Abstract:
Systems and methods for secure electronic tickets are disclosed herein. A image content section on an electronic ticket displays image content, from one or more image content sources, that can be authenticated following one or more of several approaches disclosed herein. Creation and authentication of electronic tickets may be accomplished via aspects and users of the systems described herein.

Description:
COPYRIGHT NOTICE 
       [0001]    A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains material which is subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has no objection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent document or the patent disclosure, as it appears in the Patent and Trademark Office patent files or records, but otherwise reserves all copyright rights whatsoever. 
       BACKGROUND 
       [0002]    Purchases for goods and services are increasingly being made on the Internet. As such purchases increase, there are more opportunities for, and incentives to, commit fraud. 
         [0003]    Approaches to fraud prevention, with transactions where the goods or services themselves are directly exchanged for payment are known. 
         [0004]    However, when the payment is exchanged for a ticket for such good or service, the transactions become more complex. Further complexity exists when the person or entity responsible for exchanging the electronic ticket for the good or service has nothing to base their decision on except the electronic ticket itself (and not, for example, reference to a list or other source of confirmation). One example where such transactions (where nothing is to be relied upon except the electronic ticket) is for electronic tickets for transit goods and services (buying bus or train tickets). 
         [0005]    Several approaches do exist to attempt to ensure that a ticket is valid. However, occurrences of fraud still exist. As such there remains a need for systems and methods for secure electronic ticketing. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0006]    In a first aspect there is a secure electronic ticket, for the purchase of goods by a purchaser, displayable on a user display of a user computing device comprising a goods identification section further comprising one or more goods identifiers that identify a good purchased by the electronic ticket and a image display section configured to display image content that can be authenticated by an authenticator. 
         [0007]    The image content may be a video content being captured by a front camera of the user computing device or video content being captured by a front camera of the user computing device or a back camera of the user computing device. The image content may be received by the user computing device, for example from a video streaming server. 
         [0008]    The image display section may comprise the background of the entire electronic ticket and the goods identification section may comprise the foreground of the electronic ticket. The placement and size of the image display section may be changeable and may be changeable according to an algorithm, such algorithm may be implemented by an authentication server or by a mobile ticketing application operating on the user computing device. 
         [0009]    The good purchased by the electronic ticket may be a transit service and the authenticator may be an operator providing such transit service. 
         [0010]    The authentication may be confirming that the image display section is displaying video from the immediate surroundings of the user computing device. The authentication may be confirming that the image display section is displaying the video being received from the video streaming server. 
         [0011]    The authenticator may be an operator and the operator has an operator computing device displaying the video being received from the video streaming server and wherein authentication involves confirming that the video on the operator computing device matches the video on the user computing device. 
         [0012]    There is further a system for secure electronic ticketing for the purchase of a vendor&#39;s goods, via an electronic ticket, by a purchaser comprising an electronic ticketing application configured to allow the purchaser to purchase an electronic ticket for a vendor&#39;s goods, and an electronic ticket further comprising a goods identification section further comprising one or more goods identifiers that identify a good purchased by the electronic ticket and a image display section configured to display image content that can be authenticated by an authenticator. 
         [0013]    The image content may be the image content being captured by a front camera of the user computing device. The image content may be the image content being captured by a front camera of the user computing device or a back camera of the user computing device. 
         [0014]    The image content may be received by the user computing device. 
         [0015]    The system may further comprise a video streaming server configured to stream image content to be displayed in the image display section of the electronic ticket. 
         [0016]    The image display section may comprise the background of the entire electronic ticket and the goods identification section may comprise the foreground of the electronic ticket. The placement and size of the image display section may be changeable. The placement may be changed according to an algorithm. The algorithm may be implemented by an authentication server or by the mobile ticketing application. 
         [0017]    The good purchased by the electronic ticket is a transit trip and the authenticator is an operator providing such transit service. 
         [0018]    The authentication may be confirming that the image display section is displaying video from the immediate surroundings of the user computing device. The authentication may be confirming that the image display section is displaying the video being received from the video streaming server. 
