Patent Publication Number: US-2022229889-A1

Title: Robot gatekeeper for authentication prior to meeting attendance

Description:
FIELD 
     The following description relates to security. More particularly, the following description relates to authentication prior to meeting attendance using a robot gatekeeper. 
     BACKGROUND 
     Conventionally, secure meetings have involved human screeners. However, human screeners may have security limitations. 
     SUMMARY 
     In accordance with one or more below described examples, a method relating generally to attendee authentication is disclosed. In such a method, there is a robot gatekeeper having a multi-function printer with a memory to store program code including for character recognition and handwriting analysis. The program code is executed by a processor coupled to the memory to initiate operations. The operations include: instructing, by the robot gatekeeper, for placement of a hand for a palm vein scanner and placement of a badge for a badge reader; reading a badge with the badge reader to obtain first identification information; reading a palm of the hand with the palm vein scanner to obtain first biometric data; accessing a database to obtain second identification information responsive to the first identification information; comparing the first biometric data and second biometric data obtained from the second identification information; responsive to at least a threshold confidence level between the first biometric data and the second biometric data, printing an anti-tampering feature on a card; scanning a hand written sample on the card; and analyzing the hand written sample scanned with respect to at least one handwriting exemplar in or associated with the second identification information. 
     In accordance with one or more below described examples, an information processing system relating generally to attendee authentication is disclosed. In such a system, a robot gatekeeper has a multi-function printer with a memory to store program code including for character recognition and handwriting analysis. A processor is coupled to the memory and configured to execute the program code to initiate operations. The operations include: instructing, by the robot gatekeeper, for placement of a hand for a palm vein scanner and placement of a badge for a badge reader; reading a badge with the badge reader to obtain first identification information; reading a palm of the hand with the palm vein scanner to obtain first biometric data; accessing a database to obtain second identification information responsive to the first identification information; comparing the first biometric data and second biometric data obtained from the second identification information; responsive to at least a threshold confidence level between the first biometric data and the second biometric data, printing an anti-tampering feature on a card; scanning a hand written sample on the card; and analyzing the hand written sample scanned with respect to at least one handwriting exemplar in or associated with the second identification information. 
     Other features will be recognized from consideration of the Detailed Description and Claims, which follow. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       Accompanying drawings show exemplary apparatus(es) and/or method(s). However, the accompanying drawings should not be taken to limit the scope of the claims, but are for explanation and understanding only. 
         FIG. 1-1  is a block diagram of a front view depicting an example of a robot “gatekeeper” for a meeting or another type of event for attendee authentication. 
         FIG. 1-2  is a block diagram of a right-side view depicting the example of the robot gatekeeper of  FIG. 1-1 . 
         FIG. 2  is a block diagram depicting an example of an information processing system (“attendee authentication system”) used for a meeting or another type of event for attendee authentication. 
         FIG. 3-1  is a flow diagram depicting an example of a secure meeting flow for admitting an attendee to a secure meeting room and processing therein. 
         FIG. 3-2  is a flow diagram depicting an example of an authentication flow. 
         FIG. 4  is a pictorial diagram depicting an example of a network. 
         FIG. 5  is block diagram depicting an example of a portable communication device. 
         FIG. 6  is a block diagram depicting an example of a multi-function printer (“MFP”). 
         FIG. 7  is a block diagram depicting an example of a computer system. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     In the following description, numerous specific details are set forth to provide a more thorough description of the specific examples described herein. It should be apparent, however, to one skilled in the art, that one or more other examples and/or variations of these examples may be practiced without all the specific details given below. In other instances, well known features have not been described in detail so as not to obscure the description of the examples herein. For ease of illustration, the same number labels are used in different diagrams to refer to the same items; however, in alternative examples the items may be different. 
     Exemplary apparatus(es) and/or method(s) are described herein. It should be understood that the word “exemplary” is used herein to mean “serving as an example, instance, or illustration.” Any example or feature described herein as “exemplary” is not necessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous over other examples or features. 
     Before describing the examples illustratively depicted in the several figures, a general introduction is provided to further understanding. 
     As previously indicated, holding secure meetings can be challenging, including when parties are not all well known to each other. A robot gatekeeper system allows for authentication of each prospective attendee, including previously unknown or not well-known parties. 
     With the above general understanding borne in mind, various configurations for robot authentication systems, and methods therefor, are generally described below. 
     Reference will now be made in detail to examples which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. In the following detailed description, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the following described implementation examples. It should be apparent, however, to one skilled in the art, that the implementation examples described below may be practiced without all the specific details given below. Moreover, the example implementations are not intended to be exhaustive or to limit scope of this disclosure to the precise forms disclosed, and modifications and variations are possible in light of the following teachings or may be acquired from practicing one or more of the teachings hereof. The implementation examples were chosen and described in order to best explain principles and practical applications of the teachings hereof to enable others skilled in the art to utilize one or more of such teachings in various implementation examples and with various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated. In other instances, well-known methods, procedures, components, circuits, and/or networks have not been described in detail so as not to unnecessarily obscure the described implementation examples. 
     For purposes of explanation, specific nomenclature is set forth to provide a thorough understanding of the various concepts disclosed herein. However, the terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular examples only and is not intended to be limiting. As used herein, the singular forms “a”, “an” and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. As used herein, the term “if” may be construed to mean “when” or “upon” or “in response to determining” or “in response to detecting,” depending on the context. Similarly, the phrase “if it is determined” or “if [a stated condition or event] is detected” may be construed to mean “upon determining” or “in response to determining” or “upon detecting [the stated condition or event]” or “in response to detecting [the stated condition or event],” depending on the context. It will also be understood that the term “and/or” as used herein refers to and encompasses any and all possible combinations of one or more of the associated listed items. It will be further understood that the terms “includes” and/or “including,” when used in this specification, specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof. It will also be understood that, although the terms first, second, etc. may be used herein to describe various elements, these elements should not be limited by these terms, as these terms are only used to distinguish one element from another. 
