Crunchfish Gesture Interaction AB (Crunchfish) has received an Intention to Grant from the European Patent Office (EPO) regarding gesture interaction with a virtual or physical display to type passwords or PIN codes in a distinct way each time.
The patent protects scrambling the display or keypad in order to ensure a different and touchless interaction whenever passwords or PIN codes are entered to lock or unlock the wearable. The patent number is EP18197711.7 and it is valid until September 2032.
CEO of Crunchfish Gesture Interaction AB, Joakim Nydemark says, “This is a key patent for our gesture business that protects locking and un-locking of a wearable device in AR/VR, two of our focus markets”.
Virtual and Augmented (AR/VR) are two relevant market segments for Crunchfish and by entering those passwords or PIN codes securely, is a key solution to certain problems for wearables and AR/VR platforms. Gesture interaction is the preferred method to enter a password or PIN code. Voice control is not an option for now and using physical buttons is usually time consuming.
Many wearables will need a password or PIN code to protect unauthorized usage, unless they unlock through other methods. Since gestures are visible to people around the user, a smart mechanism that protects the password or PIN code is needed as well. This innovation does well to solve this by re-arranging the numbers and letters in the virtual display meaning that the gesture will be different each time due to dynamic keyboard shifts.
That way, the hand movements will be different each time a password or PIN code is entered, solidifying the user’s protection. The patent also covers both locking and unlocking a device using the feature interaction on a scrambled virtual display.
This is Crunchfish’s 12th innovation in the field of Gesture Interaction and it completes their expanding patent portfolio as all of the company’s 12 distinct innovations have now been granted patents.
The wearables market is continuing to expand at an accelerated rate, with VR adoption as well as recent pushes in smart clothing – including a smart T-Shirt that monitors breathing – dominating headlines recently. As such security and privacy are bound to become major discussion points.
Isa Muhammad is a writer and video game journalist covering many aspects of entertainment media including the film industry. He's steadily writing his way to the sharp end of journalism and enjoys staying informed. If he's not reading, playing video games or catching up on his favourite TV series, then he's probably writing about them.