         [0019]    The authenticator may be an operator and the system may further comprise an operator computing device displaying the video being received from the video streaming server and wherein authentication comprises confirming that the video on the operator computing device matches the video on the user computing device. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0020]    The invention is illustrated in the figures of the accompanying drawings which are meant to be exemplary and not limiting, in which like references are intended to refer to like or corresponding parts, and in which: 
           [0021]      FIG. 1  is a diagram of a system for secure electronic ticketing according to a non-limiting embodiment of the present invention; 
           [0022]      FIG. 2  is a diagram of an electronic ticket displayed on a user computing device screen displaying a user computing device application according to a non-limiting embodiment of the present invention; 
           [0023]      FIGS. 3A-3C  are diagrams of electronic tickets according to non-limiting embodiments of the present invention; and 
           [0024]      FIG. 4  is diagram of an operator computing device user display according to a non-limiting embodiment of the present invention. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
       [0025]      FIG. 1  is a diagram of system  10  for secure electronic ticketing according to a non-limiting embodiment of the present invention comprising server  12 , communication network  14 , user computing device (UCD)  16 , user/rider  18 , transit vehicle  20  further comprising door  22 , transit vehicle operator  24 , and operator computing device (OCD)  26 . 
         [0026]    System  10  allows for secure electronic ticketing—purchasing of goods or services where an electronic ticket is received in exchange for payment, the electronic ticket later being used to redeem or receive the goods or services. Although approaches to electronic ticketing exist, the systems described herein improve such systems by reducing the opportunity for fraudulent electronic tickets to be redeemed for the goods or services. In a similar fashion to regular/paper tickets, electronic tickets must be checked or authenticated as the purchaser is attempting to redeem the ticket (such as to get on the bus). 
         [0027]    As used herein, the term transit product or transit service shall refer to a good or service provided by a transit company. Typically such tickets would be for trips or rides, on transit vehicles  20  such as buses, subways, airplanes, boats, taxis and the like. 
         [0028]    Server  12  may be a image content server, transit operation server, authentication server, a combination thereof, or substantially any other server providing the functionality described herein. The above terms will be used interchangeably herein. 
         [0029]    Image content server  12  may provide image content, via communication network for example, to UCD  16 , to be displayed in image display section  206  in electronic ticket  200 . Image content server may also be referred to as a video streaming server. 
         [0030]    Transit operation server  12  may provide functionality required by UCDA  210  to facilitate the purchase of transit goods or services. For example, transit operation server may run a software program that maintains and communicates a schedule of transit goods or services that may be purchased by user  18  via UCDA  210  to obtain electronic ticket  200 . The ability to create and communicate an electronic ticket  200  to UCD  16  may be as known in the prior art, such as Trapeze&#39;s electronic ticketing application. 
         [0031]    Authentication server  12  may assist in authenticating electronic ticket  200 . Such authentication may be via one or more methods involving image content being displayed in video display  206 , as described herein. 
         [0032]    Communication network  14  may be substantially any public or private network, wired or wireless, and may be substantially comprised of one or more networks that may be able to facilitate communication between themselves. Communication network  14  may be one or more LANs, WANs and may be implemented using one or more protocols or underlying technologies. Many examples of communication networks are known in the art, and the present communication network  14  is not precluded from any of such provided they facilitate the functionality attributed to communication network  14  as described herein. 
         [0033]    UCD  16  may be any computing device that is used by a user/rider/purchaser  18  who wishes to purchase an electronic ticket and use it for a transit product. UCD  16  may have an application thereon, UCDA  210 , that facilitates the purchase of a ticket. Alternatively, UCD  16  may enable purchasing electronic ticket  200  via accessing a website using a browser on UCD  16 . Where electronic ticket  200  may be obtained or stored independently of UCDA  210 , it may have embedded information (such as executable computer instructions) that cause the functionality described herein. 
         [0034]    OCD  26  may be a computing device that is used by transit vehicle operator  24  or is otherwise used as part of the functionality of system  10  as described herein. Although contemplated as being used by a transit vehicle operator, OCD  26  may simply be located proximate to a transit vehicle (such as on or in it, or near a location where a rider may board transit vehicle  20 ). OCD  26  may also be known as an authentication computing device (ACD) where, for example, it may authenticate an electronic ticket with or without interaction by transit vehicle operation  24 . 
