Patents by Inventor Mary Ellen Ferrara

Mary Ellen Ferrara has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Systems and methods for detecting fraud in spoken tests using voice biometrics
    Patent number: 9472195
    Abstract: Systems and methods described herein automate imposture detection in, e.g., test settings based on voice samples. Based on user instructions, a processing system may determine at least one set of appointments, each having voice samples and a voice print, and a comparison plan for comparing the appointments. The comparison plan defines a plurality of appointment pairs. For each appointment pair, the system compares the associated first and second appointments by, e.g., comparing the first appointment's voice samples to the second appointment's voice print and generating corresponding raw scores, which may be used to compute a composite score. If the composite score satisfies a predetermined threshold condition for fraud, the system may determine whether flagging/holding criteria are satisfied by the raw scores. If the criteria are satisfied, a flag or hold notice may be associated with the appointment pair to trigger an appropriate system/human response (e.g., withholding the appointments' test results).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 26, 2015
    Date of Patent: October 18, 2016
    Assignee: Educational Testing Service
    Inventors: Paul Papierman, Srinivas Patibanda, Venu Valamparampil Rajappan, Mary Ellen Ferrara, Frederick A. Cline, Michael T. Wilcox
  • Systems and Methods for Detecting Fraud in Spoken Tests Using Voice Biometrics
    Publication number: 20150279372
    Abstract: Systems and methods described herein automate imposture detection in, e.g., test settings based on voice samples. Based on user instructions, a processing system may determine at least one set of appointments, each having voice samples and a voice print, and a comparison plan for comparing the appointments. The comparison plan defines a plurality of appointment pairs. For each appointment pair, the system compares the associated first and second appointments by, e.g., comparing the first appointment's voice samples to the second appointment's voice print and generating corresponding raw scores, which may be used to compute a composite score. If the composite score satisfies a predetermined threshold condition for fraud, the system may determine whether flagging/holding criteria are satisfied by the raw scores. If the criteria are satisfied, a flag or hold notice may be associated with the appointment pair to trigger an appropriate system/human response (e.g., withholding the appointments' test results).
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 26, 2015
    Publication date: October 1, 2015
    Inventors: Paul Papierman, Srinivas Patibanda, Venu Valamparampil Rajappan, Mary Ellen Ferrara, Frederick A. Cline, Michael T. Wilcox