IP Library Granted Patent US 12,192,635
Granted Patent B2
US 12,192,635 · App. 18/432,944 · Granted Jan 7, 2025

Controlling a two-dimensional mirror gimbal for purposes of iris scanning

Inventors: Sandro Herbig (Erlangen, DE); Auguste Pugnet (Erlangen, DE); Alex Blania (Erlangen, DE); Fabian Bodensteiner (Erlangen, DE); Christian Brendel (Erlangen, DE); Tobias Weidner (Erlangen, DE); Cyrus Tabrizi (Erlangen, DE); Saturnin Pugnet (Erlangen, DE); Johannes Thäter (Erlangen, DE); Daniel Haertsfelder (Erlangen, DE)
Assignee: Worldcoin Foundation
H04N23/695G03B17/561G03B17/565G06V40/171G06V40/19G06V40/193H04N13/25
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 12,192,635
App. No.
18/432,944
Granted
Jan 7, 2025
Kind
B2
Abstract

An iris scanning device includes a first camera that captures an image of a face of a user and a second camera that captures an image of an eye of the user subsequent to the image of the face being captured. The iris scanning device includes a gimbal having a mirror mounted thereon and a facial feature detector that identifies facial features of the user based upon the image of the face. The iris scanning device further includes control circuitry that adjusts an orientation of the gimbal based upon the facial features, where the image of the eye is captured upon the orientation of the gimbal being adjusted, and where the mirror mounted on the gimbal is oriented to cause the image of the eye to be captured. An iris of the eye of the user may be located in a central region of the image of the eye.

Claims (64)

1. An iris scanning device, comprising:

a gimbal having a mirror mounted thereon;

a camera;

control circuitry configured to orient the gimbal having the mirror mounted thereon such that an image of an eye of a user of the iris scanning device is captured, wherein the gimbal is oriented such that an angle between the eye of the user and the mirror mounted on the gimbal causes the image of the eye of the user to be captured by the camera; and

a facial feature detector configured to:

identify features of the eye of the user from the image of the eye of the user; and

determine whether the image of the eye of the user satisfies criteria based upon the features of the eye;

wherein the control circuitry is further configured to adjust the orientation of the gimbal having the mirror mounted thereon based upon the features of the eye when the image of the eye of the user does not satisfy the criteria, wherein the mirror mounted on the gimbal is oriented to cause a second image of the eye of the user to be captured by the camera upon the orientation being adjusted based upon the features of the eye.

2. The iris scanning device of claim 1 , wherein the criteria comprises a representation of an iris of the eye being located in a central region of the image of the eye.

3. The iris scanning device of claim 1 , wherein the criteria comprises a representation of an entirety of the eye being located in the image of the eye.

4. The iris scanning device of claim 1 , wherein the criteria comprises an area occupied by a representation of an iris of the eye being greater than a threshold area within the image of the eye.

5. The iris scanning device of claim 1 , wherein the criteria comprises a sharpness of the image of the eye being greater than a threshold sharpness.

6. The iris scanning device of claim 1 , wherein a code is generated based upon the image of the eye of the user when the image of the eye satisfies the criteria.

7. The iris scanning device of claim 1 , wherein:

the facial feature detector is further configured to:

identify second features of the eye of the user from the second image of the eye of the user; and

determine whether the second image of the eye of the user satisfies the criteria based upon the second features of the eye; and

a code is generated based upon the second image of the eye of the user when the second image of the eye satisfies the criteria.

8. The iris scanning device of claim 1 , further comprising:

a processor; and

memory, wherein the facial feature detector is at least partially implemented in software stored in the memory, wherein the processor executes the software to identify the features of the eye of the user from the image of the eye of the user and determine whether the image of the eye of the user satisfies the criteria based upon the features of the eye.

9. The iris scanning device of claim 1 , further comprising:

a processor; and

memory, wherein the control circuitry is at least partially implemented in software stored in the memory.

10. The iris scanning device of claim 1 , further comprising:

a differing camera configured to capture an image of a face of the user;

wherein the facial feature detector is further configured to:

identify facial features of the user based upon the image of the face of the user; and

predict a location of the eye of the user based upon the facial features of the user; and

wherein the control circuitry is further configured to orient the gimbal having the mirror mounted thereon based on the predicted location of the eye of the user to capture the image of the eye of the user.