         [0035]    It will further be appreciated that the systems, and elements thereof, described herein (such as server  12 , UCD  16  and OCD  26 ) may be implemented using one or more computer apparatuses such as personal computers, laptops, smart phones, and the like. Each of those computer apparatuses may have one or more computer readable media (such as RAM, ROM, hard drives or the like, as would be known in the art but are not shown herein) that may store a plurality of programming instructions, said programming instructions executable by the computing apparatus (such as applications, including electronic ticketing application  210 ), such as by one or more processors, and able to communicate with the computer readable media including databases and tables as described herein. 
         [0036]    Transit vehicle operator  24  may be located inside transit vehicle  20  (such as a bus driver, that rider  18  sees upon entering through door  22 ), or may be located external to the transit vehicle  20  (such as a subway platform monitor). Although contemplated as being somewhat local to the transit vehicle  20 , transit vehicle operator  24  may also be remote therefrom, for example where automated machines allow access to transit vehicles  20 . 
         [0037]    In an exemplary electronic ticketing transaction, a rider  18  may purchase an electronic ticket  200 , using their UCD  16  and UCDA  210 , to purchase a ride on a bus. Some time later, the user arrives at the bus stop. When the bus arrives, user  18  boards and shows their electronic ticket  200  to the transit vehicle operator  24 . At that point, authentication of electronic ticket  200  may occur. 
       Authentication 
       [0038]    There may be substantially two diverging approaches to authentication of electronic ticket  200 : Operator-Independent and Server-Based. Such approaches will be described below and herein. 
         [0039]    Operator-Independent/Manual 
         [0040]    In Server-Independent/Manual authentication, electronic ticket  200  may be authenticated by an operator of transit vehicle  20 , another person that may be physically present when user  18  is about to, or is currently, using the transit product represented by electronic ticket  200  (either being an “authenticator”) or via rider  18  presenting electronic ticket  200  to a authentication device (which may be OCD  26 ). Such authentication may be accomplished without the authenticator relying on anything beyond themselves and/or their OCD  26  (for example not requiring OCD  26  to communicate with server  12  etc). 
         [0041]    Various embodiments of Operator-Independent authentication are considered, including:
       (a) authenticator looking at electronic ticket  200  and inspecting display section  206  to confirm that the image content in image display section  206  of UCD  16  is what was (or is being) captured by a front camera (not shown) of UCD  16 , a back camera (not shown) of UCD  16 , or a combination thereof, as described herein;   (b) authenticator looking at electronic ticket  200  and inspecting display section  206  to confirm that the image content in image display section  206  of UCD  16  (and/or characteristics thereof, such as location/size/colors of image display section  206  and whether it is still or video content) matches image content  404  on OCDA  400  and the characteristics it should have (as described in security parameters display  406  or as simply shown in UCD screen match  402 );   (c) ACD  26 , with or without interaction with transit vehicle operation  24 , interacts with UCD  16  so that ACD  26  can authenticate electronic ticket  200 . For example, ACD may take a picture of electronic ticket  200  and, among other comparisons that may be desired, compare the image content in image display section to its image content, or image content that ought to be present.       
 
         [0045]    Server-Based/Automated 
         [0046]    In Server-Based/Automated authentication, electronic ticket  200  may be authenticated by, or in conjunction with, a comparison to another image content source. Such comparison may be effected using UCD  16  (UCDA  210 ), server  12 , OCD  26 , or a combination thereof. 
         [0047]    Various embodiments of Server-Based authentication are considered, including:
       (a) server  12  may send image content to UCDA  210  for display in image display section  206 , while it sends the same, or relatable, image content to OCD  26 . When UCD  16  is presented to an operator having OCD  26 , the operator can confirm that the same, or related, image content is being displayed. Being “related” or “matching” in such a context may involve them being the same image (or video), a time lag, opposites being displayed (such as a green traffic light on one and a red traffic light on the other), or other approaches where an operator would know that the image display section  201  is showing the right image content.   (b) In a second embodiment, OCD  26  may be running an OCD application (OCDA) (not shown) that can be interacted with by transit vehicle operator  24  to enter characteristics of the image display section  206  of UCD  16 . Such characteristics may be sent by OCD  26  to server  12 , and server  12  may send a response indicating electronic ticket  200  has been authenticated. Characteristics may include whether the image content is still or moving, what it depicts, how large it is on UCDA  210  screen and where it is on UCDA  210  screen;       
 
         [0050]      FIG. 2  is a diagram of an electronic ticket  200  displayed on a user computing device screen (UCDS)  210  displaying a user computing device application (UCDA  212 ) according to a non-limiting embodiment of the present invention, the electronic ticket  200  comprising security features  202 , goods identification section  204 , and image display section  206 . 
