Visualization of Access Information

Abstract

The present disclosure involves a method. The method involves: receiving a request to access a resource; retrieving contextual information from the request; and dynamically associating an object with the retrieved contextual information, the object having at least one of: an audio component and a visual component that represent the contextual information in an auditory manner and a visual manner, respectively. The present disclosure also involves a system. The system involves: means for receiving a request to access a resource; means for retrieving contextual information from the request; means for associating an object with the retrieved contextual information, the object having at least one of: an audio component and a visual component that convey the contextual information in an auditory manner and a visual manner, respectively; and means for communicating the object to an entity, wherein the entity is selected from the group consisting of: a machine that is making the request, a user whose account is to be accessed by the request, and a representative of the user.

1 . A method, comprising:
 receiving a request to access a resource;   retrieving contextual information from the request; and   dynamically associating an object with the retrieved contextual information, the object having at least one of: an audio component and a visual component that represent the contextual information in an auditory manner and a visual manner, respectively.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the receiving, the retrieving, and the associating are each carried out using a computer hardware device containing software instructions. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising: communicating the object to an entity. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein the entity is selected from the group consisting of: a machine that is making the request, a user whose account is to be accessed by the request, and a representative of the user. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 4 , wherein the user and the representative of the user are the same entity. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein the communicating the object comprises displaying the object to the entity. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 6 , wherein the entity is one who is asking for authorization to grant its request to access the resource. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the resource comprises a user's account. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the contextual information comprises at least one of the following:
 information indicating a geographical location from which the request is sent;   information indicating a service provider used to send the request;   information indicating a type of hardware device used to send the request; and   information indicating a configuration of software used to send the request.   
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the contextual information comprises historical access information associated with a user. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the retrieving comprises performing at least one of the following actions:
 performing a Media Access Control (MAC) address lookup;   performing a reverse IP address lookup; and   communicating with a browser.   
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the associating comprises at least one of the following actions:
 automatically assigning a publicly-known representation of the retrieved contextual information as the object; and   prompting a user to upload a user-defined item and assigning the user-defined item as the object.   
     
     
         13 . An apparatus comprising a non-transitory, tangible computer readable storage medium storing a computer program, wherein the computer program has instructions that when executed, carry out:
 receiving a request to access a resource;   retrieving contextual information from the request; and   dynamically associating an object with the retrieved contextual information, the object having at least one of: an audio component and a visual component that represent the contextual information in an auditory manner and a visual manner, respectively.   
     
     
         14 . The apparatus of  claim 13 , wherein the computer program comprises further instructions that when executed, carry out communicating the object to an entity. 
     
     
         15 . The apparatus of  claim 14 , wherein the entity is selected from the group consisting of: a machine that is making the request, a user whose account is to be accessed by the request, and a representative of the user. 
     
     
         16 . The apparatus of  claim 14 , wherein the instructions for communicating the object comprises instructions for displaying the object to the entity. 
     
     
         17 . The apparatus of  claim 13 , wherein the contextual information comprises at least one of the following:
 information indicating a geographical location from which the request is sent;   information indicating a service provider used to send the request;   information indicating a type of hardware device used to send the request; and   information indicating a configuration of software used to send the request.   
     
     
         18 . The apparatus of  claim 10 , wherein the contextual information comprises historical access information associated with a user. 
     
     
         19 . The apparatus of  claim 13 , wherein the instructions for the retrieving comprise instructions when executed, carry out at least one of the following actions:
 performing a Media Access Control (MAC) address lookup;   performing a reverse IP address lookup; and   communicating with a browser.   
     
     
         20 . The apparatus of  claim 13 , wherein the instructions for the associating comprise instructions that when executed, carry out at least one of the following actions:
 automatically assigning a publicly-known representation of the retrieved contextual information as the object; and   prompting a user to upload a user-defined item and assigning the user-defined item as the object.   
     
     
         21 . A system, comprising:
 means for receiving a request to access a resource;   means for retrieving contextual information from the request;   means for dynamically associating an object with the retrieved contextual information, the object having at least one of: an audio component and a visual component that conveys the contextual information in an auditory manner and a visual manner, respectively; and   means for communicating the object to an entity, wherein the entity is selected from the group consisting of: a machine that is making the request, a user whose account is to be accessed by the request, and a representative of the user.   
     
     
         22 . The system of  claim 21 , wherein the means for retrieving contextual information comprises means for retrieving at least one of the following:
 information indicating a geographical location from which the request is sent;   information indicating a service provider used to send the request;   information indicating a type of hardware device used to send the request; and   information indicating a configuration of software used to send the request.   
     
     
         23 . The system of  claim 21 , wherein the contextual information comprises historical access information associated with a user. 
     
     
         24 . The system of  claim 21 , wherein the means for associating the object comprises means for carrying out at least one of the following:
 performing a Media Access Control (MAC) address lookup;   performing a reverse IP address lookup; and   communicating with a browser.   
     
     
         25 . The system of  claim 21 , wherein the means for associating the object comprises means for carrying out at least one of the following:
 automatically assigning a publicly-known representation of the retrieved contextual information as the object; and   prompting a user to upload a user-defined item and assigning the user-defined item as the object.