
circuits (ASICs), or any type of media suitable for storing
electronic instructions, and each coupled to a computer system bus.
Memory can include any of the above and/or other devices that can
store information/data/programs and can be transient or
non-transient medium. Furthermore, the computers referred to in the
specification may include a single processor or may be
architectures employing multiple processor designs for increased
computing capability.
[0033] The algorithms and displays presented herein are not
inherently related to any particular computer or other apparatus.
Various general-purpose systems may also be used with programs in
accordance with the teachings herein, or it may prove convenient to
construct more specialized apparatus to perform the method steps.
The structure for a variety of these systems will appear from the
description herein. In addition, the present invention is not
described with reference to any particular programming language. It
will be appreciated that a variety of programming languages may be
used to implement the teachings of the present invention as
described herein, and any references herein to specific languages
are provided for disclosure of enablement and best mode of the
present invention.
[0034] In addition, the language used in the specification has been
principally selected for readability and instructional purposes,
and may not have been selected to delineate or circumscribe the
inventive subject matter. Accordingly, the disclosure of the
present invention is intended to be illustrative, but not limiting,
of the scope of the invention, which is set forth in the
claims.
[0035] While particular embodiments and applications of the present
invention have been illustrated and described herein, it is to be
understood that the invention is not limited to the precise
construction and components disclosed herein and that various
modifications, changes, and variations may be made in the
arrangement, operation, and details of the methods and apparatuses
of the present invention without departing from the spirit and
scope of the invention as it is defined in the appended claims.
* * * * *