     Some portions of the detailed descriptions that follow are presented in terms of algorithms and symbolic representations of operations on data bits, including within a register or a memory. These algorithmic descriptions and representations are the means used by those skilled in the data processing arts to most effectively convey the substance of their work to others skilled in the art. An algorithm is here, and generally, conceived to be a self-consistent sequence of steps leading to a desired result. The steps are those involving physical manipulations of physical quantities. Usually, though not necessarily, these quantities take the form of optical, electrical or magnetic signals capable of being stored, transferred, combined, compared, and otherwise manipulated. It has proven convenient at times, principally for reasons of common usage, to refer to these signals as bits, values, elements, symbols, characters, terms, numbers, or the like. 
     It should be borne in mind, however, that all of these and similar terms are to be associated with the appropriate physical quantities and are merely convenient labels applied to these quantities. Unless specifically stated otherwise as apparent from the following discussion, it is appreciated that throughout the description, discussions utilizing terms such as “processing” or “computing” or “calculating” or “determining” or “displaying” or the like, refer to the action and processes of a computer system, or similar electronic computing device, that manipulates and transforms data represented as physical (electronic) quantities within the computer system&#39;s registers or memories into other data similarly represented as physical quantities within the computer system memories or registers or other such information storage, transmission or display devices. 
     Concepts described herein may be embodied as apparatus, method, system, or computer program product. Accordingly, one or more of such implementation examples may take the form of an entirely hardware implementation example, an entirely software implementation example (including firmware, resident software, and micro-code, among others) or an implementation example combining software and hardware, and for clarity any and all of these implementation examples may generally be referred to herein as a “circuit,” “module,” “system,” or other suitable terms. Furthermore, such implementation examples may be of the form of a computer program product on a computer-usable storage medium having computer-usable program code in the medium. 
     Any suitable computer usable or computer readable medium may be utilized. The computer-usable or computer-readable medium may be, for example but not limited to, an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system, apparatus, device, or propagation medium. More specific examples (a non-exhaustive list) of the computer-readable medium would include the following: an electrical connection having one or more wires, a portable computer diskette, a hard disk, a random access memory (“RAM”), a read-only memory (“ROM”), an erasable programmable read-only memory (“EPROM” or Flash memory), an optical fiber, a portable compact disc read-only memory (“CD-ROM”), an optical storage device, a transmission media such as those supporting the Internet or an intranet, or a magnetic storage device. The computer-usable or computer-readable medium could even be paper or another suitable medium upon which the program is printed, as the program can be electronically captured, via, for instance, optical scanning of the paper or other medium, then compiled, interpreted, or otherwise processed in a suitable manner, if necessary, and then stored in a computer memory. In the context of this document, a computer-usable or computer-readable medium may be any medium that can contain, store, communicate, propagate, or transport the program for use by or in connection with the instruction execution system, apparatus, or device. The computer-usable medium may include a propagated data signal with the computer-usable program code embodied therewith, either in baseband or as part of a carrier wave. The computer usable program code may be transmitted using any appropriate medium, including but not limited to the Internet, wireline, optical fiber cable, radio frequency (“RF”) or other means. For purposes of clarity by way of example and not limitation, the latter types of media are generally referred to as transitory signal bearing media, and the former types of media are generally referred to as non-transitory signal bearing media. 
     Computer program code for carrying out operations in accordance with concepts described herein may be written in an object-oriented programming language such as Java, Smalltalk, C++ or the like. However, the computer program code for carrying out such operations may be written in conventional procedural programming languages, such as the “C” programming language or similar programming languages. The program code may execute entirely on the user&#39;s computer, partly on the user&#39;s computer, as a stand-alone software package, partly on the user&#39;s computer and partly on a remote computer or entirely on the remote computer or server. In the latter scenario, the remote computer may be connected to the user&#39;s computer through a local area network (“LAN”) or a wide area network (“WAN”), or the connection may be made to an external computer (for example, through the Internet using an Internet Service Provider). 
     Systems and methods described herein may relate to an apparatus for performing the operations associated therewith. This apparatus may be specially constructed for the purposes identified, or it may include a general-purpose computer selectively activated or reconfigured by a computer program stored in the computer. 
     Notwithstanding, the algorithms and displays presented herein are not inherently related to any particular computer or other apparatus. Various general-purpose systems may be used with programs in accordance with the teachings herein, or it may prove convenient to construct a more specialized apparatus to perform the operations. In addition, even if the following description is with reference to a programming language, it should be appreciated that any of a variety of programming languages may be used to implement the teachings as described herein. 
     One or more examples are described below with reference to flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, apparatus (including systems) and computer program products. It will be understood that each block of the flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, and combinations of blocks in the flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, may be implemented by computer program instructions. These computer program instructions may be provided to a processor of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, such that the instructions, which execute via the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing apparatus, create means for implementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks. These computer program instructions may also be stored in a computer-readable memory that can direct a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to function in a particular manner, such that the instructions stored in the computer-readable memory produce an article of manufacture including instruction means which implement the function/act specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks. The computer program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer or other programmable apparatus to produce a computer implemented process such that the instructions which execute on the computer or other programmable apparatus provide steps for implementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks. 
     The flowcharts and block diagrams in the Figures illustrate the architecture, functionality, and operation of possible implementations of apparatuses (including systems), methods and computer program products according to various implementation examples. In this regard, each block in the flowchart or block diagrams may represent a module, segment, or portion of code, which comprises one or more executable instructions for implementing the specified logical function(s). It should also be noted that, in some alternative implementations, the functions noted in the block may occur out of the order noted in the figures. For example, two blocks shown in succession may, in fact, be executed substantially concurrently, or the blocks may sometimes be executed in the reverse order, depending upon the functionality involved. It will also be noted that each block of the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, and combinations of blocks in the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, can be implemented by special purpose hardware-based systems which perform the specified functions or acts, or combinations of special purpose hardware and computer instructions. 
     It should be understood that although the flow charts provided herein show a specific order of operations, it is understood that the order of these operations may differ from what is depicted. Also, two or more operations may be performed concurrently or with partial concurrence. Such variation will depend on the software and hardware systems chosen and on designer choice. It is understood that all such variations are within the scope of the disclosure. Likewise, software and web implementations may be accomplished with standard programming techniques with rule-based logic and other logic to accomplish the various database searching operations, correlation operations, comparison operations and decision operations. It should also be understood that the word “component” as used herein is intended to encompass implementations using one or more lines of software code, and/or hardware implementations, and/or equipment for receiving manual inputs. 
