Patents by Inventor Steven James Ross

Steven James Ross 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).

  • Patent number: 9524421
    Abstract: Facial recognition can be used to determine whether or not a user has access privileges to a device such as a smartphone. It may be possible to spoof an authenticated user's image using a picture of the user. Implementations disclosed herein utilize time of flight and/or reflectivity measurements of an authenticated user to compare to such values obtained for an image of an object. If the time of flight distance and/or reflectivity distance for the object match a measured distance, then the person (i.e., object) may be granted access to the device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 9, 2013
    Date of Patent: December 20, 2016
    Assignee: Google Inc.
    Inventors: Steven James Ross, Brian Patrick Williams, Henry Will Schneiderman, Michael Christian Nechyba
  • Patent number: 9158904
    Abstract: An example method includes capturing, by an image capture device of a computing device, an image of a face of a user. The method further includes detecting, by the computing device, whether a distance between the computing device and an object represented by at least a portion of the image is less than a threshold distance, and, when the detected distance is less than a threshold distance, denying authentication to the user with respect to accessing one or more functionalities controlled by the computing device, where the authentication is denied independent of performing facial recognition based at least in part on the captured image.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 14, 2013
    Date of Patent: October 13, 2015
    Assignee: Google Inc.
    Inventors: Steven James Ross, Henry Will Schneiderman, Michael Christian Nechyba, Yong Zhao
  • Publication number: 20150161434
    Abstract: Facial recognition can be used to determine whether or not a user has access privileges to a device such as a smartphone. It may be possible to spoof an authenticated user's image using a picture of the user. Implementations disclosed herein utilize time of flight and/or reflectivity measurements of an authenticated user to compare to such values obtained for an image of an object. If the time of flight distance and/or reflectivity distance for the object match a measured distance, then the person (i.e., object) may be granted access to the device.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 9, 2013
    Publication date: June 11, 2015
    Applicant: Google Inc.
    Inventors: Steven James Ross, Brian Patrick Williams, Henry Will Schneiderman, Michael Christian Nechyba
  • Publication number: 20140188997
    Abstract: The present disclosure includes systems and methods for creating and sharing inline commentary relating to media within an online community, for example, a social network. The inline commentary can be one or more types of media, for example, text, audio, image, video, URL link, etc. In some implementations, the systems and methods either receive media that is live or pre-recorded, permit viewing by users and receive selective added commentary by users inline. The systems and methods are configured to send one or more notifications regarding the commentary. In some implementations, the systems and methods are configured to receive responses by other users to the initial commentary provided by a particular user.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 31, 2012
    Publication date: July 3, 2014
    Inventors: Henry Will Schneiderman, Michael Andrew Sipe, Steven James Ross, Brian Ronald Colonna, Danielle Marie Millett, Uriel Gerardo Rodriguez, Michael Christian Nechyba, Mikkel Crone Köser, Ankit Jain
  • Patent number: 8611616
    Abstract: An example method includes capturing, by an image capture device of a computing device, an image of a face of a user. The method further includes detecting, by the computing device, whether a distance between the computing device and an object represented by at least a portion of the image is less than a threshold distance, and, when the detected distance is less than a threshold distance, denying authentication to the user with respect to accessing one or more functionalities controlled by the computing device, where the authentication is denied independent of performing facial recognition based at least in part on the captured image.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 10, 2013
    Date of Patent: December 17, 2013
    Assignee: Google Inc.
    Inventors: Steven James Ross, Henry Will Schneiderman, Michael Christian Nechyba, Yong Zhao
  • Patent number: 8396265
    Abstract: An example method includes capturing, by an image capture device of a computing device, an image of a face of a user. The method further includes detecting, by the computing device, whether a distance between the computing device and an object represented by at least a portion of the image is less than a threshold distance, and, when the detected distance is less than a threshold distance, denying authentication to the user with respect to accessing one or more functionalities controlled by the computing device, where the authentication is denied independent of performing facial recognition based at least in part on the captured image.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 26, 2012
    Date of Patent: March 12, 2013
    Assignee: Google Inc.
    Inventors: Steven James Ross, Henry Will Schneiderman, Michael Christian Nechyba, Yong Zhao