Patent Abstract:
A self-service terminal ( 10 ) having a user interface ( 14 ) for interacting with a user ( 12 ) is described. The terminal ( 10 ) includes sensing means ( 18, 20,  or  22 ) for sensing physiological data associated with a user, analyzing means ( 74 ) for analyzing the physiological data to deduce the user&#39;s emotional state, and control means ( 72 ) responsive to the analyzing means ( 74 ) for adapting the terminal&#39;s interaction with the user in response to the user&#39;s emotional state. A method of operating a self-service terminal is also described.

Full Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0001]    The present invention relates to a self-service terminal (SST). In particular, the invention relates to a public access self-service terminal such as an automated teller machine (ATM) or a non-cash kiosk.  
           [0002]    It is well known that ATMs are commonly used as a convenient source of cash and other financial transactions. Some users of ATMs desire a quick cash dispense transaction (sometimes referred to as fast cash) without viewing any promotional material (such as advertisements or marketing information) or other services (such as other transactions). Other users, however, are willing to view promotional material and/or services on ATMs depending on certain factors, such as whether they are in a hurry, whether they are interested in the type of product or service that is being promoted, or such like. If promotional material or services are presented to users at inappropriate times, or if an ATM transaction is lengthened because of presenting other services or soliciting some input from the user, then the user may be annoyed by the delay and as a result may be unsatisfied with the ATM transaction.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0003]    It is among the objects of an embodiment of the present invention to obviate or mitigate one or more of the above disadvantages or other disadvantages associated with prior art self-service terminals.  
           [0004]    According to a first aspect of the present invention there is provided a self-service terminal having a user interface for interacting with a user, characterized in that the terminal includes sensing means for sensing physiological data associated with a user, analyzing means for analyzing the physiological data to deduce the user&#39;s emotional state, and control means responsive to the analyzing means for adapting the terminal&#39;s interaction with the user in response to the user&#39;s emotional state.  
           [0005]    The sensing means may be implemented using a contact device, but more preferably, using a non-contact device.  
           [0006]    Where a contact device is used, the sensing means may comprise a touch area incorporating sensors for determining the user&#39;s skin temperature, pulse rate, blood pressure, skin conductivity, and such like physiological data. A suitable touch area may be implemented by a device developed by IBM (trade mark) and called an “emotion mouse”.  
           [0007]    Where a non-contact device is used, and the terminal includes speech input, the sensing means may be implemented by a voice monitoring system for detecting changes in a user&#39;s voice. Additionally or alternatively, the sensing means may be implemented by facial recognition to detect changes in the user&#39;s facial appearance during a transaction. The sensing means may be implemented using an iris camera for imaging the user&#39;s iris and for detecting changes within the iris, such as changes to blood vessels, and such like. The sensing means may be implemented by a gesture recognition system.  
           [0008]    The analyzing means may be implemented by any convenient algorithm for deducing a person&#39;s emotional state from physiological measurements taken from the person. An overview of such algorithms is given in chapter 6 of “Affective Computing” by Rosalind W Picard, MIT Press, 1997, ISBN 0-262-16170-2.  
           [0009]    The control means may be implemented by a control application executing on the terminal. The control application may present a user with a sequence of screens to guide the user through a transaction. The control application may determine which screens are to be shown to the user in response to the user&#39;s emotional state as deduced by the analyzing algorithm.  
           [0010]    The term “screen” is used herein to denote the graphics, text, controls (such as menu options), and such like, that are displayed on an SST display; the term “screen” as used herein does not refer to the hardware (for example, the LCD, CRT, or touchscreen) that displays the graphics, text, controls, and such like. Typically, when a transaction is being entered at an SST, a series of screens are presented in succession on the SST display. For example, a first screen may request a user to insert a card, a second screen may invite the user to enter his/her personal identification number (PIN), a third screen may invite the user to select a transaction, and so on.  
           [0011]    By virtue of this aspect of the invention, the terminal is able to sense physiological data from a user during a transaction, analyze the data, and determine what to present to the user to comply with the user&#39;s emotional state. For example, the terminal may determine what transaction options to present, whether to present advertising or marketing material, if advertising is to be presented then what advertisements to present, for how long the advertisement is to last, at what point in the transaction the advertisement is to be shown, and such like.  
           [0012]    Thus, the user&#39;s experience at the SST can be improved by personalizing a transaction to the user&#39;s emotional state. For example, if a user feels insecure then the SST may:  
           [0013]    highlight to the user alternative SST locations at which they user may feel more secure;  
           [0014]    display a message regarding privacy and trust to reassure the user that the transaction is secure and that the transaction provider is one that the user can trust to keep user information private;  
           [0015]    give the user an option of more time to select a transaction option.  