       FIG. 1-1  is a block diagram of a front view depicting an example of a robot “gatekeeper”  100  for a meeting or another type of event for attendee authentication.  FIG. 1-2  is a block diagram of a right-side view depicting the example of robot gatekeeper  100  of  FIG. 1-1 . Robot gatekeeper  100  is further described with simultaneous reference to  FIGS. 1-1 and 1-2 . 
     In this example, a robot gatekeeper  100  includes a multi-function printer (“MFP”)  105  with computational processing system  116 , including a memory configured to store program code coupled to a processor. Such program code may include a known character recognition and handwriting analysis engine  117  in communication with a processor of MFP  105 . Optionally, a voice recognition and speech engine  118  may be included for verbal communication with MFP  105 . 
     Along those lines, a processor of MFP  105  may be coupled to memory thereof where such processor is configured to execute program code, in addition to such known character recognition and handwriting analysis engine  117  to initiate operations described below in additional detail. 
     Robot gatekeeper  100  in this example may include an optional automatic document feeder (“ADF”)  107 , a privacy screen  108 , a cantilevered table  103 , and a housing  102 . In this example, housing  102  may include one or more optional safes; however, in another example one or more optional safes may be separate from robot gatekeeper  100 . Robot gatekeeper  100  may further optionally include a card input slot  121   
     Robot gatekeeper  100  may include a dock  106  such as for a digital assistant  119 . Known examples of digital assistants  119  generally are referred to by their trademarked names, such as for example Cortana, Google Assistant, Alexa, Siri, and Bixby, among others. 
     In this example of robot gatekeeper  100 , MFP  105  includes a display  104 , optical sensors  111 , a radio frequency identification (“RFID”) or card chip reader  113 , a speaker and microphone  115 , an MFP scanner  114 , a palm reader scanner (“palm reader”)  112 , and an output tray  133 . Robot gatekeeper  100  may be located for example in a foyer, anteroom, entry way, or other chamber or chamber-like room leading to a secure meeting room. For purposes of clarity by way of example and not limitation, a foyer is assumed to be a location of a robot gatekeeper  100 . Furthermore, for purposes of clarity by way of example, an RFID reader  113  is assumed; however, another type of badge or card reader may be used in another example. 
     Secure meetings may be held in a secure room. A secure room may be shielded depending upon level of security from electromagnetic, sound, vibration, visual, or other sensory intrusion and/or leakage. A robot gatekeeper  100  may be located outside a secure room in a foyer in order to perform authentication of prospective meeting attendees. Along those lines, optionally a safe may be used to temporarily store an attendee&#39;s belongings prior to permitted entry into a secure meeting room, such as for safekeeping of any and all electronic devices of each authorized attendee. 
       FIG. 2  is a block diagram depicting an example of an information processing system (“attendee authentication system”)  200  used for a meeting or another type of event for attendee authentication. Attendee authentication system  200  is further described with simultaneous reference to  FIGS. 1-1 through 2 . 
     Attendee authentication system  200  may include a robot gatekeeper  100  positioned in a foyer to a secure meeting space (“secure meeting room”)  220 . Secure meeting room  220  may include conventional conference room electronics for such secure meeting rooms, which may depend upon level of security. Additionally, an assistant robot  215  may be located in secure meeting room  220 . 
     Assistant robot  215  may be configured with a dictation module  211 , a note taking module  212 , an electronic lock  213 , a digitizer  214 , and a shredder  216 . Dictation module  211  and note taking module  212  may be for converting speech to text. However, note taking module  212  may include both an audio input and a video input, whereas dictation module  211  may be include just an audio input. 
     Assistant robot  215  may include an electronic lock controller  213  for locking and unlocking an electronic lock to control access to and from secure meeting room  220 . A digitizer scanner  214 , which may include an ADF, may be used to digitize attendee notes taken on paper during a meeting. Sheets of paper fed into assistant robot  215  for digitizing are not returned to an attendee, but rather are shredded by shredder  216  of assistant robot  215 . 
     Assistant robot  215  may be in communication with a user interface (“UI”) bot  203  of an MFP bot  204  of an MFP  105  of robot gatekeeper  100 . An MFP bot  204  may further include an optical character recognition (“OCR”) and/or intelligent character recognition (“ICR”) engine  201  in communication with UI bot  203 . MFP bot  204  may further include a machine learning handwriting analysis (“ML”) engine  202  in communication with UI bot  203 . Known OCR and/or ICR components may be used to provide OCR/ICR engine  201 . Furthermore, known machine learning and handwriting analysis may be used to provide ML engine  202 . 
     UI bot  203  may be in communication with one or more of security clearance components  205 . Security clearance components  205  in this example include MFP scanner  114 , optical sensors  111 , RFID reader  113 , and palm reader  112 . A speaker and microphone  115  may be used for verbal communication with robot gatekeeper  100 . 
     Robot gatekeeper  100  may be in communication with a central authority cloud-based system (“central authority”)  210 . Even though in this example, a cloud-based central authority  210  is used, in another example an intranet or other type of network topology may be used for central authority  210 . 
     Central authority  210  may include a biometric system  206  and an artificial intelligence (“AI”) analysis system  208 . AI analysis system  208  may be programmed for handwriting analysis. Biometric system  206  may be programmed for palm print analysis and optionally retinal analysis. Systems  206  and  208  may be in communication with robot gatekeeper  100  for more extensive authentication measures. 
     Central authority  210  may further include one or more databases (“DB”)  209  under control of a document management system (“DMS”)  207  or the like. DMS  207  may be in communication with robot gatekeeper  100  and DB  209  for managed control to obtain data from and store data in DB  209 . For example, dictation notes by dictation module  211  and/or digitized notes by digitizer scanner  214  may be entered into DMS  207  for storing in DB  209 . 
     For authentication, a “marked” paper is used for having a person write something for handwriting and make sure they are writing it themselves for providing an answer to challenge response. This may be used to avoid having store facial and/or voice information of operatives, in order to keep such information more secure by not having it accessible at this location. For example, facial and/or voice recognition information falling into the hands of an adversary could be used for remote identification, such as by video and/or audio surveillance. Having a person provide one or more writing samples to one or more challenges along with vein scanning may be used to avoid accessing stored facial and/or voice personal identifying information at this location. 
