Patent Publication Number: US-2013254874-A1

Title: Method for preventing information displayed on screen from being viewed without authorization and display device having anti-viewing function

Description:
BACKGROUND 
     1. Technical Field 
     Embodiments of the present disclosure relate generally to display devices, and particularly to a method for preventing information displayed on a screen of the display device from being viewed without authorization and a display device having an anti-viewing function. 
     2. Description of Related Art 
     Devices, such as desk computers, panel computers, and smart mobile terminals have a display function to display information. For example, e-mails and pages of the Internet can be displayed. When the devices are used to edit or display confidential or personal contents, the user may want to prevent shoulder surfing. Therefore, there is room for improvement in the art. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a schematic block diagram of an exemplary embodiment of a display device including an anti-viewing system. 
         FIG. 2  is a schematic diagram illustrating one example of an image capturing device is installed on a screen of the display device of  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 3  and  FIG. 4  are schematic diagrams illustrating two images captured by the image capturing device of  FIG. 2 . 
         FIG. 5  shows a schematic diagram of a predetermined mosaic display displayed on the screen. 
         FIG. 6  is a flowchart of one embodiment of a method for preventing information displayed on the screen of the display device from being viewed without authorization. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     The disclosure, including the accompanying drawings, is illustrated by way of example and not by way of limitation. It should be noted that references to “an” or “one” embodiment in this disclosure are not necessarily to the same embodiment, and such references mean “at least one”. 
       FIG. 1  is a schematic diagram of a display device  1  in accordance with an exemplary embodiment. The display device  1  includes an anti-viewing system  10 , a storage unit  11 , at least one processor  12 , a screen  13 , and an image capturing device  14 . In one embodiment, the display device  1  may be, for example, a desktop computer including a display, a portable computer, or other similar device.  FIG. 1  is one example of the display device  1 , and the display device  1  can include more or fewer components than those shown in the embodiment, or have a different configuration of the components. 
     Referring to  FIG. 2 , the image capturing device  14  may be installed above the screen  13 , and capture images in front of the screen  13 . The captured images are analyzed by the anti-viewing system  10 . 
     The anti-viewing system  10  may include a plurality of programs in the form of one or more computerized instructions stored in the storage unit  11  and executed by the at least one processor  12  to perform operations of the electronic device  1 . In the embodiment, the anti-viewing system  10  includes an image capturing module  101 , an image analysis module  102 , and a display control module  103 . In general, the word “module”, as used herein, refers to logic embodied in hardware or firmware, or to a collection of software instructions, written in a programming language, such as, Java, C, or assembly. One or more software instructions in the modules may be embedded in firmware, such as in an erasable programmable read only memory (EPROM). The modules described herein may be implemented as either software and/or hardware modules and may be stored in any type of non-transitory computer-readable medium or other storage device. Some non-limiting examples of non-transitory computer-readable medium include CDs, DVDs, BLU-RAY, flash memory, and hard disk drives. 
     The image capturing module  101  controls the image capturing device  14  to capture images in front of the screen  13  at regular intervals, such as every two or three seconds. 
     The image analysis module  102  analyzes each of the captured images using facial recognition technologies, and determines whether the screen  13  is being viewed by other unauthorized person(s) according to the analysis of the images. 
     In one embodiment, the image analysis module  102  detects how many faces are recognized from a current image captured by the image capturing device  14 . If more than one face is recognized as being included in the current image, the screen  13  is determined to be in the state of being overlooked or viewed by someone unauthorized. In one example, as shown in  FIG. 3 , three faces are recognized from the current image captured by the image capturing device  14 , and the screen  13  is determined to be in the state of being viewed by at least two unauthorized persons. 
     Additionally, if only one face is recognized from the current image, the image analysis module  102  compares the face with one or more preset and authorized facial images stored in the storage unit  11 . If none of the authorized facial images matches with the face in the current image, the screen  13  is also in the state of being viewed by at least one unauthorized person. The one or more authorized facial images may be predetermined by a user of the electronic device  1 , and stored in the storage unit  11 . 
     If at least one of the authorized facial images matches with the only face found in the current image, the image analysis module  102  further determines whether a background of the current image captured by the image capturing device  14  matches with a predetermined standard background. When the background of the current image does not match with the standard background, the screen  13  is regarded as being viewed by one or more unauthorized persons. In the embodiment, the image analysis module  102  may acquire the standard image (e.g., I 0  of  FIG. 4 ) from the storage unit  11 , and locate a background area of the standard image and a background area of the current image (e.g., I 1  of  FIG. 4 ). Then, the image analysis module  102  compares the background area of the current image with the background area of the standard image (standard background), to determine whether the background area of the current image matches with the background area of the standard image according to the comparison between the current image and the standard image. In one example as shown in  FIG. 4 , the background area of the current image I 1  has a region M that is different from the background area of the standard image I 0 , so that the screen  13  is regard as being viewed by someone unauthorized. 
     In another embodiment, the image analysis module  102  may locate all the faces found in the current image, and then compare each of the faces with the one or more authorized facial images. When one or more of the faces found in the image does not match with any of the one or more authorized facial images, the screen  13  is determined to be viewed by one or more unauthorized persons. If each of the faces matches with at least one of the one or more authorized facial images, the screen  13  is not in being viewed by any unauthorized person, that is, in a state of being properly viewed. Thus, the user can view the screen  13  with other people allowed by the user. 
     The display control module  103  controls the screen  13  to display a predetermined anti-viewing display to prevent information being displayed on the screen  13  from being viewed by the unauthorized person(s) when the screen  13  is determined to be viewed by any unauthorized person. For example, a mosaic display as shown in  FIG. 5  may be displayed on the screen  13 , when the screen  13  is being viewed by one or more unauthorized person. 
       FIG. 6  is a flowchart of one embodiment of a method for preventing the screen  13  of the display device  1  from being viewed without authorization. Depending on the embodiment, additional steps may be added, others removed, and the ordering of the steps may be changed. 
     In step S 01 , the image capturing module  101  captures images in front of the screen  13  at regular intervals using the image capturing device  14 . 
     In step S 02 , the image analysis module  102  analyzes each of the captured images using facial recognition technologies, and determines whether the screen  13  is in a state of being viewed by other unauthorized person(s) according to the analysis of the images. Details of analysis of the captured images are provided above. 
     In step S 03 , the display control module  103  displays a predetermined anti-viewing display (e.g., the mosaic display of  FIG. 5 ) on the screen  13  to prevent information being displayed on the screen  13  from being viewed by the unauthorized person(s), when the screen  13  is determined to be in the state of being viewed by any unauthorized person. 
     Although certain embodiments of the present disclosure have been specifically described, the present disclosure is not to be construed as being limited thereto. Various changes or modifications may be made to the present disclosure without departing from the scope and spirit of the present disclosure.