Security First Corporation

Ethentica, Inc.

Andrew Cole

Alexander G Dickinson

Brian Douglas Berger

Ronald S Smith

Paul F Vachris

Steven J Marteney

Fredric F Derwitsch

Gregory A Mullins

John A McMorris, Iii

Shahin Hadjiabadi

An interface card includes a housing sized for reception by a host system, for example, a laptop computer. A sensor is movably connected to the housing and has a first position in which the sensor receives a relief object and generates an electronic representation of the relief object, and a second position in which the sensor is inactive. An interface module is coupled to the sensor and configured to provide for communications between the interface card and the host system.

Relief object sensor adaptor

A system and method for using a relief object image generator for cursor control, computer access control, and operational parameter control is disclosed. The system includes a relief object image generator, a sensor array, an image processor, and a memory. The relief object image generator generates images of relief objects, such as fingerprints, brought in proximity of the exposed surface of the image generator. The image processor receives the image from the sensor array, processes the image, and compares the resulting descriptive information to stored information corresponding to authorized users. If a match is found, the user is granted access to the computer. The image processor may also process the image to determine image movement or the image's presence or absence. Detected movement is used to generate directional signals while the presence and abserice of the image is used to generate highlight and select signals. These signals conform to those generated by known mouse devices so the system of the present invention can replace a position variable device in the keyboard of a laptop or other portable computer without sacrificing functionality for the system. Other uses of the system disclosed herein include control of operational parameters for a device such as brightness and contrast for a monitor and the transmission of relief object images to remote sites for authentication of a user.

Method and system for computer access and cursor control using a relief object image generator

Growing community of inventors

Palm Bay, FL, United States of America

Andrew Cole