       FIG. 3-1  is a flow diagram depicting an example of a secure meeting flow  300  for admitting an attendee to a secure meeting room and processing therein.  FIG. 3-2  is a flow diagram depicting an example of an authentication flow  350 . Secure meeting flow  300  and authentication flow  350  are further described with simultaneous reference to  FIGS. 1-1 through 3-2 . 
     In an example, for authentication of a prospective meeting attendee, attendee authentication system  200 , and particularly robot gatekeeper  100  thereof, may use a combination of challenge response questions, handwriting analysis, and palm vein identification. Optical body/skeletal tracking may be used too, as described below in additional detail. Any of a variety of combinations of operations may be used, and these combinations may change from time to time to enhance security. Accordingly, example flows are described; however, these flows may use other security features in other examples. 
     At operation  302 , a prospective attendee  301  may submit personal and other identification information to a robot gatekeeper  100  as part of a clearance request  312 . This input may include scanning a driver&#39;s license, a passport, and/or other personal identification information. Thus, at operation  351  a robot gatekeeper  100  with an MFP  105  may be present in a foyer to a secure meeting room  220 . Responsive to a clearance request, at operation  352  program code may be executed by a programmed processor or processor system of a robot gatekeeper  100 , or more particularly of an MFP  105  thereof. 
     Secure meeting flow  300  is described hereinafter. Following description of secure meeting flow  300 , authentication flow  350 , which may be performed locally without a central authority  210 , or as part of secure meeting flow with a central authority  210 , is described after the following description of secure meeting flow  300 . 
     At operation  303 , an RFID tag may be scanned into a robot gatekeeper  100 , and a request  313  to verify such tag may be provided to a central authority  210 . At operation  304 , a central authority  210  may authenticate, or not, such tag. For purposes of clarity and not limitation, it is assumed that a tag is authenticated. 
     At operation  305  in response to confirmation  314  of authentication from central authority  210  to robot gatekeeper  100 , a palm may be scanned in at operation  305  using a palm reader  112  to provide a request  315  to verify veins of such palm may authenticate, or not, such palm. For purposes of clarity and not limitation, it is assumed that a palm is authenticated remotely, such as by a central authority  210 ; however, in another example a palm may be authenticated locally by a robot gatekeeper  100 . 
     At operation  306 , a central authority  210  may authenticate a palm. In response to authentication, a confirmation  316  may be sent from central authority  210  to robot gatekeeper  100 . In response to such confirmation, at operation  307  a recognition operation, such as an OCR and/or ICR operation, may be performed on a handwriting sample scanned in at such operation. 
     A request  317  for authentication of such handwriting example may be sent from robot gatekeeper  100  to central authority  210  for authentication, or not, such handwritten exemplar. For purposes of clarity and not limitation, it is assumed that a handwritten exemplar is authenticated. 
     At operation  308 , a central authority  210  may authenticate a handwriting exemplar, and provide a confirmation  318  of such authentication to robot gatekeeper. Other security operations with examples, requests, authentications, and corresponding confirmations may be performed in other examples. 
     After confirmation of authentication of each security check, a security clearance complete verification operation  309  may be performed. Responsive to completion and confirmation of each authentication, access to a secure meeting room  220  may be granted at operation  319 . If any authentication fails to be confirmed, a prospective attendee may be denied access at operation  319  to a secure meeting room  220 . 
     Responsive to passing all authentications, a code for at least one of a safe or a secure meeting room, or separate codes for each, may be issued at operation  321  for such access to a secure meeting room  220 . For security reasons, a code may be sent to an assistant robot  215  or an electronic lock to such secure meeting room, or both. Such a code may be a random code assigned for entry into a secure meeting room  220 . Such a random code may be sent with confirmation  322 , and so a prospective attendee may input such an assigned random code into an electronic lock for entry at access check operation  323 . As an assistant robot  215  may too have such an assigned code for an access check operation  323 , an assistant robot  215  may be used to control an electronic locking mechanism to secure meeting room  220 . 
     After a correct access code is entered at operation  323 , a confirmation  324  may be sent to assistant robot  215 . In response, assistant robot  215  may begin taking meeting notes at note taking operation  325  with note taking module  212 . Furthermore, a dictation module  211  may be invoked, such as for a meeting summary or other post-meeting activity. 
     Furthermore, for notes taken by one or more meeting attendees, such notes may be submitted at operation  326  to assistant robot  215 . Assistant robot  215  may scan in such notes using one or more of OCR or ICR with digitizer scanner  214  at operation  327 . Paper notes submitted may then be shredded by shredder  216  at operation  327 . Digitized notes may be sent at operation  329  to central authority  210  for saving at operation  329 , such as for subsequent access via DMS  207 . 
     With renewed reference to authentication flow  350 , at operation  353 , a robot gatekeeper  100  may instruct for placement of a hand for a palm vein scanner, such as a palm reader  112 , and instruct for placement of a badge for a badge reader, such as RFID reader  113 . 
     At operation  354 , a badge may be read with a badge reader, such as RFID reader  113  to obtain source identification information. At operation  355 , a palm of a hand may be read with palm vein scanner, such as palm reader  112 , to obtain source biometric data. 
     Robot gatekeeper  100  may be configured for body and/or skeletal tracking, such tracking module  222  in communication with optical sensors  111 . Such tracking may be used to ensure a person&#39;s hand does not move outside a bounded region. Such tracking may be used to ensure a false or extra hand is not supplied. Such tracking may be used for handwriting evaluation too to ensure a handwriting sample in response to a challenge question is an original from a prospective attendee, and not a pre-written substitute. 
     At operation  356 , a database, such as DB  209  or a local database  223 , may be accessed to obtain stored identification information responsive to such source identification information. At operation  357 , such source biometric data may be compared with stored biometric data obtained from such stored identification information. Furthermore, at operation  357  other source identification information may be compared with corresponding stored identification information, such as information conventionally appearing on a driver&#39;s license, identification card, and/or a passport for example. 