           [0016]    The SST can improve the transaction provider&#39;s marketing and advertising efficiency by targeting advertisements that are known to be more effective for a particular emotional state. For example, if the user is in a happy mood and relaxed then the user might be receptive to advertising and the SST may:  
           [0017]    present humorous advertisements, and/or  
           [0018]    have a longer transaction sequence to provide more advertising time.  
           [0019]    The SST may record a user&#39;s emotional experience so that future transactions conducted by that user are automatically personalized. For example, if the user is not in a relaxed mood then the user might be irritated by advertising and the SST may:  
           [0020]    adapt the transaction to have no advertising during that transaction, or  
           [0021]    go to a customized quick transaction flow for that user the next time they use the SST.  
           [0022]    If the SST detects particular emotional states of users, then the SST may invoke extra security measures to improve security for both the users and the SST provider. For example, if the user was detected as being under a great deal of stress then this may indicate that the user is executing a transaction under duress, or the user may be using a stolen transaction token (such as a magnetic stripe card). These extreme types of emotional states could trigger additional security measures at the SST, such as:  
           [0023]    more security photographs being taken; and/or  
           [0024]    security information being requested from the user.  
           [0025]    In one embodiment the SST is an ATM.  
           [0026]    According to a second aspect of the present invention there is provided a method of operating a self-service terminal, the method comprising the steps of: sensing physiological data associated with a user of the terminal, analyzing the physiological data to deduce the user&#39;s emotional state, and adapting the terminal&#39;s interaction with the user in response to the user&#39;s emotional state. 
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0027]    These and other aspects of the present invention will be apparent from the following specific description, given by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:  
         [0028]    [0028]FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a self-service terminal according to one embodiment of the present invention;  
         [0029]    [0029]FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a part (the controller) of the terminal of FIG. 1;  
         [0030]    [0030]FIGS. 3A to  3 F illustrate a sequence of screens presented to one user of the terminal of FIG. 1; and  
         [0031]    [0031]FIGS. 4A to  4 H illustrate a sequence of screens presented to another user of the terminal of FIG. 1. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION  
       [0032]    Reference is now made to FIG. 1, which illustrates an SST  10  in the form of an ATM being operated by a user  12 .  
         [0033]    The ATM  10  includes a user interface  14  for outputting information to a user and for allowing a user to input information. The ATM  10  also includes sensing means  16  in the form of a camera module  18  (that includes facial recognition software), a touch plate module  20  (implemented by an “emotion mouse”), and a microphone module  22  (that includes voice recognition software).  
         [0034]    The user interface  14  is a molded fascia incorporating: a display module  30 , an encrypting keypad module  32 , and a plurality of slots aligned with modules located behind the fascia. The slots include a card entry/exit slot (not shown) that aligns with a magnetic card reader/writer (MCRW) module  36 , a printer slot (not shown) that aligns with a printer module  38 , and a cash dispense slot (not shown) that aligns with a cash dispense module  40 .  
         [0035]    The ATM  10  also includes an internal journal printer module  50  for creating a record of all transactions executed by the ATM  10 , an ATM controller module  52  for controlling the operation of the various modules ( 18  to  50 ), and a network connection module  54  for communicating with a remote transaction host (not shown) for authorizing transactions. All of the modules ( 18  to  54 ) within the ATM  12  are interconnected by an internal bus  56  for securely conveying data.  
         [0036]    The ATM controller module  52  is shown in more detail in FIG. 2. The controller  52  comprises a BIOS  60  stored in non-volatile memory, a microprocessor  62 , associated main memory  64 , and storage space  66  in the form of a magnetic disk drive.  
         [0037]    In use, the ATM  12  loads an operating system kernel  70 , an ATM application program  72 , and a data analyzing program  74  into the main memory  64 .  
         [0038]    The ATM application program  72  is used to control the operation of the ATM  12 . In particular, the ATM application program  72 : provides the sequence of screens used in each transaction (referred to as the application flow); monitors the condition of each module within the ATM (state of health monitoring); and interfaces with the analyzing program  74 .  
         [0039]    The analyzing program  74  implements a discriminant function analysis model for analyzing data received from the sensor modules  18  to  22 ; however, any other convenient analyzing program may be used. The analyzing program  74  processes data received from one or more of the sensor modules (camera  18 , touch plate  20 , or microphone  22 ) to deduce the emotional state of the user  12 .  
         [0040]    The analyzing program  74  selects an emotion category that is the closest match to the user&#39;s emotional state, and outputs a code representing this category to the ATM application program  72 . In this embodiment, the categories are: anger, hurriedness, fear, happiness, sadness, and surprise.  
         [0041]    The ATM application program  72  receives this code and adapts the transaction flow according to the emotional state represented by this code. This is implemented by the ATM application program  72  accessing a stored look-up table (not shown) having an index entry for each code. Each code in the look-up table has a unique transaction flow associated with it.  
