Providing particular level of access to one or more items in response to determining primary control of a computing device

A computationally implemented system and method that is designed to, but is not limited to: determining which of a plurality of users detected in proximate vicinity of a computing device has primary control of the computing device; and providing a particular level of access, via the computing device, to one or more items, the particular level of access to be provided to the one or more items being in response, at least in part, to said determining. In addition to the foregoing, other method aspects are described in the claims, drawings, and text forming a part of the present disclosure.

The United States Patent Office (USPTO) has published a notice to the effect that the USPTO's computer programs require that patent applicants reference both a serial number and indicate whether an application is a continuation, continuation-in-part, or divisional of a parent application. Stephen G. Kunin,Benefit of Prior-Filed Application, USPTO Official Gazette Mar. 18, 2003. The present Applicant Entity (hereinafter “Applicant”) has provided above a specific reference to the application(s) from which priority is being claimed as recited by statute. Applicant understands that the statute is unambiguous in its specific reference language and does not require either a serial number or any characterization, such as “continuation” or “continuation-in-part,” for claiming priority to U.S. patent applications. Notwithstanding the foregoing, Applicant understands that the USPTO's computer programs have certain data entry requirements, and hence Applicant has provided designation(s) of a relationship between the present application and its parent application(s) as set forth above, but expressly points out that such designation(s) are not to be construed in any way as any type of commentary and/or admission as to whether or not the present application contains any new matter in addition to the matter of its parent application(s).

SUMMARY

A computationally implemented method includes, but is not limited to determining which of a plurality of users detected in proximate vicinity of a computing device has primary control of the computing device, wherein said determining which of a plurality of users detected in proximate vicinity of a computing device has primary control of the computing device is performed via at least one of a machine, article of manufacture, or composition of matter; and providing a particular level of access, via the computing device, to one or more items, the particular level of access to be provided to the one or more items being in response, at least in part, to said determining. In addition to the foregoing, other method aspects are described in the claims, drawings, and text forming a part of the present disclosure.

In one or more various aspects, related machines, compositions of matter, or manufactures of systems may include, but are not limited to, virtually any combination of hardware, software, and/or firmware configured to effect the herein-referenced method aspects depending upon the design choices of the system designer.

A computationally implemented system includes, but is not limited to: means for determining which of a plurality of users detected in proximate vicinity of a computing device has primary control of the computing device; and means for providing a particular level of access, via the computing device, to one or more items, the particular level of access to be provided to the one or more items being in response, at least in part, to said determining. In addition to the foregoing, other system aspects are described in the claims, drawings, and text forming a part of the present disclosure.

A computationally implemented system includes, but is not limited to: circuitry for determining which of a plurality of users detected in proximate vicinity of a computing device has primary control of the computing device; and circuitry for providing a particular level of access, via the computing device, to one or more items, the particular level of access to be provided to the one or more items being in response, at least in part, to said determining. In addition to the foregoing, other system aspects are described in the claims, drawings, and text forming a part of the present disclosure.

An article of manufacture including a non-transitory signal-bearing storage medium bearing one or more instructions for determining which of a plurality of users detected in proximate vicinity of a computing device has primary control of the computing device; and one or more instructions for providing a particular level of access, via the computing device, to one or more items, the particular level of access to be provided to the one or more items being in response, at least in part, to said determining. In addition to the foregoing, other computer program product aspects are described in the claims, drawings, and text forming a part of the present disclosure.

A method for providing a particular level of access to one or more items via a computing device, the method includes determining which of a plurality of users detected in proximate vicinity of a computing device has primary control of the computing device, wherein said determining which of a plurality of users detected in proximate vicinity of a computing device has primary control of the computing device is performed via at least one of a machine, article of manufacture, or composition of matter; and providing a particular level of access, via the computing device, to one or more items, the particular level of access to be provided to the one or more items being in response, at least in part, to said determining.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Advances in computing technologies and related technologies (e.g., visual display technology, battery technology, etc.) in recent years have greatly facilitated in the development of computing devices having increasingly smaller form factors while still maintaining exceptional processing capabilities. Examples of such mobile computing devices include, for example, laptops, Netbooks, tablet computers (i.e., “slate” computers), e-readers, Smartphones, personal digital assistants (PDAs), and so forth. Because of their compactness, such mobile computing devices (herein “computing devices”) are becoming much easier to share among a plurality of users. That is, due to their small form factors, such devices allow owners of such devices to physically share such devices with friends, family, co-workers, clients, and so forth.

Unfortunately, when such devices are shared amongst a plurality of users having varying levels of accessing rights to such devices, confidential data/applications that are accessible through such devices may also become available to all of these users. For example, suppose a primary user (e.g., an owner) of a mobile computing device wants to show a particular electronic document being displayed through her computing device to a group of friends by handing-off the computing device to the group of friends. In doing so, the group of friends, in addition to being able to view the electronic document, may also have access to many other things that the primary user may not want the group of friends to have access to. For example, upon handed the computing device, the group of friends may be able to view any confidential documents, images, applications, websites, passwords, and so forth, that may be open or running at the time that the computing device was handed over to the group of friends. Even worse, the group of friends may be able to not just access open applications and content, but may be able to retrieve/use/modify any content (e.g., documents, image files, audio files, etc.) or any applications that may be stored in the computing device.

There are countless other situations, some of which will be described herein, where a mobile computing device (e.g., a tablet computer, an e-reader, a Smartphone, a laptop, and so forth) may be shared between a plurality of users having varying degrees of accessing rights to the device. Such situations could potentially result in comprising the confidentiality/usage of data/applications that may be stored/accessed through such a device.

In accordance with various embodiments, computationally implemented methods, systems, and articles of manufacture are presented that can provide a particular level of access, via a computing device, to one or more items (e.g., electronic documents or files including textual, image, audio or video files, applications, passwords, and so forth) in response, at least in part, to determining which of a plurality of users detected in the proximate vicinity of the computing device has primary control of the computing device. Note that although the “computing device” to be described herein will be described/illustrated as being a tablet computer, in alternative embodiments, a computing device may take on other form factors including a variety of other types of portable/mobile computing devices including, for example, a Smartphone, a laptop computer, a Netbook, an e-reader, a personal digital assistant (PDA), and so forth.

Referring now toFIG. 1illustrating a computing device10* in the form of a tablet computer in accordance with various embodiments. For the embodiments, the computing device10* may have at least a first side18that includes a display screen12(e.g., a touch screen), and a second side19(not visible inFIG. 1but shown inFIG. 2c) that is opposite of the first side18. As further illustrated inFIG. 1, the first side18of the computing device10* may include a center17(note that inFIG. 1a center axis17ahas been drawn-in that represents an axis originating from the center17of the first side18of the computing device10* and perpendicular to the surface of the display screen12). In various embodiments, the first side18of the computing device10* may include one or more sensors including one or more visual sensors124(e.g., one or more cameras including one or more digital cameras, webcams, infrared cameras, and/or other types of image capturing devices) and/or one or more audio sensors126(e.g., one or more microphones). Note that although the first side18of the computing device10* ofFIG. 1is illustrated as having three visual sensors124and three audio sensors126, in alternative embodiments, the first side18may include alternative number of visual sensors124and/or audio sensors126than what is depicted inFIG. 1. Further, and although not shown inFIG. 1, in various embodiments, the second side19of the computing device10* may also include one or more sensors in the form of one or more visual sensors124and/or one or more audio sensors126(see, for example,FIG. 2c, which shows at least one visual sensor124and at least one audio sensor126included in the second side19of the computing device10*).

As will be further described herein, in various embodiments, data provided by such sensors (e.g., one or more visual sensors124and/or one or more audio sensors126), as well as, in some cases, data provided by one or more movement sensors122that may be included with the computing device10*(seeFIG. 3eillustrating some of the types of sensors120that may be included with the computing device10*), may be used to detect at least the presence of one or more users (e.g., one or more persons) in the proximate vicinity (e.g., immediate surrounding area) of the computing device10*. Examples of movement sensors122include, for example, accelerometers, inertia sensors, gyroscopes, and so forth. In some embodiments, data from such sensors120may also be used/analyzed in order to detect the specific spatial locations, relative to the computing device10*, of those users detected in the proximate vicinity of the computing device10*. Still further, data from such sensors120may be used in some embodiments in order to identify users who have been detected as being in the proximate vicinity of the computing device10*.

As will be further described herein, the illustrated computing device10* may employ the computationally implemented methods, systems, and articles of manufacture in accordance with various embodiments for providing a particular level of access to one or more items in response to determining automatically which of a plurality of users detected in the proximate vicinity of the computing device10* has primary control of the computing device10*. In particular, the computing device10* may be endowed with logic that is designed to, among other things, detect the presence of a plurality of users in the proximate vicinity of the computing device10*, determine which of the plurality of users detected in the proximate vicinity of a computing device10* has primary control of the computing device10*, and provide a particular level of access, via the computing device10*, to one or more items, the particular level of access to be provided to the one or more items being in response, at least in part, to determining which of the plurality of users detected in the proximate vicinity of the computing device10* has primary control of the computing device10*. As will be further described herein, in various embodiments, the determination as to which of the plurality of users detected in the proximate vicinity of the computing device10* has “primary control” of the computing device10* may be based on data provided by one or more sensors120(seeFIG. 3e) that may be included with the computing device10*.

Turning briefly toFIGS. 3aand3b,FIGS. 3aand3bare two block diagrams representing two different implementations of the computing device10* ofFIG. 1illustrated inFIG. 3aas computing device10′ and inFIG. 3bas computing device10″. In particular, and as will be further described herein,FIG. 3aillustrates a computing device10′ that is the “hardwired” or “hard” implementation of the computing device10* ofFIG. 1in which certain logic modules including a primary control determining module102′, an access providing module104′, and an alert generating module106′ are implemented using purely hardware or circuitry components (e.g., application specific integrated circuit or ASIC). In contrast,FIG. 3billustrates a computing device10″ that is the “soft” implementation of the computing device10* ofFIG. 1in which certain logic modules including a primary control determining module102″, an access providing module104″, and an alert generating module106″ are implemented using electronic circuitry such as one or more processors (e.g., microprocessors, controllers, etc.) executing one or more programming instructions (e.g., software).

For purposes of the following, “*” represents a wildcard. Thus, references in the following to “computing device10*” may be in reference to the computing device10′ ofFIG. 3aor to the computing device10″ ofFIG. 3bunless indicated otherwise. It should be noted that the two implementations of the computing device10* ofFIG. 1illustrated inFIGS. 3aand3bare two extreme or opposite versions/implementations of the computing device10* ofFIG. 1in which certain logic modules (e.g., the primary control determining module102*, the access providing module104*, and the alert generating module106*) are implemented using purely “hardware solutions” (e.g., implemented using circuitry such as ASIC) as illustrated inFIG. 3a, or using purely “software solutions” (e.g., implemented using software executed by hardware such as one or more processors) as illustrated inFIG. 3b. That is, those having ordinary skill in the art will recognize that the computing device10* or at least the logic modules (e.g., the primary control determining module102*, the access providing module104*, and the alert generating module106*) illustrated inFIGS. 3aand3b,3c, and3dmay be implemented using essentially any combination of hardware and software solutions. Since, there are many ways of combining hardware, software, and/or firmware in order to implement the various logic modules (e.g., the primary control determining module102*, the access providing module104*, and the alert generating module106*), only the two extreme implementations illustrated inFIGS. 3aand3b(e.g., the purely hardware solution as illustrated inFIG. 3aand the software solution ofFIG. 3b) are illustrated here. It should be noted here that with respect to the “soft” implementation illustrated inFIG. 3b, hardware such as one or more processors116are still needed in order to execute the software. Further details related to the two implementations of computing device10* illustrated inFIGS. 3aand3bwill be provided in greater detail below.

FIGS. 2ato2dillustrate various exemplary environments in which a plurality of users20* may be detected in the proximate vicinity of the computing device10*. Referring particularly now toFIG. 2aillustrating an exemplary environment200in which a plurality of users20a,20b, and20care gathered around the computing device10* ofFIG. 1in order to jointly use/access the computing device10*. In some instances, the plurality of users20a,20b, and20c, may have gathered around the computing device10* even before the computing device10* was initially powered-on or before the computing device10* was awaken from a low power (e.g., sleep mode) state. For these situations, upon being awaken from a sleep or off-mode, the computing device10* may be designed to automatically activate one or more sensors120(e.g., one or more visual sensors124, one or more audio sensors124, and/or one or more movement sensors122) in order to detect presence of one or more users20* in the proximate vicinity of the computing device10*.