11. The iris scanning device of claim 1 , wherein the camera captures a video stream of the eye of the user, and wherein the video stream comprises the image of the eye of the user and the second image of the eye of the user.

12. The iris scanning device of claim 1 , further comprising:

a feedback element configured to output an indication signifying that the image of the eye of the user satisfies the criteria, wherein the feedback element outputs the indication responsive to the facial feature detector determining that the image of the eye of the user satisfies the criteria based upon the image of the eye.

13. The iris scanning device of claim 12 , wherein the feedback element comprises at least one of a speaker, a light emitting diode, or a haptic feedback device.

14. The iris scanning device of claim 1 , wherein the camera is configured to capture the image of the eye of the user while a lens of the camera of the iris scanning device is at a distance in a range from 15 cm to 50 cm from the eye of the user.

15. The iris scanning device of claim 1 , wherein the camera is configured to capture the image of the eye of the user while the iris scanning device is held in one or more hands of the user.

16. A method performed by an iris scanning device, comprising:

orienting a gimbal having a mirror mounted thereon based on an angle between an eye of a user of the iris scanning device and the mirror mounted on the gimbal;

capturing an image of the eye of the user of the iris scanning device via a camera of the iris scanning device, wherein the gimbal is oriented such that the angle between the eye of the user and the mirror mounted on the gimbal causes the image of the eye of the user to be captured by the camera;

identifying features of the eye of the user from the image of the eye of the user;

determining whether the image of the eye of the user satisfies criteria based upon the features of the eye; and

when the image of the eye does not satisfy the criteria:

adjusting the orientation of the gimbal having the mirror mounted thereon based upon the features of the eye; and

capturing a second image of the eye of the user via the camera, wherein the mirror mounted on the gimbal is oriented to cause the second image of the eye of the user to be captured by the camera upon the orientation being adjusted based upon the features of the eye.

17. The method of claim 16 , further comprising:

generating a code based upon the image of the eye of the user when the image of the eye satisfies the criteria.

18. The method of claim 16 , further comprising:

identifying second features of the eye of the user from the second image of the eye of the user;

determining whether the second image of the eye of the user satisfies the criteria based upon the second features of the eye; and

generating a code based upon the second image of the eye of the user when the second image of the eye satisfies the criteria.

19. The method of claim 16 , further comprising:

capturing an image of a face of the user via a differing camera;

identifying facial features of the user based upon the image of the face of the user; and

predicting a location of the eye of the user based upon the facial features of the user; and

wherein the gimbal having the mirror mounted thereon is oriented based on the predicted location of the eye of the user to capture the image of the eye of the user.

20. An iris scanning device, comprising:

a gimbal having a mirror mounted thereon;

a camera;

a processor; and

memory that stores computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to perform acts comprising:

controlling the gimbal having the mirror mounted thereon to be oriented such that an image of an eye of a user of the iris scanning device is captured, wherein the gimbal is oriented such that an angle between the eye of the user and the mirror mounted on the gimbal causes the image of the eye of the user to be captured by the camera;

identifying features of the eye of the user from the image of the eye of the user;

determining whether the image of the eye of the user satisfies criteria based upon the features of the eye; and

controlling the gimbal having the mirror mounted thereon to adjust the orientation based upon the features of the eye when the image of the eye of the user does not satisfy the criteria, wherein the mirror mounted on the gimbal is oriented to cause a second image of the eye of the user to be captured by the camera upon the orientation being adjusted based upon the features of the eye.

Assignments (2)
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Apr 29, 2024
From: TOOLS FOR HUMANITY CORPORATION
To: WORLDCOIN FOUNDATION
Reel/Frame 067258/0079 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Feb 6, 2024
From: HERBIG, SANDRO; PUGNET, AUGUSTE; BLANIA, ALEX; BODENSTEINER, FABIAN; BRENDEL, CHRISTIAN; WEIDNER, TOBIAS; TABRIZI, CYRUS; PUGNET, SATURNIN; THÄTER, JOHANNES; HAERTSFELDER, DANIEL
To: TOOLS FOR HUMANITY CORPORATION
Reel/Frame 066390/0456 →
Priority Claims (1)
EP 21193124 · Aug 25, 2021 · regional
Continuity (2)
Continuation 17458303 · Aug 26, 2021
Related Publication 20240179414A1 · May 30, 2024
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