     At operation  358 , it may be determined within a greater than 90 percent confidence level that stored and source biometric data agree. Furthermore, at operation  358  it may optionally be determined that all identification information as between badge read source identification information, apart from source biometric data, exactly match corresponding stored identification information. Responsive to at least a threshold confidence level between source biometric data and stored biometric data, and optionally an exact match for source and stored identification information, a card may be printed and dispensed, such as via output tray  133 , with an anti-tampering feature and a question for a challenge response on such a card. 
     Robot gatekeeper  100  may pose a challenge response by printing a card with a question for a prospective attendee to answer by writing on such card. Such card may have anti-tampering features such as a sequence or random number. After writing a challenge response on such a card, such a hand written sample on such a card may be scanned in, such as by scanner  114 , or fed into a destination slot, such as card input slot  121 , of robot gatekeeper  100  at operation  361 . Robot gatekeeper  100  may OCR and/or ICRs such card using OCR/ICR engine  201 , and then compare an answer on such a card to an answer stored in database  223  or DB  209  in association with obtained stored identification information. Furthermore, robot gatekeeper  100  may be programmed to encrypt or other form of indirect, obfuscated representation of such handwriting exemplar in combination with some or all of such stored identification information. A challenge question may be tied to a challenge response stored in a secure format with stored identification information. If only local to robot gatekeeper  100 , such a secure format may include a hash of associated with a portion of such stored identification information. 
     In another example, a prospective attendee may be issued a card printed with a randomly chosen phrase or sentence. A handwritten response may be made on such card by a prospective attendee to such phrase or sentence, and such a prospective attendee may feed such card into card input slot  121 . 
     After robot gatekeeper  100  scans such a card, at operation  362  such a hand written sample scanned may be analyzed, such as for example compared with respect to at least one handwriting exemplar in or associated with retrieved stored identification information. Robot gatekeeper  100  conducts handwriting analysis with ML engine  202  in unsupervised machine learning. In another example, a scanned card may be digitally sent for a person to determine manually by comparing it against sample in DB  209 . In this other example, both ML engine  202  and sending a digital version to central authority  210  may be used for supervised machine learning. 
     If at operation  358  it is determined there is not a match between stored and badge identification information or failure to achieve of a sufficient confidence level for biometric data said to be a match, then at operation  359  such a prospective attendee may be reported to an administrative authority. Similarly, at operation  363 , it may be determined whether a handwriting sample has achieved a sufficient confidence level so as to be said to match and whether a response to a challenge phrase or sentence is correct, namely an exact match. If at operation  363  it is determined there is not a match between a response to a challenge phrase or sentence and a stored version, or failure to achieve of a sufficient confidence level between a stored handwriting exemplary and one sourced from a prospective attendee, then at operation  359  such a prospective attendee may be reported to an administrative authority. 
     Robot gatekeeper  100  may collect handwriting samples to conduct “handwriting analysis” when deciding whether a party should be permitted entry to a secure meeting space. Robot gatekeeper  100  may conducts OCR/ICR locally. Along those lines, MFP  105  can use a combination of handwritten samples and corresponding original requested phrase/text to improve its OCR/ICR models via locally run machine learning. Such samples and original text combinations can be sent to DB  209  for further processing by central authority  210 . Central authority  210  may have additional written samples and original text combinations from a variety of MFPs  105 , which may result in machine learning constructing/improving models better. 
     Along those lines, optionally after and/or during a meeting, assistant robot  215  gatekeeper may process an attendee&#39;s handwritten notes, scanning them, digitizing them, such as via OCR/ICR, and storing a digitized version in database  223  and/or DB  209 . MFP  105  can use such handwritten notes to improve its machine learning OCR/ICR models. Due to a potentially sensitive nature of such notes, such notes in some instances may not be sent to a central authority  210  in whole or in part. MFP  105  may be configured to find whitelisted dictionary words, namely to avoid sensitive materials, that it recognizes via existing OCR/ICR, as well as words that meet a confidence level threshold. For example, detecting a word or phrase with a low confidence may mean an unusual term or phrase is used, namely possibly a confidential word. These words may be sent to a central database along with a corresponding text image for further processing to improve an OCR/ICR model via machine learning. 
     Handwriting samples from potential attendees can be used for prediction of age, gender, and/or nationality. Handwriting samples obtained by a robot gatekeeper  100  can be used to improve or create models for prediction of age, gender, and/or nationality. These models can be used in other security-style applications, such as for example vetting people filling out government/company application forms, potentially detecting mismatches in declared age, gender, and/or nationality. 
     Responsive to a challenge response being correct and achieving a sufficient confidence level between a stored handwriting example and one just sourced from a prospective attendee matching, at operation  364  a code for at least one of a safe or a secure meeting room may be issued. A same code may be issued for both a safe and a secure meeting room, or different codes may be issued for a safe and a secure meeting room. An authenticated person who has been granted access to a secure meeting may place their belongings in a safe, such as in a foyer, or place such belongings in a safe-like compartment of robot gatekeeper  100 . 
     Once a secure meeting is underway, there may be additional persons wishing to join the meeting. A robot gatekeeper can authenticate each new person, and existing attendees can communicate with robot gatekeeper  100  via assistant robot  215  to indicate if, and when, a new participant should be allowed to enter. 
     Assistant robot  215  can be thought of a “Echo” like device or similar device that supports dictation note taking. Meeting attendees can press start/end dictation buttons, or ask assistant robot  215  to start/end dictation. Assistant robot  215  can chime in when an authenticated meeting goer is waiting in a foyer to join. Assistant robot  215  may include a lock controller  213  to lock/unlock a secure meeting room  220  for admittance of new attendees. 
     Optionally, during a secure meeting, persons can take hand written notes on paper and later provide these notes to robot gatekeeper  100  for digitization using a platen and/or ADF such as of or associated with scanner  114  and later physical destruction. In this example, robot gatekeeper  100  includes a shredder  216 ; however, an internal furnace or partial chemical means may be used in other examples. In another example, by providing identification and palm vein scan serving as identification per user on leaving a meeting, such user may have notes scanned. After scanning such notes via an ADF or platen, a user may keep such notes or deposit them in a shredder  216 . 