Various techniques may be employed in order to detect presence of users20* in the proximate vicinity of the computing device10*. For example, in some cases, a facial recognition system or software in combination with visual data provided by one or more visual sensors124(e.g., image capturing devices such as webcams and/or digital cameras) may be employed in order to detect whether the faces of one or more users20* are in the proximate vicinity of the computing device10*. Alternatively or additionally, a voice recognition system or software in combination with audio data provided by one or more audio sensors126(e.g., microphones) may be employed in order to detect whether the voices of one or more users20* are detected to have originated from the proximate vicinity of the computing device10*. In still other cases, movement data provided by one or more movement sensors122may additionally or alternatively be used in order to detect whether the computing device10* is exhibiting one or more movements (e.g., a heart or pulse rate) that is determined to be associated with one or more users20*(e.g., detection of such signature movements may at least infer that the computing device10* is in physical contact with the one or more users20*). As alluded to above, in some cases, data from a variety of sensors120(e.g., movement sensors122, visual sensors124and/or audio sensors126) may be employed in order to determine whether one or more users20* are in the proximate vicinity of the computing device10*.

If the computing device10*, or the logic endowed with the computing device10*, determines that a plurality of users20* are in the proximate vicinity of the computing device10*, then that computing device10* may be designed to determine which of the plurality of users20* determined to be in the proximate vicinity of the computing device10* has primary control of the computing device10*. In some embodiments, such a determination may be automatically executed whenever the computing device10*(or its endowed logic) detects that there are a plurality of users20* in the proximate vicinity of the computing device10*. In some alternative embodiments, and as will be described below, the determination as to which of a plurality of users20* detected in the proximate vicinity of the computing device10* has primary control of the computing device10* may be automatically done whenever a user20*(e.g., a primary user or a secondary user having inferior access rights than the primary user) is detected relinquishing primary control of the computing device10*. In various embodiments, the “proximate vicinity” of the computing device10* may be the immediate area surrounding the computing device10* from which a user20* may access (e.g., hear, see, use, manipulate, modify, and so forth) one or more items (e.g., electronic files or documents, software applications, audio or image files, passwords, and so forth) through the computing device10*.

As will be further described herein, the determination as to which users20* detected in the proximate vicinity of the computing device10* has primary control of the computing device10* may be accomplished in a number of different ways in various alternative embodiments. For example, in some embodiments, the determination as to which users20* detected in the proximate vicinity of the computing device10* has primary control of the computing device10* may involve at least initially detecting or determining the specific spatial locations of the plurality of users20* with respect to the computing device10*. In some cases, this may mean detecting the specific spatial locations of the faces or eyes of each of the plurality of the users20* with respect to the computing device10* or with respect to the specific orientation of the computing device10*. That is, typically those users20* detected as being on the backside or second side19(seeFIG. 1) of the computing device10* can be discounted as having primary control when determining which users20* has primary control of the computing device10* since users20* who are determined to be on the second side19of the computing device10* will have limited access at least to the display screen12. Thus, a strong inference may be made that those users20* detected as being on the second side19of the computing device108will not have primary control of the computing device10*.

In various embodiments, the determination of the specific spatial locations of the plurality of users20*(e.g., specific spatial locations of the faces or eyes of the plurality of users20*) may be based on visual data provided by one or more visual sensors124and/or based on audio data provided by one or more audio sensors126. By employing, for example, parallax techniques, and based on data provided by, for example, one or more visual sensors124(providing image data from different angles) the specific spatial locations of each of the plurality of users20* detected in the proximate vicinity of the computing device10* may be determined at least with respect to the computing device10*(e.g., determined relative to the specific spatial location of the computing device10*). In some embodiments, the computing device10* may employ multiple visual sensors124and/or multiple audio sensors126in order to more accurately determine the specific spatial locations of each of the detected users20*(e.g., parallax techniques for determining distances typically require a minimum of two different lines of sight) relative to the location of the computing device10*. Thus, more accurate results may be obtained by using data provided by multiple sensors120(e.g., multiple visual sensors124).

After the computing device10*(or at least the logic endowed with the computing device10*) determines the specific spatial locations of each of the plurality of users20* detected in the proximate vicinity of the computing device10*, a determination may be made by the computing device10* as to which of the detected users20* has primary control of the computing device10* based on the specific spatial locations of the plurality of users20*. In order to make such a determination, in some embodiments, the computing device10* may be designed to determine which user20* detected to be in the proximate vicinity of the computing device10* is actually nearest or closest to the computing device10*. More particularly, in some cases, the computing device10* maybe designed to determine which of the plurality of users20* is nearest to the first side18(or the display screen12) of the computing device10*. In various embodiments, those users20* determined to be nearest to the computing device10* or at least to the first side18of the computing device10* may be determined to have primary control of the computing device10*. In some embodiments, in order to determine which user20* has primary control of the computing device10*, the computing device10*(or at least the logic endowed with the computing device10*) may be additionally or alternatively designed to determine which of the plurality of users20* is or are spatially located principally on the side of the first side of the computing device10*. For these embodiments, the computing device10* may be designed to determine which of the plurality of users20*(e.g., determine which of the eyes or faces of the plurality of users20*) is or are located centered on the 1stside or spatially centered closest to the center17of the first side18of the computing device10*. For example, inFIG. 2a, user20bappears to be nearest to the center17of the first side18and would, therefore, be considered to have primary control of the computing device10*.

In some embodiments, in order to determine which of the plurality of users20* detected in the proximate vicinity of the computing device10* has primary control of the computing device10*, the computing device10* may be designed to detect whether the computing device is exhibiting one or more movements that at least substantially matches with one or more signature movements (e.g., heart or pulse rate) of one or more users20* detected as being in the proximate vicinity of the computing device10*. By making such a determination, an inference may be made that those users20*, whose signature movements appears to be exhibited by the computing device10*, may be in contact with the computing device10*, and therefore, has primary control of the computing device10*.

Note that in cases where multiple users20* are deemed to have primary control of the computing device10*, such as in the example scenario illustrated inFIG. 3fwhere two users20sand20tare located equal distance from the first side18of the computing device10*, the computing device10* may be designed to use tie-breaker rules in order to provide the proper level of access to the one or more items as will be described herein. For example, and as will be further described below, in some embodiments, if two or more users20* are determined to have primary control of the computing device10*(e.g., the faces of multiple users20* are detected to be equal distance from the first side18of the computing device10*), then the access to be provided to the one or more items will be based on the access rights of the user20* having the least or lowest access rights among the two or more users20* who were determined to have primary control of the computing device10*. In alternative embodiments, however, the access to be provided to the one or more items will be based on the access rights of the user20* having the highest access rights among the two or more users20* who were determined to have primary control of the computing device10*.

In addition to determining which of the plurality of users20* detected in the proximate vicinity of the computing device10* has primary control of the computing device10*, the computing device (or at least the logic endowed with the computing device10*) may be designed to determine the identities of the one or more users determined to have primary control of the computing device10*. That is, at a minimum, the computing device10* should be able to determine whether those users20* determined to have primary control of the computing device10* is or are primary users (e.g., users such as owners who have superior access rights to the computing device10* or to the content/applications that are available through the computing'device10*) or secondary users (e.g., users having access rights that are inferior to those of a primary user). Such a determination may be made prior to, during, or after determining which of the plurality of users20* detected in the proximate vicinity of the computing device10* has primary control of the computing device10*.

At this time, it should be noted that although only two groups of users (e.g., primary and second users) having two distinct levels of accessing rights thus far have been discussed for illustrative purposes and for ease of understanding, those having ordinary skill in the arts will recognize that users20* of the computing device10* could very well be classified into three or more groups of users having three or more distinct levels of accessing rights to the computing device10*(or to the content/applications accessed through the computing device10*). Thus, the general concepts that were described here although were directed to systems where only two levels of access rights exists, these concepts could be equally applicable to scenarios in which three or more groups of users having three or more distinct levels of accessing rights exists.

In some embodiments, the computing device10* rather than merely determining whether a particular user20* detected as having primary control of the computing device10* is a primary user or a secondary user, may determine the actual identity (e.g., legal name, username, and so forth) of the particular user20*. Such a determination may be made based on data provided by one or more sensors120(e.g., one or more movement sensors122, one or more visual sensors124, and/or one or more audio sensors126) and using, for example, facial or voice recognition application. Also, when one or more movement sensors122(e.g., accelerometers, inertia devices, gyroscopes, and so forth) are employed, the movement data provided by the one or more movement sensors122may be used in order to determine whether the computing device10* is exhibiting movements that at least substantially matches with the signature movements (e.g., heart or pulse rate) of one or more identifiable persons. If the computing device10* does indeed exhibit movements that match with the signature movements of a specific identifiable person then the identification of the user20* having primary control of the computing device10* may be made (although may not be conclusive since signature movements of each identifiable person may not be unique to that particular identifiable person).

After determining which user20* has primary control of the computing device10*, the computing device10* as alluded to earlier may be designed to provide a particular level of access, via the computing device, to one or more items, the particular level of access to be provided being in response, at least in part, to determining which of the plurality of users20* detected in the proximate vicinity of the computing device10* has primary control of the computing device10*. The type of access to be provided to the one or more items will depend on a number of factors including, for example, what types of items is access to be or not to be provided to, and the security preferences of the owner of the computing device10* or system/network administrators. At least three levels of access to the one or more items may be provided via the computing device10* in response to determining which of the plurality of users20* detected in the proximate vicinity of the computing device10* has primary control of the computing device10*. The three levels of access that could be provided to the one or more items are full access, partial access, and/or no access.

Further, depending on whether the one or more items are, for example, textual, image, or audio files, the access that may or may not be provided may be related to visual and/or audio access to the one or more items. In cases where the one or more items are, for example, one or more productivity documents (e.g., word processing documents, spreadsheet documents, and so forth), the access that is or is not to be provided may be the right to edit or not edit such documents (e.g., in other words providing the documents in read-only format, partially editable format, or fully editable format). In embodiments where the one or more items include one or more software applications, the access that may or may not be provided to the one or more items include access to one or more functionalities of the one or more software applications. A more detailed discussion related to the various types of access that may or may not be provided to the one or more items will be provided below with respect to the operations and processes to be described herein.

In some embodiments, the particular level of access to be provided to the one or more items may, in addition to being in response to determining which of the users20* has primary control of the computing device10*, may be in response to ascertaining that the one or more items are affiliated with one or more particular entities (e.g., persons, businesses, websites, and so forth). For example, suppose a primary user of a computing device10* wishes to conceal her relationship with a particular entity. In order to keep such a relationship confidential, the computing device10*(or the logic endowed with the computing device10*) may be designed to obfuscate any items that are ascertained to be affiliated with the particular entity whenever the computing device10* is in the primary control of, for example, a secondary user. Thus, when the computing device10* detects that a secondary user has primary control of the computing device10*, the computing device10* may seek out all items that are ascertained to be affiliated with the particular entity, and to restrict access to such items by hiding/disguising these items. Further, upon detecting that the primary control of the computing device10* has been returned to the primary user, greater access may be provided to the items ascertained to be affiliated with the particular entity. A more detailed discussion related to the above “ascertainment” discussion will be provided below with respect to the operations and processes to be described herein.

In some embodiments, the computing device10* in response to providing the particular level of access to the one or more items may generate an alert that indicates that the computing device10* has been reconfigured to provide the particular level of access to the one or more items. By generating such an alert, users20* may be notified to the change in the configuration of the computing device10*(e.g., to indicate that the computing device is in a “safe” or “secure” mode or to indicate that the computing device10* is in an “unrestricted” mode). Various types of alerts may be generated in various alternative embodiments including, for example, an audio alert (e.g., a ring, a buzz, or a voice with a vocal message), a particular vibration (e.g., the computing device10* generating a particular vibration), and/or visual alerts (e.g., a symbol displayed on a display screen12of the computing device10* or the background color of the display screen12changing to a pre-defined color).

Turning now toFIG. 2billustrating another exemplary environment202in which primary control of the computing device10* ofFIG. 1is being relinquished by a user20dby transferring the computing device10* to a plurality of users20eand20f. In various embodiments, user20dmay be a primary user or a secondary user of the computing device10*. Similarly, each of the users20eand20fmay be a primary user or a secondary user. In various embodiments, the computing device10* may be designed to detect that the primary control of the computing device10* is being relinquished by user20dbased on, for example, data provided by one or more sensors120(e.g., one or more movement sensors122, one or more visual sensors124, and/or one or more audio sensors126). In some embodiments, the computing devices10* may additionally or alternatively be designed to detect the presence of multiple users20eand20fin the proximate vicinity of the computing device10*.

