Introduction
The Identity Engine is the system’s trust boundary. Vision can suggest who is present, but identity defines what that presence means. Without a strict identity model, personalization becomes unsafe and unpredictable. This engine translates recognition into controlled, meaningful interaction while preserving ownership and security.
Core Identity Model
The system operates with a strict hierarchy:
– Owner (root identity)
– Recognized guests
– Unknown presence
There are no peer users and no shared administration. This mirrors a root-based security model rather than a social platform.
Owner Identity
There is exactly one Owner. The Owner configures the system, enrolls identities, defines scenarios, manages API access, and owns all data. The Owner can audit logs, adjust thresholds, and disable modules. No other identity can modify system behavior. Ownership is explicit and non-transferable without reinitialization.
Recognized Guests
Guests are identified individuals with no permissions. They cannot access data, configure behavior, or trigger administrative actions. Their identity exists only to enable predefined scenarios. Recognition does not imply trust beyond what the Owner has explicitly defined.
Unknown Presence
Unknown individuals are treated neutrally. The system does not attempt identification, does not store embeddings, and does not trigger personalized scenarios. Unknown presence may optionally trigger generic actions such as a neutral greeting or no response at all.
Identity Resolution Flow
Identity resolution occurs only after the Vision Engine produces a candidate with sufficient confidence. The Identity Engine verifies:
– confidence threshold
– enrollment validity
– identity status (owner, guest, unknown)
Only then does it pass context to higher layers. Failed resolution results in an unknown identity state.
Scenario Concept
A scenario is a deterministic response template bound to an identity or event. Scenarios define how the assistant behaves, not what it decides. This separation prevents emergent or unintended behavior.
Scenario Structure
Each scenario may include:
– greeting text
– voice profile
– allowed information scope
– optional notifications
– automation triggers
Scenarios are static definitions evaluated at runtime. They do not modify themselves.
Examples
Owner scenario:
“Welcome back. You have two new emails and a scheduled meeting in one hour.”
Guest scenario:
“Hello John. Nice to see you.”
Unknown scenario:
No response or neutral acknowledgment.
Scenario Selection Rules
Only one scenario may be active at a time. Identity-based scenarios override time-based or ambient scenarios. Owner presence always supersedes guest presence. Ambiguous identity states fall back to unknown.
Security Guarantees
The Identity Engine enforces:
– no privilege escalation
– no dynamic permission grants
– no identity chaining
– no learning from behavior
This guarantees that the system cannot evolve into a multi-user or shared-control assistant unintentionally.
Auditability
All identity decisions are logged as metadata events without storing biometric data. Logs include timestamps, resolved identity category, and scenario selected. This enables review without exposing sensitive content.
Failure and Misidentification Handling
Misidentification is treated as a system fault, not user error. Conservative thresholds minimize false positives. When confidence is insufficient, the system defaults to unknown. It is always safer to miss recognition than to misidentify.
Integration with Other Engines
The Identity Engine outputs a clean context object: identity type, name (if applicable), and scenario reference. Dialogue and Automation Engines operate strictly within this context and cannot bypass identity constraints.
What Comes Next
With identity and trust boundaries defined, the next article focuses on the Scenario Engine in depth: designing scalable scenario logic, prioritization rules, and event-driven behavior without turning the assistant into an autonomous agent.