     Notes and/or dictation that are digitized may be provided to a DMS  207  for storing. Permissions for those attending users may be set for access to such notes. If meeting attendees arrive late, leave early, or otherwise only attend a portion of a meeting, their dictation and notes may be identified for only a portion of attendance. 
     Because one or more of the examples described herein may be implemented in using an information processing system, a detailed description of examples of each of a network (such as for a Cloud-based SaaS implementation), a computing system, a mobile device, and an MFP is provided. However, it should be understood that other configurations of one or more of these examples may benefit from the technology described herein. 
       FIG. 4  is a pictorial diagram depicting an example of a network  400 , which may be used to provide a SaaS platform for hosting a service or micro service for use by a user device, as described herein. Along those lines, network  400  may include one or more mobile phones, pads/tablets, notebooks, and/or other web-usable devices  401  in wired and/or wireless communication with a wired and/or wireless access point (“AP”)  403  connected to or of a wireless router. Furthermore, one or more of such web-usable wireless devices  401  may be in wireless communication with a base station  413 . Additionally, a desktop computer and/or a printing device, such as for example a multi-function printer (“MFP”)  402 , each of which may be web-usable devices, may be in wireless and/or wired communication to and from router  404 . 
     Wireless AP  403  may be connected for communication with a router  404 , which in turn may be connected to a modem  405 . Modem  405  and base station  413  may be in communication with an Internet-Cloud infrastructure  407 , which may include public and/or private networks. 
     A firewall  406  may be in communication with such an Internet-Cloud infrastructure  407 . Firewall  406  may be in communication with a universal device service server  408 . Universal device service server  408  may be in communication with a content server  409 , a web server  414 , and/or an app server  412 . App server  412 , as well as a network  400 , may be used for downloading an app or one or more components thereof for accessing and using a service or a micro service as described herein. 
       FIG. 5  is block diagram depicting an example of a portable communication device (“mobile device”)  520 . Mobile device  520  may be an example of a mobile device, as previously described. 
     Mobile device  520  may include a wireless interface  510 , an antenna  511 , an antenna  512 , an audio processor  513 , a speaker  514 , and a microphone (“mic”)  519 , a display  521 , a display controller  522 , a touch-sensitive input device  523 , a touch-sensitive input device controller  524 , a microprocessor or microcontroller  525 , a position receiver  526 , a media recorder and processor  527 , a cell transceiver  528 , and a memory or memories (“memory”)  530 . 
     Microprocessor or microcontroller  525  may be programmed to control overall operation of mobile device  520 . Microprocessor or microcontroller  525  may include a commercially available or custom microprocessor or microcontroller. 
     Memory  530  may be interconnected for communication with microprocessor or microcontroller  525  for storing programs and data used by mobile device  520 . Memory  530  generally represents an overall hierarchy of memory devices containing software and data used to implement functions of mobile device  520 . Data and programs or apps as described hereinabove may be stored in memory  530 . 
     Memory  530  may include, for example, RAM or other volatile solid-state memory, flash or other non-volatile solid-state memory, a magnetic storage medium such as a hard disk drive, a removable storage media, or other suitable storage means. In addition to handling voice communications, mobile device  520  may be configured to transmit, receive and process data, such as Web data communicated to and from a Web server, text messages (also known as short message service or SMS), electronic mail messages, multimedia messages (also known as MMS), image files, video files, audio files, ring tones, streaming audio, streaming video, data feeds (e.g., podcasts), and so forth. 
     In this example, memory  530  stores drivers, such as I/O device drivers, and operating system programs (“OS”)  537 . Memory  530  stores application programs (“apps”)  535  and data  536 . Data may include application program data. 
     I/O device drivers may include software routines accessed through microprocessor or microcontroller  525  or by an OS stored in memory  530 . Apps, to communicate with devices such as the touch-sensitive input device  523  and keys and other user interface objects adaptively displayed on a display  521 , may use one or more of such drivers. 
     Mobile device  520 , such as a mobile or cell phone, includes a display  521 . Display  521  may be operatively coupled to and controlled by a display controller  522 , which may be a suitable microcontroller or microprocessor programmed with a driver for operating display  521 . 
     Touch-sensitive input device  523  may be operatively coupled to and controlled by a touch-sensitive input device controller  524 , which may be a suitable microcontroller or microprocessor. Along those lines, touching activity input via touch-sensitive input device  523  may be communicated to touch-sensitive input device controller  524 . Touch-sensitive input device controller  524  may optionally include local storage  529 . 
     Touch-sensitive input device controller  524  may be programmed with a driver or application program interface (“API”) for apps  535 . An app may be associated with a service, as previously described herein, for use of a SaaS. One or more aspects of above-described apps may operate in a foreground or background mode. 
     Microprocessor or microcontroller  525  may be programmed to interface directly touch-sensitive input device  523  or through touch-sensitive input device controller  524 . Microprocessor or microcontroller  525  may be programmed or otherwise configured to interface with one or more other interface device(s) of mobile device  520 . Microprocessor or microcontroller  525  may be interconnected for interfacing with a transmitter/receiver (“transceiver”)  528 , audio processing circuitry, such as an audio processor  513 , and a position receiver  526 , such as a global positioning system (“GPS”) receiver. An antenna  511  may be coupled to transceiver  528  for bi-directional communication, such as cellular and/or satellite communication. 
     Mobile device  520  may include a media recorder and processor  527 , such as a still camera, a video camera, an audio recorder, or the like, to capture digital pictures, audio and/or video. Microprocessor or microcontroller  525  may be interconnected for interfacing with media recorder and processor  527 . Image, audio and/or video files corresponding to the pictures, songs and/or video may be stored in memory  530  as data  536 . 
     Mobile device  520  may include an audio processor  513  for processing audio signals, such as for example audio information transmitted by and received from transceiver  528 . Microprocessor or microcontroller  525  may be interconnected for interfacing with audio processor  513 . Coupled to audio processor  513  may be one or more speakers  514  and one or more microphones  519 , for projecting and receiving sound, including without limitation recording sound, via mobile device  520 . Audio data may be passed to audio processor  513  for playback. Audio data may include, for example, audio data from an audio file stored in memory  530  as data  536  and retrieved by microprocessor or microcontroller  525 . Audio processor  513  may include buffers, decoders, amplifiers and the like. 