The detection of the users20eand20fin the proximate vicinity of the computing device10* in some cases may be based on data provided by one or more sensors120(e.g., one or more movement sensors122, one or more visual sensors124, and/or one or more audio sensors126). After detecting the presence of multiple users20eand20fin the proximate vicinity of the computing device10*, the computing device10* may be designed to determine which of the multiple users20eand20fhas primary control of the computing device10*. In various embodiments, such a determination may be based on the spatial locations of the multiple users20eand20f(e.g., spatial locations of the faces or eyes of users20eand20f) relative to, for example, the specific orientation of the computing device10*(e.g., relative to the first side18of the computing device10*). For example, in some cases, the computing device10* may be designed to determine which of the users20eand20f(or the faces or eyes of the users20eand200detected in the proximate vicinity of the computing device10* is centered on the first side18of the computing device10* or centered nearest to the center17(e.g., nearest to center axis17a) of first side18of the computing device10*. Based on the accessing rights of the user (e.g., user20eor user20f) determined to have primary control of the computing device10*, a particular level of access may be provided to one or more items (e.g., electronic documents and/or software applications) via the computing device10*.

Referring now toFIG. 2cillustrating another exemplary environment204in which two users, user20gand user20ijoins a third user, user20hin accessing (e.g., viewing and/or listening to visual and/or audio output via display screen and/or speakers, and/or providing input via, for example touchscreen) the computing device10* ofFIG. 1. In various embodiments, user20hmay be a primary user or a secondary user of the computing device10*. Similarly, each of the users20gand20hmay be a primary user or a secondary user. In various embodiments, the computing device10* may be designed to detect the presence of multiple users20g,20h, and20iin the proximate vicinity of the computing device10*. The detection of the users20g,20h, and20iin the proximate vicinity of the computing device10* in some cases may be based on data provided by one or more sensors120(e.g., one or more movement sensors122, one or more visual sensors124, and/or one or more audio sensors126). After detecting the presence of multiple users20g,20h, and20iin the proximate vicinity of the computing device10*, the computing device10* may be designed to determine which of the multiple users20g,20h, and20ihas primary control of the computing device10*. In various embodiments, such a determination may be based on the spatial locations of the multiple users20g,20h, and20i(e.g., spatial locations of the faces or eyes of users20g,20h, and20i) relative to, for example, the specific orientation of the computing device10*(e.g., relative to the first side18of the computing device10*). For example, in some cases, the computing device10* may be designed to determine which of the users20g,20h, and20i(or the faces or eyes of the users20g,20h, and20i) detected in the proximate vicinity of the computing device10* is centered on the first side18of the computing device10* or centered nearest to the center17of first side18of the computing device10*(seeFIG. 1). Based on the accessing rights of the user (e.g., user20g, user20h, or user20i) determined to have primary control of the computing device10*, a particular level of access may be provided to one or more items (e.g., electronic documents and/or software applications) via the computing device10*.

Referring now toFIG. 2dillustrating another exemplary environment206in which two users, user20sand user20t, have joint primary control of the computing device10*. In various embodiments, each of the users20sand20tmay be a primary user or a secondary user. As before, the computing device10* may be designed to detect the presence of multiple users20sand20tin the proximate vicinity of the computing device10*. After detecting the presence of multiple users20sand20tin the proximate vicinity of the computing device10*, the computing device10* may be designed to determine which of the multiple users20sand20thas primary control of the computing device10*. In various embodiments, such a determination may be based on the spatial locations of each of the multiple users20sand20t(e.g., spatial locations of the faces or eyes of user20sand20t) relative to, for example, the specific orientation of the computing device10*(e.g., relative to the first side18of the computing device10*).

For example, in some cases, the computing device10* may be designed to determine which of the users20sand20t(or the faces or eyes of the users20sand20t) detected in the proximate vicinity of the computing device10* is centered on the first side18of the computing device10* or centered nearest to the center17of first side18of the computing device10*(seeFIG. 1). If the computing device10*(or at least the logic endowed the computing device10*) determines that multiple users20sand20thave joint primary control of the computing device10*(e.g., users20sand20tare determined to be equal distance from the first side18or the center17of the first side18of the computing device10*), then the computing device10* may be designed to use one or more tie-breaker rules to determine/select the particular level of access that may be provided to one or more items via the computing device10*. For example, in some embodiments, the particular level of access to be provided to the one or more items via the computing device10* may be based on the access rights to the computing device10*(or to the one or more items) enjoyed by a particular user (e.g., user20sor user20t) from the plurality of users (e.g., user20sand user20t) determined to have primary control of the computing device10*, the access rights of the particular user being the basis for the particular level of access to be provided to the one or more items based, at least in part, on the particular user having the lowest (e.g., least) access rights to the one or more items among the plurality of users (e.g., user20sand user20t) determined to have primary control of the computing device10*. In some alternative embodiments, the particular level of access to be provided to the one or more items via the computing device10* may be based on the access rights to the computing device10*(or to the one or more items) enjoyed by a particular user (e.g., user20sor user20t) from the plurality of users (e.g., user20sand user20t) determined to have primary control of the computing device10*, the access rights of the particular user being the basis for the particular level of access to be provided to the one or more items based, at least in part, on the particular user having the highest (e.g., most) access rights to the one or more items among the plurality of users (e.g., user20sand user20t) determined to have primary control of the computing device10*.

Referring now toFIGS. 3aand3billustrating two embodiments (illustrated inFIG. 3aas computing device10′ and inFIG. 3bas computing device10″) of the computing device10* ofFIGS. 1,2a,2b,2c, and2d. Referring particularly now toFIG. 3a, which illustrates a computing device10′ that includes a primary control determining module102′, an access providing module104′, an alert generating module106′, a memory114(which may store one or more applications160), one or more processors116(e.g., microprocessors, controllers, etc.), one or more sensors120, user interface110(e.g., a display screen such as a touchscreen, a keypad, a mouse, a microphone, a speaker, and/or other user input/output devices), and a network interface112(e.g., network interface card or NIC).

In brief, the primary control determining module102′ ofFIG. 3ais a logic module that is designed to at least determine which of a plurality of users20* detected in proximate vicinity of a computing device10′ has primary control of the computing device10′. In contrast, the access providing module104′ is a logic module that is designed to provide a particular level of access, via the computing device10′, to one or more items, the particular level of access to be provided to the one or more items being in response; at least in part, to said determining which of the plurality of users20* detected in proximate vicinity of a computing device10′ has primary control of the computing device10′. In further contrast, the alert generating module106′ is a logic module that is designed to generate an alert to indicate that the particular level of access has been provided to the one or more items in response to said providing of the particular level of access to the one or more items. For this particular embodiment of the computing device10* ofFIGS. 1,2a,2b,2c, and2d, the three logic modules (e.g., the primary control determining module102′, the access providing module104′, and the alert generating module106′) are depicted inFIG. 3aas being implemented using purely circuitry components (e.g., hardware components) such as application specific integrated circuit or ASIC. Thus, the computing device10′ illustrated inFIG. 3amay be referred to as the “hardwired” or “hard” embodiment of the computing device10* ofFIGS. 1,3a,3b,3c, and3d.

Turning now toFIG. 3b, which illustrate a “soft” embodiment of the computing device10* ofFIGS. 1,2a,2b,2c, and2din the form of computing device10*. In particular,FIG. 3bshows a computing device10″ that has components similar or the same as the components of the computing device10′ ofFIG. 3a. For example, the computing device10″, similar to computing device10′ ofFIG. 3a, may comprise of a memory114(storing one or more applications160), one or more processors116, one or more sensors120, user interface110, and/or a network interface112. And similar to the computing device10′ ofFIG. 3a, the computing device10″ ofFIG. 3bmay include logic modules including a primary control determining module102″, an access providing module104″, and an alert generating module106″ that functionally correspond to and mirror the primary control determining module102′, the access providing module104′, and the alert generating module106′ of the computing device10′ ofFIG. 3a. However, unlike the logic modules (e.g., the primary control determining module102′, the access providing module104′, and the alert generating module106′) of the computing device10′ ofFIG. 3a, the logic modules (e.g., the primary control determining module102″, the access providing module104″, and the alert generating module106″) of the computing device10″ ofFIG. 3bare implemented by one or more processors116executing computer readable instructions152(e.g., software and/or firmware) that may be stored in the memory114.

Note that althoughFIG. 3aillustrates all of the logic modules (e.g., the primary control determining module102′, the access providing module104′, and the alert generating module106′) being implemented using purely hardware components such as ASIC, and althoughFIG. 3billustrates all of the logic modules (e.g., the primary control determining module102″, the access providing module104″, and the alert generating module106″) being implemented using one or more processors116executing computer readable instructions152, in other embodiments, such logic modules may be implemented using a combination of hardware components (e.g., ASIC) and software components in the form of computer readable instructions152that may be executed using one or more processors116(or other types of circuitry such as field programmable gate arrays or FPGAs). For example, in some embodiments, at least one of the logic modules (e.g., primary control determining module102′) may be implemented using specially designed circuitry (e.g., ASIC) while a second logic module (e.g., access providing module104″) may be implemented using a processor116(or other types of programmable circuitry such as FPGA) executing computer readable instructions152(e.g., software and/or firmware).

In various embodiments, the memory114of the computing device10′ ofFIG. 3aand the computing device10″ ofFIG. 3bmay comprise of one or more of mass storage device, read-only memory (ROM), programmable read-only memory (PROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), cache memory such as random access memory (RAM), flash memory, synchronous random access memory (SRAM), dynamic random access memory (DRAM), and/or other types of memory devices. In various embodiments, the one or more applications160stored in memory114ofFIGS. 3aand3bmay include, for example, an operating system (OS)162, one or more productivity applications164such as a word processing application or a spreadsheet application, one or more communication applications166such as an email or IM application, one or more personal information manager applications168(e.g., Microsoft Outlook), one or more facial recognition applications170, one or more voice recognition applications172, and/or one or more iris scanning applications174.

Turning now toFIG. 3cillustrating a particular implementation of the primary control determining module102*(e.g., the primary control determining module102′ or the primary control determining module102″) ofFIGS. 3aand3b. As illustrated, the primary control determining module102* may include one or more sub-logic modules in various alternative implementations. For example, in various implementations, the primary control determining module102* may include a user detecting module202that may further comprise of a user relinquishment detecting module203(which may further include a movement detecting module204, a visual cue detecting module205, and/or an audio cue detecting module206), a user visual detecting module208, and/or user audible detecting module209. In some embodiments, the primary control determining module102* may also or alternatively include a user spatial location detecting module210that further comprises a nearest user detecting module211(which may include a visual nearest user detecting module212and/or an audible nearest user detecting module213) and/or a centered detecting module214. In some cases, the primary control determining module102* may additionally or alternatively include a movement detecting module216. Specific details related to the primary control determining module102* as well as the above-described sub-modules of the primary control determining module102* will be provided below with respect to the operations and processes to be described herein.

Referring now toFIG. 3dillustrating a particular implementation of the access providing module104*(e.g., the access providing module104′ or the access providing module104″) ofFIGS. 3aand3b. As illustrated, the access providing module104* may include one or more sub-logic modules in various alternative implementations. For example, in various implementations, the access providing module104* may include a viewing access providing module230that may additionally include a visual hiding module232(which may further include a visual representation replacing module234) and/or a visual representation providing module236(which may further include a locum tenentes replacing module238). In some implementations, the access providing module104* may additionally or alternatively include an audio access providing module240that includes an audio hiding module242(which may further include an audio representation replacing module244) and/or an audio representation providing module246(which may further include a locum tenentes replacing module248). In the same or different implementations, the access providing module104* may include an editable format presenting module250, a non-editable format presenting module252, a functional format presenting module254, and/or an entity affiliation ascertaining module256. Specific details related to the access providing module104* as well as the above-described sub-modules of the access providing module104* will be provided below with respect to the operations and processes to be described herein.

FIG. 3eillustrates a particular implementation of the one or more sensors120that may be included with the computing device10*(e.g., the computing device10′ ofFIG. 3aor the computing device10″ ofFIG. 3b) ofFIGS. 1,2a,2b,2c, and2d. As illustrated, the one or more sensors120that may be included with the computing device10* may include one or more movement sensors122(e.g., one or more accelerometers, inertia sensors, and/or gyro sensors), one or more visual sensors124(e.g., a web cam, a digital camera, an infrared camera, and/or other image capturing devices), and/or one or more audio sensors126(e.g., microphones).

Referring toFIG. 3fillustrating a particular implementation of the alert generating module106*(e.g., the alert generating module106′ or the alert generating module106″) ofFIGS. 3aand3b. As further illustrated inFIG. 3f, the alert generating module106* may include a sound generating module280, a vibration generating module282, and/or a visual alert generating module284. Specific details related to the alert generating module106* as well as the above-described sub-modules of the alert generating module106* will be provided below with respect to the operations and processes to be described herein.

