System and Method for Delivering a Human Interactive Proof to the Visually Impaired by Means of Semantic Association of Objects

A system for restricting access to a computer system, resource, or network to live persons, and for preventing the execution of automated scripts via an interface intended for human interaction by means of a reverse Turing test that exploits the semantic, symbolic, and contextual associations humans instinctively form between objects, and which is accessible to the visually impaired, the system comprising:

• a) A computer system, resource, or network on which protected applications or data are resident, herein described as a Subscribing System or Server;
• b) A Challenge/Response Agent, comprising a storage medium containing machine readable instructions which are executable by a computing platform and resident on a server;
• said Agent creating and managing a session each time a protected resource is requested by an unknown Petitioning Agent, and which allows or denies access to the requested resource, system, or network based on the outcome of a test designed to determine whether or not the Petitioning Agent is a human user;
• c) A Test Creation Engine, comprising a storage medium containing machine readable instructions which are executable by a computing platform, said Engine creating a unique test for each verification session, based on a combination of configurable and random parameters;
• d) An apparatus comprising non-volatile memory containing an Images Database containing a plurality of random images;
• e) An apparatus comprising non-volatile memory containing a Semantic Context Database, containing a plurality of metadata associated with the unique ID of each image in the Images Database;
• f) An apparatus comprising non-volatile memory containing a database in which is stored a plurality of random audio waveforms;
• g) A Localization Engine, comprising a storage medium containing machine readable instructions which are executable by a computing platform, said Engine creating a localized instruction string to guide the Petitioning Agent in completing the test;
• h) An Image Composition Engine, comprising a storage medium containing machine readable instructions which are executable by a computing platform, said Engine composing the images selected for a test into a single composite image, based on a combination of configurable and random parameters;
• i) A Text-to-Speech Engine, comprising a storage medium containing machine readable instructions which are executable by a computing platform, said Engine converting labels associated with objects selected for a test into a digital data format representing spoken word audio wave forms;
• j) An Audio Assembly Service, comprising a storage medium containing machine readable instructions which are executable by a computing platform, said Service composing audio wave forms generated by the Text-to-Speech engine into a digital data format representing a single blended audio wave form;
• k) A Client-Side Test Application, comprising machine readable instructions which are executable by a computing platform which is executed on the local computer of the Petitioning Agent;
• l) A Test Evaluation Engine, comprising a storage medium containing machine readable instructions which are executable by a computing platform, which examines the results returned by the Client-Side Test Application, and returns a pass or fail result to the Challenge/Response Agent.