     Mobile device  520  may include one or more local wireless interfaces  510 , such as a WIFI interface, an infrared transceiver, and/or an RF adapter. Wireless interface  510  may provide a Bluetooth adapter, a WLAN adapter, an Ultra-Wideband (“UWB”) adapter, and/or the like. Wireless interface  510  may be interconnected to an antenna  512  for communication. As is known, a wireless interface  510  may be used with an accessory, such as for example a hands-free adapter and/or a headset. For example, audible output sound corresponding to audio data may be transferred from mobile device  520  to an adapter, another mobile radio terminal, a computer, or another electronic device. In another example, wireless interface  510  may be for communication within a cellular network or another Wireless Wide-Area Network (WWAN). 
       FIG. 6  is a block diagram depicting an example of a multi-function printer (MFP)  600 . MFP  600  is provided for purposes of clarity by way of non-limiting example. MFP  600  is an example of an information processing system. 
     MFP  600  includes a control unit  601 , a storage unit  602 , an image reading unit  603 , an operation panel unit  604 , a print/imaging unit  605 , and a communication unit  606 . Communication unit  606  may be coupled to a network for communication with other peripherals, mobile devices, computers, servers, and/or other electronic devices. 
     Control unit  601  may include a CPU  611 , an image processing unit  612 , and cache memory  613 . Control unit  601  may be included with or separate from other components of MFP  600 . Storage unit  602  may include ROM, RAM, and large capacity storage memory, such as for example an HDD or an SSD. Storage unit  602  may store various types of data and control programs, including without limitation a printer driver  614 . A buffer queue, such as buffer queue may be located in cache memory  613  or storage unit  602 . 
     Operation panel unit  604  may include a display panel  641 , a touch panel  642 , and hard keys  643 . Print/imaging unit  605  may include a sheet feeder unit  651 , a sheet conveyance unit  652 , and an imaging unit  653 . 
     Generally, for example, for an MFP a copy image processing unit, a scanner image processing unit, and a printer image processing unit may all be coupled to respective direct memory access controllers for communication with a memory controller for communication with a memory. Many known details regarding MFP  600  are not described for purposes of clarity and not limitation. 
       FIG. 7  is a block diagram depicting an example of a computer system  700  upon which one or more aspects described herein may be implemented. Computer system  700  may include a programmed computing device  710  coupled to one or more display devices  701 , such as Cathode Ray Tube (“CRT”) displays, plasma displays, Liquid Crystal Displays (“LCDs”), Light Emitting Diode (“LED”) displays, light emitting polymer displays (“LPDs”) projectors and to one or more input devices  706 , such as a keyboard and a cursor pointing device. Other known configurations of a computer system may be used. Computer system  700  by itself or networked with one or more other computer systems  700  may provide an information handling/processing system. 
     Programmed computing device  710  may be programmed with a suitable operating system, which may include Mac OS, Java Virtual Machine, Real-Time OS Linux, Solaris, iOS, Darwin, Android Linux-based OS, Linux, OS-X, UNIX, or a Windows operating system, among other platforms, including without limitation an embedded operating system, such as VxWorks. Programmed computing device  710  includes a central processing unit (“CPU”)  704 , one or more memories and/or storage devices (“memory”)  705 , and one or more input/output (“I/O”) interfaces (“I/O interface”)  702 . Programmed computing device  710  may optionally include an image processing unit (“IPU”)  707  coupled to CPU  704  and one or more peripheral cards  709  coupled to I/O interface  702 . Along those lines, programmed computing device  710  may include graphics memory  708  coupled to optional IPU  707 . 
     CPU  704  may be a type of microprocessor known in the art, such as available from IBM, Intel, ARM, and Advanced Micro Devices for example. CPU  704  may include one or more processing cores. Support circuits (not shown) may include busses, cache, power supplies, clock circuits, data registers, and the like. 
     Memory  705  may be directly coupled to CPU  704  or coupled through I/O interface  702 . At least a portion of an operating system may be disposed in memory  705 . Memory  705  may include one or more of the following: flash memory, random access memory, read only memory, magneto-resistive read/write memory, optical read/write memory, cache memory, magnetic read/write memory, and the like, as well as non-transitory signal-bearing media as described below. For example, memory  705  may include an SSD, which is coupled to I/O interface  702 , such as through an NVMe-PCIe bus, SATA bus or other bus. Moreover, one or more SSDs may be used, such as for NVMe, RAID or other multiple drive storage for example. 
     I/O interface  702  may include chip set chips, graphics processors, and/or daughter cards, among other known circuits. In this example, I/O interface  702  may be a Platform Controller Hub (“PCH”). I/O interface  702  may be coupled to a conventional keyboard, network, mouse, camera, microphone, display printer, and interface circuitry adapted to receive and transmit data, such as data files and the like. 
     Programmed computing device  710  may optionally include one or more peripheral cards  709 . An example of a daughter or peripheral card may include a network interface card (“NIC”), a display interface card, a modem card, and a Universal Serial Bus (“USB”) interface card, among other known circuits. Optionally, one or more of these peripherals may be incorporated into a motherboard hosting CPU  704  and I/O interface  702 . Along those lines, IPU  707  may be incorporated into CPU  704  and/or may be of a separate peripheral card. 
     Programmed computing device  710  may be coupled to a number of client computers, server computers, or any combination thereof via a conventional network infrastructure, such as a company&#39;s Intranet and/or the Internet, for example, allowing distributed use. Moreover, a storage device, such as an SSD for example, may be directly coupled to such a network as a network drive, without having to be directly internally or externally coupled to programmed computing device  710 . However, for purposes of clarity and not limitation, it shall be assumed that an SSD is housed in programmed computing device  710 . 
     Memory  705  may store all or portions of one or more programs or data, including variables or intermediate information during execution of instructions by CPU  704 , to implement processes in accordance with one or more examples hereof to provide program product  720 . Program product  720  may be for implementing portions of process flows, as described herein. Additionally, those skilled in the art will appreciate that one or more examples hereof may be implemented in hardware, software, or a combination of hardware and software. Such implementations may include a number of processors or processor cores independently executing various programs, dedicated hardware and/or programmable hardware. 