A more detailed discussion related to the computing device10* ofFIGS. 1,2a,2b,2c, and2d(e.g., the computing device10′ ofFIG. 3aor the computing device10″ ofFIG. 3b) will now be provided with respect to the processes and operations to be described herein.FIG. 4illustrates an operational flow400representing example operations for, among other things, providing a particular level of access, via the computing device10*, to one or more items (e.g., software applications, electronic documents including productivity documents, audio or image files, electronic messages including emails and voice mails, passwords, so forth), the particular level of access to be provided to the one or more items being in response, at least in part, to determining which of a plurality of users detected in the proximate vicinity of the computing device10* has primary control of the computing device10*. InFIG. 4and in the following figures that include various examples of operational flows, discussions and explanations will be provided with respect to the exemplary environment100described above and as illustrated inFIG. 1and/or with respect to other examples (e.g., as provided inFIGS. 1,2a,2b,2c,2d,3a,3b,3c,3d,3e, and3f) and contexts. However, it should be understood that the operational flows may be executed in a number of other environments and contexts, and/or in modified versions ofFIGS. 1,2a,2b,2c,2d,3a,3b,3c,3d,3e, and3f. Also, although the various operational flows are presented in the sequence(s) illustrated, it should be understood that the various operations may be performed in other orders other than those which are illustrated, or may be performed concurrently.

Further, inFIG. 4and in the figures to follow thereafter, various operations may be depicted in a box-within-a-box manner. Such depictions may indicate that an operation in an internal box may comprise an optional example embodiment of the operational step illustrated in one or more external boxes. However, it should be understood that internal box operations may be viewed as independent operations separate from any associated external boxes and may be performed in any sequence with respect to all other illustrated operations, or may be performed concurrently. Still further, these operations illustrated inFIG. 4as well as the other operations to be described herein are performed by at least one or more of a machine, an article of manufacture, and/or a composition of matter unless indicated otherwise.

In any event, after a start operation, the operational flow400ofFIG. 4may move to a primary control determining operation402for determining which of a plurality of users detected in proximate vicinity of a computing device has primary control of the computing device. For instance, and as an illustration, the primary control determining module102*(e.g., the primary control determining module102′ ofFIG. 3aor the primary control determining module102″ ofFIG. 3b) of the computing device10* ofFIG. 1(e.g., the computing device10′ ofFIG. 3aor the computing device10″ ofFIG. 3b) determining which of a plurality of users20* detected in proximate vicinity of a computing device10* has primary control of the computing device10*. In various implementations, such an operation may be performed by at least one of a machine, article of manufacture, or composition of matter. Note that in various implementations, and as will be further described herein, a particular user20*(or a group of particular users20*) from a plurality of users20* detected in the proximate vicinity of a computing device10* may have “primary control” of the computing device10* when the user20* (or users20*) is located nearest or closest to the computing device10*, is situated in a particular location or locations with respect to the computing device10such as being located directly in “front” of the computing device10*, and/or is in physical contact with the computing device10*. For purposes of the following, and unless indicated otherwise, the phrase “proximate vicinity” may be in reference to the immediate area surrounding a computing device10* from which a user20* may directly interact (e.g., the immediate area surrounding a computing device10* from which a user20* may see/hear output generated by the computing device via display screen and/or speakers, and/or from which the user20* can provide direct input to the computing device10* via, touch screen, keyboard, or microphone) with the computing device10*.

In addition to the primary determining operation402, operational flow400may also include an access providing operation404for providing a particular level of access, via the computing device, to one or more items, the particular level of access to be provided to the one or more items being in response, at least in part, to said determining as further illustrated inFIG. 4. For instance, the access providing module104*(e.g., access providing module104′ ofFIG. 3aor access providing module104″ ofFIG. 3b) of the computing device10* ofFIG. 1(e.g., the computing device10′ ofFIG. 3aor the computing device10″ ofFIG. 3b) providing a particular level of access, via the computing device10*, to one or more items (e.g, applications, documents, image or audio files, passwords, and so forth), the particular level of access (e.g., full, partial, or no access to the one or more items) to be provided to the one or more items being in response, at least in part, to said determining which of the plurality of users20* detected in the proximate vicinity of the computing device10* has primary control of the computing device10*.

The types of access to be or not to be provided to the one or more items may, in some instances, depend on the type of items are the access being provided to. For example, if the one or more items that the particular level of access is provided to are one or more software applications, then providing access to such items may involve allowing (or not allowing) use of one or more functionalities associated with such items, which may or may not have been previously available for use prior to the determination that the computing device10* was in the primary control of a particular user20*. For example, if the one or more items include a productivity application such as a word processing application, then providing a particular level of access to such an application may involve enabling (or disabling) one or more functionalities such as editing functions of the application or other functions such as a saving function, which may or may not have been available prior to determining which of the plurality of users20* detected in the proximate vicinity of the computing device10* had primary control of the computing device10*.

If, on the other hand, the one or more items that the particular level of access is provided to includes a messaging application such as an email application then the particular level of access to be provided may be related to a sending or saving functionality. In contrast, if the one or more items include one or more electronic documents or files such as, for example, productivity documents including word processing documents, image or audio files, and electronic messages (emails or voicemails) then the particular level of access that may be provided to such items may be related to editorial access to such items and/or general visual and/or audio accessibility to view/listen to such items. In any event, the various levels of access (which may include no access) to the various types of items that may be provided will be described in greater herein.

As will be described below, the primary control determining operation402and the access providing operation404ofFIG. 4may be executed in a variety of different ways in various alternative implementations.FIGS. 5a,5b,5c,5d, and5efor example, illustrate at least some of the alternative ways that the primary control determining operation402ofFIG. 4may be executed in various alternative implementations. For example, in various implementations, the primary control determining operation402ofFIG. 4may include an operation502for determining automatically which of the plurality of users detected in the proximate vicinity of the computing device has primary control of the computing device as depicted inFIG. 5a. For instance, the primary control determining module102*(e.g., the primary control determining module102′ ofFIG. 3aor the primary control determining module102″ ofFIG. 3b) including the user detecting module202(seeFIG. 3c) of the computing device10* ofFIG. 1(e.g., the computing device10′ ofFIG. 3aor the computing device10″ ofFIG. 3b) determining automatically (e.g., without interference from the users20*) which of the plurality of users20* detected by the user detecting module202as being in the proximate vicinity of the computing device10* has primary control of the computing device10*.

The operation502for automatically determining which of the plurality of users20* detected in the proximate vicinity of the computing device10* has primary control of the computing device10* may be implemented in a number of different ways in various alternative embodiments as further illustrated inFIG. 5a. For example, in some implementations, operation502may include an operation503for determining automatically without being prompted by the plurality of users which of the users has primary control of the computing device. For instance, the primary control determining module102* of the computing device10* ofFIG. 1(e.g., the computing device10′ ofFIG. 3aor the computing device10″ ofFIG. 3b) determining automatically without being prompted (or initiated) by any of the plurality of users20* which of the users20* detected in the proximate vicinity of the computing device10* has primary control of the computing device10*.

In the same or alternative implementations, operation502may include an operation504for determining automatically which of the plurality of users detected in the proximate vicinity of the computing device has primary control of the computing device in response to detecting that a user has relinquished primary control of the computing device. For instance, the primary control determining module102* including the user relinquishment detecting module203(seeFIG. 3c) of the computing device10* ofFIG. 1(e.g., the computing device10′ ofFIG. 3aor the computing device10″ ofFIG. 3b) determining automatically which of the plurality of users20* detected in the proximate vicinity of the computing device10* has primary control of the computing device10* in response to detecting by the user relinquishment detecting module203that a user20*(e.g., user20dinFIG. 2b) has relinquished primary control of the computing device10*. In various implementations, the detection of a user relinquishing primary control of the computing device10* may be as a result of analyzing data provided by one or more sensors120including one or more movement sensors122(e.g., sensors for detecting movements of the computing device10* such as an accelerometer), visual sensors124(e.g., digital or webcam), and/or one or more audio sensors126(e.g., microphones). Data collected by such sensors may provide visual, audio, and/or movement cues that at least infers that primary control over the computing device10* is or has been relinquished by a user20*(e.g., the computing device10* has been transferred from one user20* to another user20*).

As further illustrated inFIG. 5a, operation504may be implemented in a number of different ways in various alternative implementations. For example, in some implementations, operation504may include an operation505for determining automatically which of the plurality of users detected in the proximate vicinity of the computing device has primary control of the computing device in response to detecting that a primary user has relinquished primary control of the computing device, the primary user having superior access rights via the computing device to the one or more items than one or more secondary users of the computing device as further depicted inFIG. 5a. For instance, the primary control determining module102* including the user relinquishment detecting module203of the computing device10* ofFIG. 1determining automatically which of the plurality of users20* detected in the proximate vicinity of the computing device10* has primary control of the computing device10* in response to detecting by the user relinquishment detecting module203that a primary user has relinquished primary control (e.g., actual or constructive possession) of the computing device10*, the primary user having superior (greater) access rights via the computing device10* to the one or more items than one or more secondary users of the computing device10*.

A determination as to whether a particular user is a primary user or a secondary user may be made using a number of different techniques. For example, in some embodiments, a biometric system or software may be employed in order to automatically determine whether a particular user20* including a user20* detected as having primary control of the computing device10* is a primary user or a secondary user. Examples of such systems include, for example, facial recognition systems, eye or iris scanning systems, voice recognition systems, and so forth. Other techniques may additionally or alternatively be used in order to determine whether a particular user, such as the user having primary control over the computing device10*, is a primary user or a second user of the computing device10*. For example, well-known security techniques, such as password requirements, may be used in order to determine, for example, whether the user having primary control over the computing device10* is a primary user of the computing device10*(e.g., if the computing device10* determines that the appropriate password has not been entered than an inference may be made that the user having primary control over the computing device10* may not be a primary user, and instead, may be a secondary user).

In some implementations, operation504may include an operation506for determining automatically which of the plurality of users detected in the proximate vicinity of the computing device has primary control of the computing device in response to detecting that a secondary user has relinquished primary control of the computing device, the secondary user having inferior access rights via the computing device to the one or more items than one or more primary users of the computing device. For instance, the primary control determining module102* including the user relinquishment detecting module203of the computing device10* ofFIG. 1determining automatically which of the plurality of users20* detected in the proximate vicinity of the computing device10* has primary control of the computing device10* in response to detecting by the user relinquishment detecting module203that a secondary user has relinquished primary control of the computing device10*, the secondary user having inferior access rights via the computing device10* to the one or more items than one or more primary users of the computing device10*.

In some implementations, operation504may include an operation507for determining automatically which of the plurality of users detected in the proximate vicinity of the computing device has primary control of the computing device in response to detecting that a user has relinquished primary control of the computing device, the detection being based on one or more movements of the computing device, one or more visual cues, and/or one or more audio cues that when detected infers transfer of the computing device from the user. For instance, the primary control determining module102* including the user relinquishment detecting module203of the computing device10* ofFIG. 1determining automatically which of the plurality of users20* detected in the proximate vicinity of the computing device10* has primary control of the computing device10* in response to detecting by the user relinquishment detecting module203that a user20* has relinquished primary control of the computing device10*, the detection being based on one or more movements of the computing device10*(as detected by the movement detecting module204based on data provided by one or more movement sensors122), one or more visual cues (as detected by the visual cue detecting module205based on data provided by one or more visual sensors124), and/or one or more audio cues (as detected by the audio cue detecting module206based on data provided by one or more audio sensors126) that when detected infers transfer of the computing device10* from the user20*.

In some implementations, the operation502for determining automatically which of the plurality of users detected in the proximate vicinity of the computing device has primary control of the computing device may additionally or alternatively include an operation508for determining automatically which of the plurality of users detected in the proximate vicinity of the computing device has primary control of the computing device in response to detecting presence of the plurality of users in the proximate vicinity of the computing device as depicted inFIG. 5a. For instance, the primary control determining module102* including the user detecting module202of the computing device10* ofFIG. 1determining automatically which of the plurality of users20* detected in the proximate vicinity of the computing device10* has primary control of the computing device10* in response to detecting, by the user detecting module202, presence of the plurality of users20* in the proximate vicinity of the computing device10*.

Turning now toFIG. 5b, in some cases, the primary control determining operation402ofFIG. 4may include an operation509for detecting the plurality of users being in the proximate vicinity of the computing device based, at least in part, on data provided by one or more sensors. For instance, the user detecting module202of the computing device10* detecting the plurality of users20* being in the proximate vicinity of the computing device10* based, at least in part, on data provided by one or more sensors120. In some cases, the one or more sensors120may be integrated into the computing device10*.

As further illustrated inFIG. 5b, in various implementations operation509may include one or more operations including, for example, operation510for detecting the plurality of users being in the proximate vicinity of the computing device based, at least in part, on data provided by one or more movement sensors. For instance, the user detecting module202of the computing device10* detecting the plurality of users being in the proximate vicinity of the computing device10* based, at least in part, on data provided by one or more movement sensors122(e.g., one or more inertia sensors, accelerometers such as three-axis or 3D accelerometers, gyroscopes, and so forth). Such movement sensors122may be designed to detect a variety of movements that may be exhibited by the computing device10* including, for example, vibration or spatial movements as a result of being in contact with one or more users20*.