         [0051]    UCDS  210  may be substantially any type of screen or user display on UCD  16 . UCDA  212  may be substantially any type of application being executed on UCD  16 , such as an application or a content being accessed by an application (such as a website being accessed by a browser). As shown in  FIG. 2 , UCDA  212  may occupy some portion of UCDS  210  when UCDA  212  is in the foreground, though it need not comprise the entire screen, as is known in the art. UCDA  212 , OCDA  400  and software executing on server  12  may, alone or in combination with one another, also be referred to as one or more mobile ticketing applications. 
         [0052]    Security features  202  may be one or more other techniques, that may be known in the art, to reduce the chances of fraudulent electronic tickets  200 . 
         [0053]    Image display section  206  may be a portion of the display of UCDA  212  being presented on UCDS  210 , and may be part of, or at least shown at the same time as, electronic ticket  200 . Image display section  206  may display videos or images, as described herein, that may originate from one or more cameras on UCD  16 , or from another image content source (such as server  12 ) and stored on, or streamed to UCD  16 . 
         [0054]    As shown in  FIGS. 3A-3C , image display section  206  may be one or more separate or attached areas (as in  FIG. 3C ) and may be located in one more areas of electronic ticket  200  (top in  3 A, bottom right in  3 B and in top left and bottom right in  3 C). Image display section  206  may be of different sizes as well. 
         [0055]    Changes to image display section  206  may be controlled by an algorithm to help reduce fraud and ensure that there are enough characteristics that can be authenticated (independently or together, simultaneously or separately). Such an algorithm may be stored on, and/or executed on, UCD  16 , server  12  or OCD  26 . 
         [0056]    In operation, when rider  18  wishes to redeem electronic ticket  200 , they will either activate it, or make it visible (so as to prepare it for authentication). At one of such times, or as otherwise appropriate, the appropriate image content and image display section  206  will be set in electronic ticket  200 . For example, either video or still image content will be selected, an image content source will be selected (front or back camera, stored video or image, video or image from server  12 , etc). Image display section  206  will also be established (location, size, etc) as described herein. 
         [0057]    In one embodiment, such an algorithm may be run on server  12  and server  12  may communicate to UCD  16  and OCD  26  that image display section  206  should be in the bottom right corner. The authenticator then knows to expect it to be in the bottom right and even if the content in the Image display section  206  is proper (say a picture taken by the front camera of UCD  16 , perhaps even showing the authenticator), the electronic ticket  200  is fraudulent. 
         [0058]    Good identification section  204  may identify the transit product that was purchased in obtaining the electronic ticket  200 . Good identification section  204  may comprise many details, such as dates, route or bus identifiers, seat numbers, number of zones, and other details. Good identification section  204  may be text form or may be other forms, such as computer readable forms like bar codes, QR codes, and the like. Good identification section  204  may be in one or more parts and may be overlayed overtop of image display section  206 , for example. 
         [0059]      FIG. 4  is diagram of an operator computing device  26  user display displaying operator computing device application  400  according to a non-limiting embodiment of the present invention, comprising image display section  404 , parameters display  406  and UCD screen match  402 . 
         [0060]    UCD screen match  402  may show the location and size that image display section  206  should be on UCD  16  for an electronic ticket  200  to be valid and authenticated. 
         [0061]    Image display section  404  may show the image (video or still, etc) that should be on UCD  16 , or should serve as a comparison, for an electronic ticket  200  to be valid and authenticated. 
         [0062]    Parameters display  406  may provide further information to authenticate electronic ticket  200 , such as security features  202 , or other aspects of the image content. 
         [0063]    It will be apparent to one of skill in the art that other configurations, hardware etc may be used in any of the foregoing embodiments of the products, methods, and systems of this invention. It will be understood that the specification is illustrative of the present invention and that other embodiments within the spirit and scope of the invention will suggest themselves to those skilled in the art. All references cited herein are incorporated by reference.