User authentication using variant illumination

1. A method, comprising:

identifying a level of ambient light in an area associated with an information handling device;

determining whether the level of ambient light in the area exceeds a predetermined threshold level;

notifying, responsive to determining that the level of ambient light in the area exceeds the predetermined threshold level, a user of the information handling device that a user authentication process cannot be initiated and instructing the user to relocate to another location at which the level of ambient light does not exceed the predetermined threshold level;

initiating, responsive to determining that the level of ambient light in the area does not exceed the predetermined threshold level, a user authentication process, wherein the user authentication process comprises:

providing, using light emitted from a display screen integrally coupled to the information handling device, illumination on an object, wherein the illumination is visible light and is provided at a specific color, wherein the providing the illumination comprises providing the illumination using at least two variant illumination sets and wherein the specific color associated with each set from the at least two variant illumination sets is unique;

capturing, using a sensor operatively coupled to the information handling device, illumination reflectance from the object, wherein the illumination reflectance comprises behavioral characteristics of how the visible light reflects off of the object and wherein the capturing comprises capturing the illumination reflectance from each of the at least two variant illumination sets;

determining, using a processor and based on the illumination reflectance from each of the at least two variant illumination sets, whether the object is associated with a human user and whether the human user is an authorized user, wherein the determining comprises:

accessing a data store of known behavioral characteristics for the illumination reflectance of the illumination for each specific color reflecting from a human; and

determining, via comparing the captured behavioral characteristics for the illumination reflectance for each set in the at least two variant illumination sets against each other and with reference to the data store of known behavioral characteristics, whether the object is associated with the human user; and

authenticating, responsive to determining that the object is associated with the human user and that the human user is an authorized user, the human user.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the illumination condition is at least one condition selected from the group consisting of illumination color and illumination brightness.

3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising performing, responsive to determining that the object is associated with a human user, facial feature identification to determine whether the human user is the authorized user.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the determining comprises comparing the captured illumination reflectance to a database comprising a known illumination reflectance of the authorized user.

5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising granting the authenticated user access to requested content.

6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising identifying an ambient light level and, responsive to determining that the ambient light level is brighter than a predetermined threshold, increasing a brightness of the light source by a predetermined factor.

7. An information handling device, comprising:

a display screen;

a sensor;

a processor;

a memory device that stores instructions executable by the processor to:

identify a level of ambient light in an area associated with an information handling device;

determine whether the level of ambient light in the area exceeds a predetermined threshold level;

notify, responsive to determining that the level of ambient light in the area exceeds the predetermined threshold level, a user of the information handling device that a user authentication process cannot be initiated and instructing the user to relocate to another location at which the level of ambient light does not exceed the predetermined threshold level;

initiate, responsive to determining that the level of ambient light in the area does not exceed the predetermined threshold level, a user authentication process, wherein the instructions executable by the processor to initiate the user authentication process comprise instructions executable by the processor to:

provide illumination on an object using light emitted from the display screen, wherein the illumination is visible light and is provided at a specific color, wherein the providing the illumination comprises providing the illumination using at least two variant illumination sets and wherein the specific color associated with each set from the at least two variant illumination sets is unique;

capture illumination reflectance from the object, wherein the illumination reflectance comprises behavioral characteristics of how the visible light reflected off of the object and wherein the capturing comprises capturing the illumination reflectance from each of the at least two variant illumination sets;

determine, based on the illumination reflectance from each of the at least two variant illumination sets, whether the object is associated with a human user and whether the human user is an authorized user, wherein the instructions executable by the processor to determine comprise instructions executable by the processor to:

access a data store of known behavioral characteristics for the illumination reflectance of the illumination for each specific color reflecting from a human; and

determine, via comparing the captured behavioral characteristics for the illumination reflectance for each set in the at least two variant illumination sets against each other and with reference to the data store of known behavioral characteristics, whether the object is associated with the human user; and

authenticate the human user responsive to determining that the object is associated with the human user and that the human user is an authorized user.

8. The information handling device of claim 7 , wherein the illumination condition is at least one condition selected from the group consisting of illumination color and illumination brightness.

9. The information handling device of claim 7 , wherein the instructions are further executable by the processor to perform, responsive to determining that the object is associated with a human user, facial feature identification to determine whether the human user is an authorized user.

10. The information handling device of claim 7 , wherein the instructions executable by the processor to determine comprise instructions executable by the processor to compare the captured illumination reflectance to a database comprising a known illumination reflectance of an authorized user.

11. The information handling device of claim 7 , wherein the instructions are further executable by the processor to identify an ambient light level and, responsive to determining that the ambient light level is brighter than a predetermined threshold, increase a brightness of the light source by a predetermined factor.

12. A product, comprising:

a storage device that stores code, the code being executable by a processor and comprising:

code that identifies a level of ambient light in an area associated with an information handling device;

code that determines whether the level of ambient light in the area exceeds a predetermined threshold level;

code that notifies, responsive to determining that the level of ambient light in the area exceeds the predetermined threshold level, a user of the information handling device that a user authentication process cannot be initiated and code that instructs the user to relocate to another location at which the level of ambient light does not exceed the predetermined threshold level;

code that initiates, responsive to determining that the level of ambient light in the area does not exceed the predetermined threshold level, a user authentication process, wherein the code that initiates user authentication process comprises:

code that provides illumination on a object using light emitted from a display screen, wherein the illumination is visible light and is provided at a specific color, wherein the providing the illumination comprises providing the illumination using at least two variant illumination sets and wherein the specific color associated with each set from the at least two variant illumination sets is unique;

code that captures illumination reflectance from the object, wherein the illumination reflectance comprises behavioral characteristics of how the visible light reflected off of the object and wherein the capturing comprises capturing the illumination reflectance from each of the at least two variant illumination sets;

code that determines, based on the illumination reflectance from each of the at least two variant illumination sets, whether the object is associated with a human user and whether the human user is an authorized user, wherein the code that determines comprises:

code that accesses a data store of known behavioral characteristics for the illumination reflectance of the illumination for each specific color reflecting from a human; and

code that determines, via comparing compares the known behavioral characteristics to the captured behavioral characteristics for the illumination reflectance for each set in the at least two variant illumination sets against each other and with reference to the data store of known behavioral characteristics, whether the object is associated with the human user; and

code that authenticates the human user responsive to determining that the object is associated with the human user and that the human user is an authorized user.