In the same or different implementations, operation509may include an operation511for detecting the plurality of users being in the proximate vicinity of the computing device based, at least in part, on data provided by one or more visual sensors. For instance, the user detecting module202of the computing device10* detecting the plurality of users20* being in the proximate vicinity of the computing device10* based, at least in part, on data provided by one or more visual sensors124(e.g., digital cameras, webcams, infrared cameras, and so forth).

In the same or different implementations, operation509may include an operation512for detecting the plurality of users being in the proximate vicinity of the computing device based, at least in part, on data provided by one or more audio sensors. For instance, the user detecting module202of the computing device10* detecting the plurality of users20* being in the proximate vicinity of the computing device10* based, at least in part, on data provided by one or more audio sensors126(e.g., one or more microphones).

In some cases, operation509may include an operation513for detecting the plurality of users being in the proximate vicinity of the computing device based, at least in part, on data provided by at least two or more combinations of a movement sensor, a visual sensor, and an audio sensor. For instance, the user detecting module202of the computing device10* detecting the plurality of users20* being in the proximate vicinity of the computing device10* based, at least in part, on data provided by at least two or more combinations of a movement sensor122, a visual sensor124, and an audio sensor126.

In the same or different implementations, operation509may include an operation514for detecting the plurality of users being within a distance from the computing device from which a user can at least be at least visually detected using the one or more sensors included with the computing device. For instance, the user detecting module202of the computing device10* detecting the plurality of users20* being within a distance from the computing device10* from which a user20* can at least be at least visually detected by, for example, the user visual detecting module208(seeFIG. 3c) using the one or more sensors120(e.g., one or more visual sensors124) included with the computing device10*.

As further illustrated inFIG. 5b, in some cases, operation514may further include an operation515for detecting the plurality of users being within a distance from the computing device from which a face of a user can be at least visually detected using the one or more sensors. For instance, the user detecting module202of the computing device10* detecting the plurality of users20being within a distance from the computing device10* from which a face of a user20* can be at least visually detected by, for example, the user visual detecting module208using the one or more sensors120(e.g., one or more visual sensors124). In some cases, in order to facilitate such an operation, the user visual detecting module208may comprise of a facial recognition system or software.

In some implementations, operation515may include an operation516for detecting the plurality of users being within a distance from the computing device from which a face of a user can be visually detected as not belonging to a primary user of the computing device. For instance, the user detecting module202of the computing device10* detecting the plurality of users20* being within a distance from the computing device10* from which a face of a user20can be visually detected by, for example, the user visual detecting module208, as not belonging to a primary user of the computing device10*. The primary user of the computing device10* may be any user having via the computing device10* superior access rights to one or more items than other users such as secondary users of the computing device10*. In some cases, a primary user of a computing device10* may be an actual or constructive owner of the computing device10*(a constructive owner is a person who has been assigned to or is somehow particularly associated with the computing device10* such that the person has superior access rights to the computing device10* than a third party).

As further illustrated inFIG. 5b, in some implementations, operation516may in turn include an operation517for detecting the plurality of users being within a distance from the computing device from which a face of a user can be visually detected as belonging to a third party. For instance, the user detecting module202of the computing device10* detecting the plurality of users20* being within a distance from the computing device10* from which a face of a user20* can be visually detected by, for example, the user visual detecting module208, as belonging to a third party (e.g., a secondary user having inferior access rights to the one or more items than a primary user of the computing device10*).

In some alternative implementations, operation515for detecting the plurality of users being within a distance-from the computing device from which a face of a user can be at least visually detected using the one or more sensors may include an operation518for detecting the plurality of users being within a distance from the computing device from which a face of a user can be visually detected as belonging to a primary user of the computing device. For instance, the user detecting module202of the computing device10* detecting the plurality of users20* being within a distance from the computing device10* from which a face of a user20* can be visually detected by, for example, the user visual detecting module208, as belonging to a primary user of the computing device10*.

Turning toFIG. 5c, in some cases, operation509for detecting the plurality of users being in the proximate vicinity of the computing device based, at least in part, on data provided by one or more sensors may include an operation519for detecting the plurality of users being within a distance from the computing device from which a user can at least be audibly detected using the one or more sensors included with the computing device. For instance, the user detecting module202of the computing device10* detecting the plurality of users20* being within a distance from the computing device10* from which a user20* can at least be audibly detected by, for example, the user audible detecting module209using the one or more sensors120included with the computing device10*.

As further illustrated inFIG. 5c, in various implementations, operation519may include one or more additional operations including, for example, an operation520for detecting the plurality of users being within a distance from the computing device from which a voice of a user can be audibly detected. For instance, the user detecting module202of the computing device10* detecting the plurality of users20* being within a distance from the computing device10* from which a voice of a user can be audibly detected by, for example, the user audible detecting module209. In some cases, the user audible detecting module209may employ a voice recognition system or software in order to facilitate such an operation.

In some implementations, operation520may include an operation521for detecting the plurality of users being within a distance from the computing device from which a voice of a user can be audibly detected as not belonging to a primary user of the computing device. For instance, the user detecting module202of the computing device10* detecting the plurality of users10* being within a distance from the computing device10* from which a voice of a user20* can be audibly detected by, for example, the user audible detecting module209as not belonging to a primary user of the computing device10*.

In some instances, operation521may include an operation522for detecting the plurality of users being within a distance from the computing device from which a voice of a user can be audibly detected as belonging to a third party. For instance, the user detecting module202of the computing device10* detecting the plurality of users10* being within a distance from the computing device10* from which a voice of a user can be audibly detected by, for example, the user audible detecting module209as belonging to a third party (e.g., a secondary user having inferior access rights to the one or more items than a primary user of the computing device10*).

In some implementations, operation520may include an operation523for detecting the plurality of users being within a distance from the computing device from which a voice of a user can be audibly detected as belonging to a primary user of the computing device. For instance, the user detecting module202of the computing device10* detecting the plurality of users10* being within a distance from the computing device10* from which a voice of a user20* can be audibly detected by, for example, the user audible detecting module209as belonging to a primary user (e.g., owner) of the computing device10*.

In various implementations, operation509for detecting the plurality of users being in the proximate vicinity of the computing device based, at least in part, on data provided by one or more sensors may include an operation524for detecting the plurality of users being in the proximate vicinity of the computing device by detecting presence of all users who are within a predefined distance from the computing device. For instance, the user detecting module202of the computing device10* detecting the plurality of users20* being in the proximate vicinity of the computing device10* by detecting presence of all users who are within a predefined distance (e.g., within three feet, four feet, five feet, or within some other distance) from the computing device10*.

Turning toFIG. 5d, the primary control determining operation402ofFIG. 4may employ a number of different techniques in order to determine which of the plurality of users20* detected in the proximate vicinity of the computing device10* has primary control of the computing device10*. For example, in various implementations, the primary control determining operation402may include an operation525for detecting spatial locations of the plurality of users with respect to the computing device. For instance, the user spatial location detecting module210(seeFIG. 3c) of the computing device10* detecting spatial locations of the plurality of users20* with respect to the computing device10*(e.g., detecting spatial locations of the plurality of users20* with respect to the side of the computing device10* that comprises a display screen12.

As further illustrated inFIG. 5d, operation525may include one or more additional operations in various alternative implementations. For example, in some cases, operation525may include an operation526for detecting which of the plurality of users is or are spatially nearest to the computing device. For instance, the nearest user detecting module211(seeFIG. 2c) of the computing device10* ofFIG. 3aorFIG. 3bdetecting which of the plurality of users20* is or are spatially nearest to the computing device10*. In some cases, those users20* determined to be spatially nearest to the computing device10* may at least be inferred as having primary control of the computing device10*.

In some cases operation526may include an operation527for detecting visually which of the plurality of users is or are spatially nearest to the computing device. For instance, the visual nearest user detecting module212(seeFIG. 3c) of the computing device10* detecting visually via, for example, one or more visual sensors124, which of the plurality of users20* is or are spatially nearest to the computing device10*.

In some cases, operation527may further include an operation528for detecting visually that one or more particular detected faces from a plurality of detected faces belonging to the plurality of users detected in the proximate vicinity of the computing device as being visually nearest to the computing device. For instance, the visual nearest user detecting module212of the computing device10* detecting visually that one or more particular detected faces from a plurality of detected faces belonging to the plurality of users20* detected in the proximate vicinity of the computing device10* as being visually nearest to the computing device10*. In other words, the visual nearest user detecting module212may detect which faces of the plurality of users20* detected in the proximate vicinity of the computing device10* as being visually nearest to the computing device10*.

In the same or different implementations, operation526for detecting which of the plurality of users is or are spatially nearest to the computing device may include an operation529for detecting audibly which of the plurality of users is or are audibly nearest to the computing device. For instance, the audible nearest user detecting module213(seeFIG. 3c) of the computing device10* detecting audibly via, for example, one or more audio sensors126, which of the plurality of users20* is or are audibly nearest to the computing device10*.

As further illustrated inFIG. 5d, operation529may further include in some implementations an operation530for detecting audibly that one or more particular detected voices from a plurality of detected voices associated with the plurality of users detected in the proximate vicinity of the computing device as being audibly nearest to the computing device. For instance, the audible nearest user detecting module213of the computing device10* detecting audibly that one or more particular detected voices from a plurality of detected voices associated with the plurality of users20* detected in the proximate vicinity of the computing device10* as being audibly nearest to the computing device10*. In other words, the audible nearest user detecting module213may detect which voices of the plurality of users20* detected in the proximate vicinity of the computing device10* as being audibly originating from a point or points nearest to the computing device10*.

In the same or different implementations, operation529may include an operation531for detecting visually and audibly which of the plurality of users is or are visually and audibly nearest to the computing device as further depicted inFIG. 5d. For instance, the visual nearest user detecting module212and the audible nearest user detecting module213of the computing device10* respectively detecting visually and audibly which of the plurality of users20* is or are visually and audibly nearest to the computing device10*. Those determined to be nearest to the computing device10* may be inferred as having primary control of the computing device10* in some implementations.

In the same or different implementations, operation525may additionally or alternatively include an operation532for detecting spatial locations of the plurality of the users relative to specific orientation of the computing device, the computing device having at least a first side and a second side opposite of the first side, the first side having at least a display screen as further illustrated inFIG. 5d. For instance, the user spatial location detecting module210of the computing device10* detecting spatial locations of the plurality of the users20relative to specific orientation of the computing device10*, the computing device10* having at least a first side18and a second side19opposite of the first side18(see, for example,FIG. 1), the first side18having at least a display screen12.

As further illustrated inFIG. 5d, in some implementations, operation532may include one or more additional operations including an operation533for detecting which of the plurality of users is or are spatially located principally on the side of the first side of the computing device. For instance, the user spatial location detecting module210of the computing device10* detecting which of the plurality of users20* is or are spatially located principally on the side of the first side18of the computing device10*.

In some cases, operation533may further include an operation534for detecting which of the users is spatially located centered on the first side or spatially centered closest to center of the first side. For instance; the centered detecting module214(seeFIG. 3c) of the computing device10* detecting which of the users20* is spatially located centered on the first side18or spatially centered closest to center17of the first side18.

In some implementations, operation534may include an operation535for detecting an eye or a pair of eyes that are centered or nearest to center of the first side of the computing device, the eye or the pair of eyes that are detected belonging to one of the plurality of users. For instance, the centered detecting module214(seeFIG. 3c) of the computing device10* detecting an eye or a pair of eyes (e.g., iris or a pair of irises) that are centered or nearest to center17of the first side18of the computing device10*, the eye or the pair of eyes that are detected belonging to one of the plurality of users20*.

In the same or different implementations, operation534may include an operation536for detecting a face that is centered or nearest to center of the first side of the computing device, the face that is detected belonging to one of the plurality of users. For instance, the centered detecting module214(seeFIG. 3c) of the computing device10* detecting a face that is centered or nearest to center17of the first side18of the computing device10*, the face that is detected belonging to one of the plurality of users20*.

In some implementations, in order to determine which user20* detected in the proximate vicinity of the computing device10* has primary control of the computing device10* the primary control determining operation402ofFIG. 4may include one or more operations for detecting movements of the computing device10*. For example, in some cases, the primary control determining operation402may include an operation537for detecting that the computing device is exhibiting one or more movements that at least substantially matches with one or more signature movements of a particular user from the plurality of users detected in the proximate vicinity of the computing device as illustrated inFIG. 5e. For instance, the movement detecting module216(seeFIG. 3c) of the computing device10* detecting that the computing device10* is exhibiting one or more movements that at least substantially matches with one or more signature movements (e.g., heart beat or pulse rate) of a particular user20* from the plurality of users20* detected in the proximate vicinity of the computing device10*. Such detected movements of the computing device10* may be as a result of the computing device10* being in contact with the particular user20*.

