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Method and apparatus for rolling enrollment for signature verificationRelated Patent Categories: Image Analysis, Applications, Personnel Identification (e.g., Biometrics), Using A SignatureMethod and apparatus for rolling enrollment for signature verification description/claimsThe Patent Description & Claims data below is from USPTO Patent Application 20070177773, Method and apparatus for rolling enrollment for signature verification. Brief Patent Description - Full Patent Description - Patent Application Claims
FIELD OF THE INVENTION [0001] This present invention generally relates to signature verification systems and, more particularly, to improved techniques for adapting such systems to natural signature variations. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0002] Signature verification is a commonly used biometric authentication method. Compared with other forms of biometric authentication such as fingerprint or iris verification, signature verification has the advantage that it is a historically well-established and well-accepted approbation method and is thus perceived to be less intrusive than modern alternatives. This property makes it particularly attractive to applications in banking, retail and hospitality industries. [0003] Signature verification is divided into two main areas: static (offline) signature verification where signature samples are optically scanned into image representations, and dynamic (online) signature verification where signature samples are collected from a digitizing tablet capable of recording pen movements during writing. [0004] In general, the process of signature verification involves comparing a new signature submitted for testing to a set of previously collected reference signatures to determine whether the new signature is authentic. Having a set of references that captures the natural variation among different authentic signatures of the same subject is crucial for a verification system to operate effectively. [0005] In existing systems, a number of signature samples (typically five to ten) are collected in one enrollment session and used as reference samples. However, there are a number of drawbacks with this scheme. [0006] First, in some applications such as retail, collecting many samples during one enrollment session puts an undue burden on customers. Ideally, the number of signature samples collected during initial enrollment should be limited to no more than three. [0007] Second, even if more samples can be collected during enrollment, samples collected in one session are typically not very representative of the natural variation exhibited by most signers. Often, a larger degree of variation is observed on samples collected from different sessions with long breaks (i.e., days) in between. Furthermore, it is known that samples collected in one session can not capture the "drift" (i.e., a slow shifting of style over a period of time) which is also common among signers. [0008] One known solution to these problems is to first collect the reference samples over several enrollment sessions to capture the current range of variation, then have periodic "re-enrollment" sessions (e.g., once a year) to capture the signature drift. However, this is not very practical because of the extra burden placed on the customers. [0009] Another known solution is to add to the reference set, at a time during or after the regular authentication (e.g., sign-in verification) process, any signature sample that produced a high enough score during verification. However, this policy is not very effective since setting the threshold too high will only allow the addition of samples that are very close to the initial reference samples, thus defeating the purpose of capturing more variation; while setting it too low will increase the risk of adding forgeries, thus polluting the reference set. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION [0010] Principles of the present invention are directed toward improved techniques for adapting signature verification systems to natural signature variations. [0011] In one aspect of the invention, a technique for adapting a signature verification system to variations in a signature of a user comprises the following steps/operations. One or more signature samples are obtained from the user. The one or more obtained signature samples are submitted by the user as part of a regular authentication procedure associated with the signature verification system. A reference set of signature samples for the user is updated through selection of one or more signature samples from the obtained signature samples, such that the updated reference set is usable by the signature verification system for verifying subsequent signature samples attributed to the user. The selection of the one or more signature samples used to update the reference set is conditioned on a false rejection rate of the user when at least one obtained signature sample of the user is authenticated and on an identification check when no obtained signature sample is authenticated. [0012] These and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of illustrative embodiments thereof, which is to be read in connection with the accompanying drawings. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS [0013] FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a signature verification system, according to an embodiment of the invention; and [0014] FIG. 2 is a flow diagram illustrating a signature verification methodology, according to an embodiment of the invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS [0015] The following description will illustrate the invention using an exemplary data processing system architecture. It should be understood, however, that the invention is not limited to use with any particular processing system architecture. The invention is instead more generally applicable to any processing system in which it would be desirable to improve the ability of a signature verification system to adapt to natural signature variations. [0016] As will be illustratively explained herein, the present invention provides a process to improve the performance of a signature verification system and enable the system to adapt to natural signature variations by dynamically supplementing and updating subject reference samples in a non-intrusive manner through the selection of representative samples collected during regular authentication sessions. That is, the invention provides a technique for updating the reference set in a non-intrusive manner, without extra effort on the part of the users, while at the same time selecting only the samples that are most likely to be representative. [0017] Such an inventive technique, referred to herein as "rolling enrollment," enables a signature verification system to dynamically supplement and update the initial reference set in a non-intrusive manner using samples that are collected during normal signature verification sessions. That is, in accordance with the invention, enrollment is passive in that it is performed, in the background, while the user is normally signing in to perform some transaction (e.g., retail or banking transaction), rather than via a separate, active enrollment process. However, it is to be understood that the techniques of the invention can also be utilized after an initial active enrollment process, wherein an initial reference set of signature samples is collected. The inventive process selects and updates the reference set, possibly each time the user regularly employs the system. [0018] Unlike existing schemes, verification policies of the invention add signature samples that do not produce a very high score during verification, thus more effectively capturing the signer variation. At the same time, the administration of these policies is fine tuned for each individual account based on its current false rejection (FR) rate to reduce the probability of reference set contamination through the addition of forgeries. False rejection is typically the situation wherein the signature verification system fails to verify the true owner of a signature based on that signature, while false acceptance (FA) is typically the situation wherein the system verifies an imposter based on a false or forged signature. [0019] Before illustratively describing specific steps of the inventive technique, an overview of a signature verification system is given in the context of FIG. 1. Continue reading about Method and apparatus for rolling enrollment for signature verification... 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