     Along those lines, implementations related to use of computing device  710  for implementing techniques described herein may be performed by computing device  710  in response to CPU  704  executing one or more sequences of one or more instructions contained in main memory of memory  705 . Such instructions may be read into such main memory from another machine-readable medium, such as a storage device of memory  705 . Execution of the sequences of instructions contained in main memory may cause CPU  704  to perform one or more process steps described herein. In alternative implementations, hardwired circuitry may be used in place of or in combination with software instructions for such implementations. Thus, the example implementations described herein should not be considered limited to any specific combination of hardware circuitry and software, unless expressly stated herein otherwise. 
     One or more program(s) of program product  720 , as well as documents thereof, may define functions of examples hereof and can be contained on a variety of non-transitory tangible signal-bearing media, such as computer- or machine-readable media having code, which include, but are not limited to: (i) information permanently stored on non-writable storage media (e.g., read-only memory devices within a computer such as CD-ROM or DVD-ROM disks readable by a CD-ROM drive or a DVD drive); or (ii) alterable information stored on writable storage media (e.g., floppy disks within a diskette drive or flash drive or hard-disk drive or read/writable CD or read/writable DVD). 
     Computer readable storage media encoded with program code may be packaged with a compatible device or provided separately from other devices. In addition, program code may be encoded and transmitted via wired optical, and/or wireless networks conforming to a variety of protocols, including the Internet, thereby allowing distribution, e.g., via Internet download. In implementations, information downloaded from the Internet and other networks may be used to provide program product  720 . Such transitory tangible signal-bearing media, when carrying computer-readable instructions that direct functions hereof, represent implementations hereof. 
     Along those lines the term “tangible machine-readable medium” or “tangible computer-readable storage” or the like refers to any tangible medium that participates in providing data that causes a machine to operate in a specific manner. In an example implemented using computer system  700 , tangible machine-readable media are involved, for example, in providing instructions to CPU  704  for execution as part of programmed product  720 . Thus, a programmed computing device  710  may include programmed product  720  embodied in a tangible machine-readable medium. Such a medium may take many forms, including those describe above. 
     The term “transmission media”, which includes coaxial cables, conductive wire and fiber optics, including traces or wires of a bus, may be used in communication of signals, including a carrier wave or any other transmission medium from which a computer can read. Transmission media can also take the form of acoustic or light waves, such as those generated during radio-wave and infra-red data communications. 
     Various forms of tangible signal-bearing machine-readable media may be involved in carrying one or more sequences of one or more instructions to CPU  704  for execution. For example, instructions may initially be carried on a magnetic disk or other storage media of a remote computer. The remote computer can load the instructions into its dynamic memory and send such instructions over a transmission media using a modem. A modem local to computer system  700  can receive such instructions on such transmission media and use an infra-red transmitter to convert such instructions to an infra-red signal. An infra-red detector can receive such instructions carried in such infra-red signal and appropriate circuitry can place such instructions on a bus of computing device  710  for writing into main memory, from which CPU  704  can retrieve and execute such instructions. Instructions received by main memory may optionally be stored on a storage device either before or after execution by CPU  704 . 
     Computer system  700  may include a communication interface as part of I/O interface  702  coupled to a bus of computing device  710 . Such a communication interface may provide a two-way data communication coupling to a network link connected to a local network  722 . For example, such a communication interface may be a local area network (“LAN”) card to provide a data communication connection to a compatible LAN. Wireless links may also be implemented. In any such implementation, a communication interface sends and receives electrical, electromagnetic or optical signals that carry digital and/or analog data and instructions in streams representing various types of information. 
     A network link to local network  722  may provide data communication through one or more networks to other data devices. For example, a network link may provide a connection through local network  722  to a host computer  724  or to data equipment operated by an Internet Service Provider (“ISP”)  726  or another Internet service provider. ISP  726  may in turn provide data communication services through a world-wide packet data communication network, the “Internet”  728 . Local network  722  and the Internet  728  may both use electrical, electromagnetic or optical signals that carry analog and/or digital data streams. Data carrying signals through various networks, which carry data to and from computer system  700 , are exemplary forms of carrier waves for transporting information. 
     Wireless circuitry of I/O interface  702  may be used to send and receive information over a wireless link or network to one or more other devices&#39; conventional circuitry such as an antenna system, an RF transceiver, one or more amplifiers, a tuner, one or more oscillators, a digital signal processor, a CODEC chipset, memory, and the like. In some implementations, wireless circuitry may be capable of establishing and maintaining communications with other devices using one or more communication protocols, including time division multiple access (TDMA), code division multiple access (CDMA), global system for mobile communications (GSM), Enhanced Data GSM Environment (EDGE), wideband code division multiple access (W-CDMA), Long Term Evolution (LTE), LTE-Advanced, WIFI (such as IEEE 802.11a, IEEE 802.11b, IEEE 802.11g and/or IEEE 802.11n), Bluetooth, Wi-MAX, voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), near field communication protocol (NFC), a protocol for email, instant messaging, and/or a short message service (SMS), or any other suitable communication protocol. A computing device can include wireless circuitry that can communicate over several different types of wireless networks depending on the range required for the communication. For example, a short-range wireless transceiver (e.g., Bluetooth), a medium-range wireless transceiver (e.g., WIFI), and/or a long range wireless transceiver (e.g., GSM/GPRS, UMTS, CDMA2000, EV-DO, and LTE/LTE-Advanced) can be used depending on the type of communication or the range of the communication. 
     Computer system  700  can send messages and receive data, including program code, through network(s) via a network link and communication interface of I/O interface  702 . In the Internet example, a server  730  might transmit a requested code for an application program through Internet  728 , ISP  726 , local network  722  and I/O interface  702 . A server/Cloud-based system  730  may include a backend application for providing one or more applications or services as described herein. Received code may be executed by processor  704  as it is received, and/or stored in a storage device, or other non-volatile storage, of memory  705  for later execution. In this manner, computer system  700  may obtain application code in the form of a carrier wave. 
     While the foregoing describes exemplary apparatus(es) and/or method(s), other and further examples in accordance with the one or more aspects described herein may be devised without departing from the scope hereof, which is determined by the claims that follow and equivalents thereof. Claims listing steps do not imply any order of the steps. Trademarks are the property of their respective owners.