As further illustrated inFIG. 5e, operation537may, in some implementations, include an operation538for detecting that the computing device is exhibiting one or more movements that at least substantially matches with one or more signature movements of a primary user of the computing device, the primary user having greater access rights to the computing device than one or more secondary users of the computing device. For instance, the movement detecting module216of the computing device10* detecting that the computing device10* is exhibiting one or more movements that at least substantially matches with one or more signature movements of a primary user of the computing device10*, the primary user (e.g., owner of the computing device10*) having greater access rights to the computing device10* than one or more secondary users of the computing device10*.

In the same or different implementations, operation537may include an operation539for detecting that the computing device is exhibiting one or more movements that at least substantially matches with one or more signature movements of a secondary user of the computing device, the secondary user having inferior access rights to the computing device than one or more primary users of the computing device. For instance, the movement detecting module216of the computing device10* detecting that the computing device10* is exhibiting one or more movements that at least substantially matches with one or more signature movements of a secondary user of the computing device10*, the secondary user having inferior access rights to the computing device10* than one or more primary users of the computing device10*.

In the same or different implementations, primary control determining operation402ofFIG. 4may include an operation540for detecting that the computing device is exhibiting one or more movements that although is determined to be associated with a human does not match with signature movements of one or more primary users of the computing device, the one or more primary users having greater access rights to the computing device than one or more secondary users of the computing device as illustrated. For instance, the movement detecting module216of the computing device10* detecting that the computing device10* is exhibiting one or more movements that although is determined to be associated with a human (e.g., exhibiting movements such as vibration caused by the pulse or heart rate of a human user when the human user is in contact with the computing device10*) does not match with signature movements of one or more primary users of the computing device10*, the one or more primary users having greater access rights to the computing device10* than one or more secondary users of the computing device10*. Such an operation may be particularly relevant, for example, when there is only interest in determining whether a primary user of the computing device10* does or does not have primary control of the computing device10*. That is, in some implementations, there may only be two available levels of access to the one or more items, one level of access when a primary user has primary control of the computing device10* and a second level of access whenever the primary user does not have primary control of the computing device10*.

Referring back to the access providing operation404ofFIG. 4, the access providing operation404similar to the primary control determining operation402ofFIG. 4may be executed in a number of different ways in various alternative embodiments as illustrated inFIGS. 6a,6b,6c,6d,6e,6f,6g, and6h. For example, various levels of access as well as various types of access to the one or more items may be provided by the access process operation404in various alternative implementations. In some implementations, for example, the access providing operation404ofFIG. 4may include an operation641for providing unrestricted access, via the computing device, to the one or more items, the unrestricted access to be provided to the one or more items being in response, at least in part, to said determining as illustrated inFIG. 6a. For instance, the access providing module104* of the computing device10*(e.g., the computing device10′ ofFIG. 3aor the computing device10″ ofFIG. 3b) providing unrestricted access, via the computing device10*, to the one or more items (e.g., one or more applications, documents, image or audio files, textual or audio messages, passwords, and so forth), the unrestricted access to be provided to the one or more items being in response, at least in part, to said determining which of the plurality of users20* detected in the proximate vicinity of the computing device10* has primary control of the computing device10*.

In some implementations, the access providing operation404may include an operation642for providing partial access, via the computing device, to the one or more items, the limited access to be provided to the one or more items being in response, at least in part, to said determining. For instance, the access providing module104* of the computing device10* providing partial access (e.g., restricted access), via the computing device10*, to the one or more items, the limited access to be provided to the one or more items being in response, at least in part, to said determining which of the plurality of users20* detected in the proximate vicinity of the computing device10* has primary control of the computing device10*.

In some implementations, the access providing operation404may include an operation643for providing no access, via the computing device, to the one or more items, the no access to be provided to the one or more items being in response, at least in part, to said determining as further depicted inFIG. 6a. For instance, the access providing module104* of the computing device10* providing no access, via the computing device10*, to the one or more items, the no access to be provided to the one or more items being in response, at least in part, to said determining which of the plurality of users20* detected in the proximate vicinity of the computing device10* has primary control of the computing device10*.

In some implementations, the access providing operation404may additionally or alternatively include an operation644for providing a first level of access, via the computing device, to the one or more items, the first level of access to be provided to the one or more items being in response, at least in part, to said determining, and the first level of access to the one or more items being a lower level of access to the one or more items than a second level of access to the one or more items that was provided at least immediately prior to said determining. For instance, the access providing module104* of the computing device10* providing a first level of access, via the computing device10*, to the one or more items (e.g., productivity documents such as a word processing document), the first level of access to be provided to the one or more items being in response, at least in part, to said determining which of the plurality of users20* detected in the proximate vicinity of the computing device10* has primary control of the computing device10*, and the first level of access (e.g., read-only access) to the one or more items being a lower (diminished or reduced) level of access to the one or more items than a second level of access (e.g., full editorial access) to the one or more items that was provided via the computing device10* at least immediately prior to said determining.

In some implementations, the access providing operation404may alternatively include an operation645for providing a first level of access, via the computing device, to the one or more items, the first level of access to be provided to the one or more items being in response, at least in part, to said determining, and the first level of access to the one or more items being a higher level of access to the one or more items than a second level of access to the one or more items that was provided at least immediately prior to said determining. For instance, the access providing module104* of the computing device10* providing a first level of access, via the computing device10*, to the one or more items (e.g., image or audio files), the first level of access to be provided to the one or more items being in response, at least in part, to said determining which of the plurality of users20* detected in the proximate vicinity of the computing device10* has primary control of the computing device10*, and the first level of access (e.g., viewing or audio access) to the one or more items being a higher level of access to the one or more items than a second level of access (e.g., no viewing or audio access) to the one or more items that was provided at least immediately prior to said determining.

Referring toFIG. 6b, in various implementations, the access providing operation404ofFIG. 4may include an operation646for providing a particular level of viewing access, via the computing device, to the one or more items, the particular level of viewing access to be provided to the one or more items being in response, at least in part, to said determining. For instance, the viewing access providing module230(seeFIG. 3d) of the computing device10* providing a particular level of viewing access (e.g., full, partial, or no viewing access), via the computing device10*, to the one or more items (e.g., email message), the particular level of viewing access to be provided to the one or more items being in response, at least in part, to said determining which of the plurality of users20* detected in the proximate vicinity of the computing device10* has primary control of the computing device10*.

In some cases, and as illustrated inFIG. 6b, operation646may include an operation647for providing at least limited viewing access, via a user interface, to the one or more items, the at least limited viewing access to be provided to the one or more items being in response, at least in part, to said determining. For instance, the viewing access providing module230of the computing device10* providing at least limited viewing access, via a user interface110(e.g., a display screen), to the one or more items (e.g., email messages), the at least limited viewing access (e.g., display only subject headings of the messages) to be provided to the one or more items being in response, at least in part, to said determining which of the plurality of users20* detected in the proximate vicinity of the computing device10* has primary control of the computing device10*.

As further depicted inFIG. 6b, in various implementations, operation647may, in turn, include one or more additional operations including, for example, an operation648for providing a first level of viewing access, via the user interface, to the one or more items, the first level of viewing access to be provided to the one or more items being in response, at least in part, to said determining, and the first level of viewing access to be provided to the one or more items being a lower level of viewing access to the one or more items than a second level of viewing access to the one or more items that was provided at least immediately prior to said determining. For instance, the viewing access providing module230of the computing device10* providing a first level of viewing access, via the user interface110, to the one or more items (e.g., digital images), the first level of viewing access to be provided to the one or more items being in response, at least in part, to said determining which of the plurality of users20* detected in the proximate vicinity of the computing device10* has primary control of the computing device10*, and the first level of viewing access (e.g., no viewing access) to be provided to the one or more items being a lower level of viewing access to the one or more items than a second level of viewing access (e.g., full viewing access) to the one or more items that was provided at least immediately prior to said determining.

In some cases, operation647may include an operation649for hiding visually, via the user interface, at least one or more visual representations of the one or more items, the hiding visually of the at least one or more visual representations of the one or more items being in response, at least in part, to said determining. For instance, the visual hiding module232(seeFIG. 3d) of the computing device10* hiding visually (disguising or obfuscating visually), via the user interface110(e.g., a display screen such as a touchscreen), at least one or more visual representations (e.g., name of an electronic document or subject heading of an email message or the electronic document or email message itself) of the one or more items (e.g., electronic document or email message), the hiding visually of the at least one or more visual representations of the one or more items being in response, at least in part, to said determining which of the plurality of users20* detected in the proximate vicinity of the computing device10* has primary control of the computing device10*.

It is noteworthy to note at this time that many if not most items (e.g., electronic documents, image or audio files, software applications, and so forth) that may presented via a computing device10* are usually presented, at least initially, by presenting the name, tile, or other representations of the items in, for example, an index, a dropdown menu, or the desktop of a graphical user interface (GUI). Thus, in order to hide the existence of a particular item (e.g., a document or an application), one may only need to hide or disguise all representations of the particular item that may exist in the index, menu, or the desktop of the GUI. In order to disguise a representation of the particular item that may be included in, for example, an index, the representation (e.g., a name of a file) may be replaced with a substitute representation (e.g., an obfuscating locum tenens) to hide the existence of the particular item.

As further illustrated inFIG. 6b, operation649may, in turn, include an operation650for replacing visually, via the user interface, at least one or more visual representations of the one or more items with one or more obfuscating locum tenentes, the replacing visually of the at least one or more visual representations with the obfuscating locum tenentes being in response, at least in part, to said determining. For instance, the visual representation replacing module234(seeFIG. 3d) of the computing device10* replacing visually, via the user interface110, at least one or more visual representations (sender's name or subject heading) of the one or more items (e.g., email messages) with one or more obfuscating locum tenentes (e.g., fictional name or fictional subject heading), the replacing visually of the at least one or more visual representations with the obfuscating locum tenentes being in response, at least in part, to said determining.

Turning now toFIG. 6c, in some instances, operation646for providing a particular level of viewing access, via the computing device, to the one or more items, the particular level of viewing access to be provided to the one or more items being in response, at least in part, to said determining may include an operation651for providing at least greater viewing access, via a user interface, to the one or more items, the at least greater viewing access to be provided to the one or more items being in response, at least in part, to said determining. For instance, the viewing access providing module230of the computing device10* providing at least greater viewing access, via a user interface110, to the one or more items (e.g., an email message), the at least greater viewing access (e.g., partial or full viewing access) to be provided to the one or more items being in response, at least in part, to said determining which of the plurality of users20* detected in the proximate vicinity of the computing device10* has primary control of the computing device10*. For example, if the one or more items that the greater viewing access is to be provided to include an email message, then providing access to such an item such that only the subject heading of the email message is viewable (e.g., partial viewing access) or providing access such that the entire email message is viewable (e.g., full viewing access).

As further illustrated inFIG. 6c, operation651may include one or more additional operations in various alternative implementations. For example, in some implementations, operation651may include an operation652for providing unrestricted viewing access, via the user interface, to the one or more items, the unrestricted viewing access to be provided to the one or more items being in response, at least in part, to said determining. For instance, the viewing access providing module230of the computing device10* providing unrestricted viewing access, via the user interface110, to the one or more items, the unrestricted viewing access to be provided to the one or more items being in response, at least in part, to said determining.

In the same or different implementations, operation651may involve an operation653for providing a first level of viewing access, via the user interface, to the one or more items, the first level of viewing access to be provided to the one or more items being in response, at least in part, to said determining, and the first level of viewing access to be provided to the one or more items being a greater level of viewing access to the one or more items than a second level of viewing access provided to the one or more items at least immediately prior to said determining. For instance, the viewing access providing module230of the computing device10* providing a first level of viewing access, via the user interface110, to the one or more items, the first level of viewing access to be provided to the one or more items being in response, at least in part, to said determining, and the first level of viewing access to be provided to the one or more items being a greater level of viewing access to the one or more items than a second level of viewing access provided to the one or more items at least immediately prior to said determining.

In the same or different implementations, operation651may additionally or alternatively include an operation654for providing visually, via the user interface, at least one or more visual representations of the one or more items, the providing visually of the one or more visual representations being in response, at least in part, to said determining. For instance, the visual representation providing module236(seeFIG. 3d) of the computing device10* providing visually, via the user interface110, at least one or more visual representations (e.g., subject headings or titles) of the one or more items (e.g., productivity documents or text messages), the providing visually of the one or more visual representations being in response, at least in part, to said determining. Note that in some cases, the providing visually of the one or more visual representations of the one or more items may be achieved by simply providing visually the one or more items themselves. For example, if the one or more items include a text message or an instant message, then providing the one or more visual representations by visually presenting the text message or instant message themselves.