         [0042]    An example of a typical transaction at the ATM  10  will now be described with reference to FIGS. 3A to  3 F, which illustrate the sequence of screens presented to the user  12 .  
         [0043]    When the user  12  approaches the ATM  10  he is presented with a welcome screen  80   a  (FIG. 3A) on display  30  inviting him to insert his card. After inserting his card, the user  12  is presented with a screen  80   b  (FIG. 3B) inviting him to enter his PIN, and the ATM application program  72  activates the sensors  18  to  22  to capture physiological data about the user  12 .  
         [0044]    The ATM application receives data from the sensors  18  to  22  and conveys this data to the data analyzing program  74 . Data analyzing program  74  processes the received data, deduces the user&#39;s emotional state from the data, generates a category code representing the user&#39;s emotional state, and conveys this code to the ATM application program  72 . The ATM application program  72  accesses the look-up table (not shown) using the category code received from the data analyzing program  74  to determine what sequence of screens should be presented to the user  12 . In this example, the user&#39;s state is hurriedness, so the sequence of screens is that for the shortest possible transaction time.  
         [0045]    The ATM application program  72  then presents the user  12  with a screen  80   c  (FIG. 3C) listing transaction options available. After the user  12  has selected the withdraw cash option, the ATM application  72  presents the user with a screen  80   d  (FIG. 3D) indicating cash amounts available. Once the user has selected a cash amount, the ATM application authorizes the transaction, presents a screen  80   e  (FIG. 3E) inviting the user to remove his card, then a screen  80   f  (FIG. 3F) inviting the user to remove the requested cash.  
         [0046]    An example of a typical transaction at the ATM  10  will now be described with reference to FIGS. 4A to  4 H, which illustrate the sequence of screens presented to another user (or the same user as for FIGS. 3A to  3 F but in a different emotional state).  
         [0047]    When the user approaches the ATM  10  he is presented with a welcome screen  82   a  (FIG. 4A) on display  30  inviting him to insert his card. After inserting his card, the user is presented with a screen  82   b  (FIG. 4B) inviting him to enter his PIN, and the ATM application program  72  activates the sensors  18  to  22  to capture physiological data about the user.  
         [0048]    As in the previous example, the ATM application  72  receives data from the sensors  18  to  22  and conveys this data to the data analyzing program  74 . Data analyzing program  74  processes the received data, deduces the user&#39;s emotional state from the data, generates a category code representing the user&#39;s emotional state, and conveys this code to the ATM application program  72 . The ATM application program  72  accesses its look-up table (not shown) using the category code received from the data analyzing program  74  to determine what sequence of screens should be presented to the user. In this example, the user&#39;s state is happiness, so the sequence of screens includes an advertisement for a holiday, and promotional material for a loan.  
         [0049]    The ATM application program  72  then presents the user with a screen  82   c  (FIG. 4C) listing transaction options available. After the user has selected the withdraw cash option, the ATM application  72  presents the user with a screen  82   d  (FIG. 4D) indicating cash amounts available.  
         [0050]    Once the user has selected a cash amount, the ATM application  72  authorizes the transaction, and presents the user with a screen  82   e  (FIG. 4E) incorporating a video  84  (in MPEG format) advertising a holiday, the screen  82   e  also includes text  86  informing the user that the requested transaction is being authorized.  
         [0051]    Once the video (which lasts approximately four seconds) has finished, the ATM application  72  then presents the user with a screen  82   f  (FIG. 4F) incorporating promotional material  88  for a loan.  
         [0052]    The ATM application  72  then presents a screen  82   g  (FIG. 4G) inviting the user to remove his card, and once the card has been removed, a screen  82   h  (FIG. 4H) inviting the user to remove the requested cash.  
         [0053]    It will be appreciated that this embodiment has the advantage that a user is presented with a transaction sequence that is most likely to fulfil the user&#39;s expectations by matching a transaction to the user&#39;s emotional state.  
         [0054]    Various modifications may be made to the above described embodiment within the scope of the invention, for example, in other embodiments, the user may be asked to touch the touch plate  20  at the beginning of the transaction so that the touch plate can collect physiological data from the user&#39;s hand. In other embodiments, multiple algorithms may be used to implement the analyzing program  74 , one for each sensor module  18  to  22 . In other embodiments, different sensors may be used. In other embodiments, the touch plate sensor may be implemented on the keys of the encrypting keypad so that physiological measurements can be taken while the user is entering his PIN or other transaction details. In other embodiments, the user&#39;s emotional state may be continually monitored during the transaction flow so that the transaction flow may be changed at any point in response to the user&#39;s emotional state; for example, an advertisement may be stopped if a user&#39;s emotional state changes from being happy or relaxed to being unhappy or angry. In other embodiments, different emotional states may be categorized than those described in the above embodiment.

Technology Classification (CPC): 0