In some implementations, operation654may further include an operation655for providing visually, via the user interface, one or more of the visual representations of the one or more items, the one or more of the visual representations not being previously provided via the user interface at least immediately prior to said determining. For instance, the visual representation providing module236of the computing device10* providing visually, via the user interface110(e.g., a touch screen), one or more of the visual representations (e.g., subject heading or name of sender of an email message) of the one or more items, the one or more of the visual representations not being previously provided via the user interface110at least immediately prior to said determining which of the plurality of users20* detected in the proximate vicinity of the computing device10* has primary control of the computing device10*.

In some cases, operation655may, in turn, further include an operation656for replacing visually, via the user interface, one or more obfuscating locum tenentes of the one or more items with the one or more of the visual representations of the one or more items, the one or more obfuscating locum tenentes being available for presentation via the user interface at least immediately prior to said determining. For instance, the locum tenentes replacing module238(seeFIG. 3d) of the computing device10* replacing visually, via the user interface110, one or more obfuscating locum tenentes (e.g., obfuscating substitute representations) of the one or more items with the one or more of the true visual representations of the one or more items, the one or more obfuscating locum tenentes being available for presentation via the user interface110at least immediately prior to said determining. For example, replacing fake names of electronic documents that may be displayed through the user interface110(e.g., a touch screen) with the true or actual names of the electronic documents.

Referring now toFIG. 6d, in some implementations, the access providing operation404ofFIG. 4may include an operation657for providing a particular level of audio access, via the computing device, to the one or more items, the particular level of audio access to be provided to the one or more items being in response, at least in part, to said determining. For instance, the audio access providing module240(seeFIG. 3d) of the computing device10* providing a particular level of audio access (e.g., full, partial, or no audio access), via the computing device10*, to the one or more items, the particular level of audio access to be provided to the one or more items being in response, at least in part, to said determining which of the plurality of users20* detected in the proximate vicinity of the computing device10* has primary control of the computing device10*.

As further illustrated inFIG. 6d, in some implementations, operation657may include an operation658for providing at least limited audio access, via a user interface, to the one or more items, the at least limited audio access to be provided to the one or more items being in response, at least in part, to said determining. For instance, the audio access providing module240of the computing device10* providing at least limited audio access, via a user interface110, to the one or more items (e.g., a video file), the at least limited audio access to be provided to the one or more items being in response, at least in part, to said determining.

In various implementations, operation658may include one or more additional operations including, for example, an operation659for providing a first level of audio access, via the user interface, to the one or more items, the first level of audio access to be provided to the one or more items being in response, at least in part, to said determining, and the first level of audio access to be provided to the one or more items being a lower level of audio access to the one or more items than a second level of audio access to the one or more items that was provided at least immediately prior to said determining. For instance, the audio access providing module240of the computing device10* providing a first level of audio access, via the user interface110, to the one or more items, the first level of audio access to be provided to the one or more items being in response, at least in part, to said determining which of the plurality of users20* detected in the proximate vicinity of the computing device10* has primary control of the computing device10*, and the first level of audio access to be provided to the one or more items being a lower (e.g., diminished) level of audio access to the one or more items than a second level of audio access to the one or more items that was provided at least immediately prior to said determining.

In the same or different implementations, operation658may include an operation660for hiding audibly, via the user interface, at least one or more audio representations of the one or more items, the hiding audibly of the at least one or more audio representations of the one or more items being in response, at least in part, to said determining. For instance, the audio hiding module242(seeFIG. 3d) of the computing device10* hiding audibly, via the user interface110(e.g., one or more speakers), at least one or more audio representations of the one or more items (e.g., one or more voice messages), the hiding audibly of the at least one or more audio representations of the one or more items being in response, at least in part, to said determining. For example, if the one or more items include one or more voice messages then the one or more audio representations may be hidden by hiding all or some audio indications (e.g., a ring or a synthesized voice indicator) of existence of such messages.

In some cases, operation660may further include an operation661for replacing audibly, via the user interface, at least one or more audio representations of the one or more items with one or more obfuscating locum tenentes, the replacing audibly of the at least one or more audio representations with the one or more obfuscating locum tenentes being in response, at least in part, to said determining. For instance, the audio representation replacing module244(seeFIG. 3d) of the computing device10* replacing audibly, via the user interface110, at least one or more audio representations (e.g., true or actual audio representations) of the one or more items with one or more obfuscating locum tenentes, the replacing audibly of the at least one or more audio representations with the one or more obfuscating locum tenentes being in response, at least in part, to said determining. For example, if the one or more items include one or more voice messages, than replacing the true or actual voice of the voice messages with a substitute voice or altered version of the true or actual voice.

As illustrated inFIG. 6e, in some implementations, operation657for providing a particular level of audio access, via the computing device, to the one or more items, the particular level of audio access to be provided to the one or more items being in response, at least in part, to said determining may include an operation662for providing at least greater audio access, via a user interface, to the one or more items, the at least greater audio access to be provided to the one or more items being in response, at least in part, to said determining. For instance, the audio access providing module240of the computing device10* providing at least greater audio access, via a user interface110, to the one or more items than the audio access that was provided to the one or more items immediately prior to said determining, the at least greater audio access to be provided to the one or more items being in response, at least in part, to said determining.

As further illustrated inFIG. 6e, operation662may include one or more additional operations in various alternative implementations. For example, in some implementations, operation662may include an operation663for providing unrestricted audio access, via the user interface, to the one or more items, the unrestricted audio access to be provided to the one or more items being in response, at least in part, to said determining. For instance, the audio access providing module240of the computing device10* providing unrestricted audio access, via the user interface110, to the one or more items, the unrestricted audio access to be provided to the one or more items being in response, at least in part, to said determining which of the plurality of users20* detected in the proximate vicinity of the computing device10* has primary control of the computing device10*.

In the same or alternative implementations, operation662may include an operation664for providing a first level of audio access, via the user interface, to the one or more items, the first level of audio access to be provided to the one or more items being in response, at least in part, to said determining, and the first level of audio access to be provided to the one or more items being a lower level of audio access to the one or more items than a second level of audio access provided to the one or more items at least immediately prior to said determining. For instance, the audio access providing module240of the computing device10* providing a first level of audio access, via the user interface110, to the one or more items, the first level of audio access to be provided to the one or more items being in response, at least in part, to said determining which of the plurality of users20* detected in the proximate vicinity of the computing device10* has primary control of the computing device10*, and the first level of audio access to be provided to the one or more items being a lower (reduced or diminished) level of audio access to the one or more items than a second level of audio access provided to the one or more items at least immediately prior to said determining.

In the same or alternative implementations, operation662may include an operation665for providing audibly, via the user interface, one or more audio representations of the one or more items in response, at least in part, to said determining, the providing audibly of the one or more audio representations being in response, at least in part, to said determining. For instance, the audio representation providing module246(seeFIG. 3d) of the computing device10* providing audibly, via the user interface110, one or more audio representations of the one or more items in response, at least in part, to said determining, the providing audibly of the one or more audio representations being in response, at least in part, to said determining. The one or more audio representations of the one or more items that may be provided may come in a variety of different forms in various alternative implementations. For example, in cases where the one or more items are one or more voice messages, the one or more audio representations that may be provided may be the voice messages themselves or, alternatively, may merely be one or more audio pings (alerts) that indicate the existence of the voice messages.

In some cases, operation665may include an operation666for providing audibly, via the user interface, one or more of the audio representations of the one or more items, the one or more of the audio representations not being previously provided via the user interface at least immediately prior to said determining. For instance, the audio representation providing module246of the computing device10* providing audibly, via the user interface110, one or more of the audio representations of the one or more items, the one or more of the audio representations not being previously provided via the user interface110at least immediately prior to said determining.

As further illustrated inFIG. 6e, operation666in some instances may further include an operation667for replacing audibly, via the user interface, one or more obfuscating locum tenentes of the one or more items with the one or more of the audio representations of the one or more items, the one or more obfuscating locum tenentes being available for presentation via the user interface at least immediately prior to said determining. For instance, the locum tenentes replacing module248of the computing device10* replacing audibly, via the user interface110, one or more obfuscating locum tenentes (e.g., altered voice patterns) of the one or more items (e.g., voice message) with the one or more of the true audio representations (e.g., true voice pattern) of the one or more items, the one or more obfuscating locum tenentes being available for presentation via the user interface110at least immediately prior to said determining.

Referring to now toFIG. 6f, the access providing operation404ofFIG. 4in various implementations may include an operation668for presenting, via the computing device, the one or more items in one or more formats that allow one or more editorial actions to be available for execution on one or more parts of the one or more items, the one or more formats of the one or more items to be presented being in response, at least in part, to said determining. For instance, the editable format presenting module250(seeFIG. 3d) of the computing device10* presenting (e.g., displaying), via the computing device10*, the one or more items (e.g., word processing documents) in one or more formats that allow one or more editorial actions (e.g., modifications, addition, deletion, copying, etc.) to be available for execution on one or more parts of the one or more items, the one or more formats of the one or more items to be presented being in response, at least in part, to said determining which of the plurality of users20* detected in the proximate vicinity of the computing device10* has primary control of the computing device10*.

In some cases, operation668may include an operation669for presenting, via the computing device, the one or more items in one or more formats that allow one or more selective editorial actions from a plurality of available editorial actions to be available for execution on one or more parts of the one or more items while not allowing one or more editorial actions from the plurality of available editorial actions to be unavailable for execution on the one or more parts of the one or more items, the one or more formats of the one or more items to be presented being in response, at least in part, to said determining. For instance, the editable format presenting module250(seeFIG. 3d) of the computing device10* presenting, via the computing device10*, the one or more items (e.g., spreadsheet document) in one or more formats that allow one or more selective editorial actions (e.g., copying) from a plurality of available editorial actions to be available for execution on one or more parts of the one or more items while not allowing one or more editorial actions (e.g., adding or deleting) from the plurality of available editorial actions to be unavailable for execution on the one or more parts of the one or more items, the one or more formats of the one or more items to be presented being in response, at least in part, to said determining.

In some alternative implementations, operation668may alternatively include an operation670for presenting, via the computing device, the one or more items in one or more formats that allow all editorial actions to be available for execution on one or more parts of the one or more items, the one or more formats of the one or more items to be presented being in response, at least in part, to said determining. For instance, the editable format presenting module250(seeFIG. 3d) of the computing device10* presenting, via the computing device10*, the one or more items in one or more formats that allow all editorial actions to be available for execution on one or more parts of the one or more items, the one or more formats of the one or more items to be presented being in response, at least in part, to said determining.

In some implementations, the access providing operation404ofFIG. 4may alternatively include an operation671for presenting, via the computing device, the one or more items in one or more formats that does not allow any editorial actions to be executed on the one or more items, the one or more formats of the one or more items to be presented being in response, at least in part, to said determining. For instance, the non-editable format presenting module252(seeFIG. 3d) of the computing device10* presenting, via the computing device10*, the one or more items in one or more formats (e.g., read-only-format) that does not allow any editorial actions to be executed on the one or more items, the one or more formats of the one or more items to be presented being in response, at least in part, to said determining which of the plurality of users20* detected in the proximate vicinity of the computing device10* has primary control of the computing device10*.

As also illustrated inFIG. 6f, the access providing operation404ofFIG. 4may include in various implementations an operation672for presenting, via the computing device, the one or more items in one or more formats that allow one or more functionalities of the one or more items to be available for execution, the one or more formats of the one or more items to be presented being in response, at least in part, to said determining. For instance, the functional format presenting module254(seeFIG. 3d) of the computing device10* presenting, via the computing device10*, the one or more items (e.g., email applications) in one or more formats that allow one or more functionalities (e.g., send or transmit, save, and so forth) of the one or more items to be available for execution, the one or more formats of the one or more items to be presented being in response, at least in part, to said determining which of the plurality of users20* detected in the proximate vicinity of the computing device10* has primary control of the computing device10*.

In some implementations, operation672may further include an operation673for presenting, via the computing device, the one or more items in one or more formats that allow one or more selective functionalities from a plurality of functionalities available through the one or more items to be available for execution while not making available for execution one or more other functionalities from the plurality of functionalities, the one or more formats of the one or more items to be presented being in response, at least in part, to said determining. For instance, the functional format presenting module254(seeFIG. 3d) of the computing device10* presenting, via the computing device10*, the one or more items (e.g., email applications) in one or more formats that allow one or more selective functionalities (e.g., open an email) from a plurality of functionalities available through the one or more items to be available for execution while not making available for execution one or more other functionalities (e.g., sending an email) from the plurality of functionalities, the one or more formats of the one or more items to be presented being in response, at least in part, to said determining.

As further illustrated inFIG. 6f, in some alternative implementations, operation672may include an operation674for presenting, via the computing device, the one or more items in one or more formats that allow all functionalities available through the one or more items to be available for execution, the one or more formats of the one or more items to be presented being in response, at least in part, to said determining. For instance, the functional format presenting module254(seeFIG. 3d) of the computing device10* presenting, via the computing device10*, the one or more items (e.g., word processing application) in one or more formats that allow all functionalities available through the one or more items (e.g., all functionalities of the word processing application) to be available for execution, the one or more formats of the one or more items to be presented being in response, at least in part, to said determining.

Turning now toFIG. 6g, in various implementations, the access providing operation404ofFIG. 4may include an operation675for providing the particular level of access, via the computing device, to one or more electronic documents, the particular level of access to be provided to the one or more electronic documents being in response, at least in part, to said determining. For instance, the access providing module104* of the computing device10* providing the particular level of access, via the computing device10*, to one or more electronic documents (e.g., textual documents, image files, audio files, video files, and so forth), the particular level of access to be provided to the one or more electronic documents being in response, at least in part, to said determining which of the plurality of users20* detected in the proximate vicinity of the computing device10* has primary control of the computing device10*.

As further illustrated inFIG. 6g, in some implementations operation675may further include an operation676for providing the particular level of access, via the computing device, to one or more productivity documents, the particular level of access to be provided to the one or more productivity documents being in response, at least in part, to said determining. For instance, the access providing module104* of the computing device10* providing the particular level of access, via the computing device10*, to one or more productivity documents (e.g., word processing documents, spreadsheet documents, presentation documents, and so forth), the particular level of access to be provided to the one or more productivity documents being in response, at least in part, to said determining.

In the same or different implementations, operation675may include an operation677for providing the particular level of access, via the computing device, to one or more electronic messages, the particular level of access to be provided to the one or more electronic messages being in response, at least in part, to said determining. For instance, the access providing module104* of the computing device10* providing the particular level of access, via the computing device10*, to one or more electronic messages (e.g., email messages, voice messages, IM messages, and so forth), the particular level of access to be provided to the one or more electronic messages being in response, at least in part, to said determining.

In the same or different implementations, operation675may include an operation678for providing the particular level of access, via the computing device, to one or more image documents, the particular level of access to be provided to the one or more image documents being in response, at least in part, to said determining. For instance, the access providing module104* of the computing device10* providing the particular level of access, via the computing device10*, to one or more image documents (e.g., digital photos, video files, and so forth), the particular level of access to be provided to the one or more image documents being in response, at least in part, to said determining.

In the same or different implementations, operation675may include an operation679for providing the particular level of access, via the computing device, to one or more audio documents, the particular level of access to be provided to the one or more audio documents being in response, at least in part, to said determining. For instance, the access providing module104* of the computing device10* providing the particular level of access, via the computing device10*, to one or more audio documents (e.g., audio recordings, voice messages, and so forth), the particular level of access to be provided to the one or more audio documents being in response, at least in part, to said determining.

In some instances, the access providing operation404may include an operation680for providing the particular level of access, via the computing device, to one or more passwords, the particular level of access to be provided to the one or more passwords being in response, at least in part, to said determining. For instance, the access providing module104* of the computing device10* providing the particular level of access, via the computing device10*, to one or more passwords (e.g., passwords to open a document or use an application), the particular level of access to be provided to the one or more passwords being in response, at least in part, to said determining.

In some implementations, the access providing operation404may include an operation681for providing the particular level of access, via the computing device, to one or more applications, the particular level of access to be provided to the one or more applications being in response, at least in part, to said determining. For instance, the access providing module104* of the computing device10* providing the particular level of access, via the computing device10*, to one or more applications (e.g., software applications), the particular level of access to be provided to the one or more applications being in response, at least in part, to said determining.

In various implementations, operation681may include one or more additional operations including, for example, an operation682for providing the particular level of access, via the computing device, to one or more productivity applications, the particular level of access to be provided to the one or more productivity applications being in response, at least in part, to said determining. For instance, the access providing module104* of the computing device10* providing the particular level of access, via the computing device10*, to one or more productivity applications (e.g., word processing applications, spreadsheet applications, graphics applications, presentation applications, and so forth), the particular level of access to be provided to the one or more productivity applications being in response, at least in part, to said determining.

In the same or different implementations, operation681may additionally or alternatively include an operation683for providing the particular level of access, via the computing device, to one or more communication applications, the particular level of access to be provided to the one or more communication applications being in response, at least in part, to said determining. For instance, the access providing module104* of the computing device10* providing the particular level of access, via the computing device10*, to one or more communication applications (e.g., email application, text messaging application, instant messaging or IM application, and so forth), the particular level of access to be provided to the one or more communication applications being in response, at least in part, to said determining.

In the same or different implementations, operation681may additionally or alternatively include an operation684for providing the particular level of access, via the computing device, to one or more personal information manager applications, the particular level of access to be provided to the one or more personal information manager applications being in response, at least in part, to said determining. For instance, the access providing module104* of the computing device10* providing the particular level of access, via the computing device10*, to one or more personal information manager applications, the particular level of access to be provided to the one or more personal information manager applications being in response, at least in part, to said determining.

Turning now toFIG. 6h, in various implementations, the access providing operation404ofFIG. 4may include an operation685for providing a particular level of access, via the computing device, to one or more items that are ascertained to be affiliated with one or more particular entities, the particular level of access to be provided to the one or more items being in response, at least in part, to said determining and said ascertaining that the one or more items are affiliated with the one or more particular entities. For instance, the access providing module104* including the entity affiliation ascertaining module256(seeFIG. 3d) of the computing device10* providing a particular level of access, via the computing device10*, to one or more items that are ascertained by the entity affiliation ascertaining module256to be affiliated with one or more particular entities (e.g., third parties), the particular level of access to be provided to the one or more items being in response, at least in part, to said determining and said ascertaining that the one or more items are affiliated with the one or more particular entities.

As further illustrated inFIG. 6h, operation685may include one or more additional operations in various alternative implementations. For example, in some implementations, operation685may include an operation686for providing the particular level of access, via the computing device, to the one or more items that are ascertained to be affiliated with one or more particular entities, the one or more items being ascertained to include one or more names that matches with one or more names affiliated with the one or more particular entities. For instance, the access providing module104* including the entity affiliation ascertaining module256of the computing device10* providing the particular level of access, via the computing device10*, to the one or more items that are ascertained by the entity affiliation ascertaining module256to be affiliated with one or more particular entities, the one or more items being ascertained to include one or more names that matches with one or more names (e.g., usernames, legal names, business names, and so forth) affiliated with the one or more particular entities.

In the same or different implementations, operation685may additionally or alternatively include an operation687for providing the particular level of access, via the computing device, to the one or more items that are ascertained to be affiliated with one or more particular entities, the one or more items being ascertained to include one or more images that matches with one or more images affiliated with the one or more particular entities. For instance, the access providing module104* including the entity affiliation ascertaining module256of the computing device10* providing the particular level of access, via the computing device10*, to the one or more items that are ascertained by the entity affiliation ascertaining module256to be affiliated with one or more particular entities, the one or more items (e.g., digital photographs) being ascertained to include one or more images (e.g., facial images) that matches with one or more images affiliated with the one or more particular entities.

In the same or different implementations, operation685may additionally or alternatively include an operation688for providing the particular level of access, via the computing device, to the one or more items that are ascertained to be affiliated with one or more particular entities, the one or more items being ascertained to include one or more voice patterns that matches with one or more signature voice patterns affiliated with the one or more particular entities. For instance, the access providing module104* including the entity affiliation ascertaining module256of the computing device10* providing the particular level of access, via the computing device10*, to the one or more items (e.g. audio recordings or voice messages) that are ascertained by entity affiliation ascertaining module256to be affiliated with one or more particular entities, the one or more items being ascertained to include one or more voice patterns that matches with one or more signature voice patterns affiliated with the one or more particular entities.

In the same or different implementations, operation685may additionally or alternatively include an operation689for providing the particular level of access, via the computing device, to the one or more items that are ascertained to be affiliated with one or more particular entities, the one or more items being ascertained to include one or more words, phrases, and/or numbers that match with one or more words, phrases, and/or numbers affiliated with the one or more particular entities. For instance, the access providing module104* including the entity affiliation ascertaining module256of the computing device10* providing the particular level of access, via the computing device10*, to the one or more items (e.g., word processing documents) that are ascertained by the entity affiliation ascertaining module256to be affiliated with one or more particular entities, the one or more items being ascertained to include one or more words, phrases, and/or numbers that match with one or more words, phrases, and/or numbers affiliated with the one or more particular entities.

In some instances, the access providing operation404ofFIG. 4may additionally or alternatively include an operation690for providing the particular level of access, via the computing device, to the one or more items based on access rights to the one or more items of a particular user from a plurality of users determined to have primary control of the computing device, the access rights of the particular user being the basis for the particular level of access to be provided to the one or more items based, at least in part, on the particular user having the lowest access rights to the one or more items among the plurality of users determined to have primary control of the computing device. For instance, the access providing module104* of the computing device10* providing the particular level of access, via the computing device, to the one or more items based on access rights to the one or more items of a particular user from a plurality of users (e.g., users20sand20tofFIG. 2d) determined by the primary control determining module102* to have primary control of the computing device10*, the access rights of the particular user20* being the basis for the particular level of access to be provided to the one or more items based, at least in part, on the particular user20* having the lowest access rights to the one or more items among the plurality of users20* determined to have primary control of the computing device10*.

In other alternative implementations, however, the access providing operation404ofFIG. 4may include an operation691for providing the particular level of access, via the computing device, to the one or more items based on access rights to the one or more items of a particular user from a plurality of users determined to have primary control of the computing device, the access rights of the particular user being the basis for the particular level of access to be provided to the one or more items based, at least in part, on the particular user having the highest access rights to the one or more items among the plurality of users determined to have primary control of the computing device. For instance, the access providing module104* of the computing device10* providing the particular level of access, via the computing device, to the one or more items based on access rights to the one or more items of a particular user from a plurality of users (e.g., users20sand20tofFIG. 2d) determined by the primary control determining module102* to have primary control of the computing device20*, the access rights of the particular user20* being the basis for the particular level of access to be provided to the one or more items based, at least in part, on the particular user20* having the highest access rights to the one or more items among the plurality of users20* determined to have primary control of the computing device10*.

Turning now toFIG. 7illustrating another operational flow700. Operational flow700includes certain operations that mirror the operations included in operational flow400ofFIG. 4. These operations include a primary control determining operation702and an access providing operation704that corresponds to and mirror the primary control determining operation402and the access providing operation404, respectively, ofFIG. 4.

In addition, operational flow700may include an alert generating operation706for generating an alert to indicate that the particular level of access has been provided to the one or more items in response to said providing. For instance, the alert generating module106* of the computing device10*(e.g., the computing device10′ ofFIG. 3aor the computing device10″ ofFIG. 3b) generating an alert (e.g., a visual and/or audio alert), via user interface110(e.g., a display screen, a speaker, and/or vibration generator), to indicate that the particular level of access has been provided to the one or more items in response to said providing. By providing such an alert, users may be alerted that the computing device10* has been reconfigured as a result of detecting change in primary control of the computing device10*.

As further illustrated inFIG. 7, in some cases operation706may include one or more additional operations including, for example, an operation710for generating a particular sound to indicate that the particular level of access has been provided to the one or more items in response to said providing. For instance, the sound generating module280(seeFIG. 3f) of the computing device10generating (e.g., via user interface110, which may include one or more speakers) a particular sound to indicate that the particular level of access has been provided to the one or more items in response to providing the particular level of access to the one or more items.

In the same or different implementations, the alert generating operation706may include an operation712for generating a particular vibration to indicate that the particular level of access has been provided to the one or more items in response to said providing. For instance, the vibration generating module282(seeFIG. 3f) of the computing device10* generating (via the user interface110, which may include a vibration generator in the form of, for example, a miniature motor) a particular vibration to indicate that the particular level of access has been provided to the one or more items in response to providing the particular level of access to the one or more items.

In the same or different implementations, the alert generating operation706may include an operation714for generating a particular visual alert to indicate that the particular level of access has been provided to the one or more items in response to said providing. For instance, the visual alert generating module284(seeFIG. 3f) of the computing device10* generating (e.g., via the user interface110, which may include a display monitor such as a touch screen) a particular visual alert to indicate that the particular level of access has been provided to the one or more items in response to providing the particular level of access to the one or more items.

In addition, even if a specific number of an introduced claim recitation is explicitly recited, those skilled in the art will recognize that such recitation should typically be interpreted to mean at least the recited number (e.g., the bare recitation of “two recitations,” without other modifiers, typically means at least two recitations, or two or more recitations). Furthermore, in those instances where a convention analogous to “at least one of A, B, and C, etc.” is used, in general such a construction is intended in the sense one having skill in the art would understand the convention (e.g., “a system having at least one of A, B, and C” would include but not be limited to systems that have A alone, B alone, C alone, A and B together, A and C together, B and C together, and/or A, B, and C together, etc.).