Scenario-adaptive input method editor

• US 10,108,726 B2
• Filed: 06/22/2016
• Issued: 10/23/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 12/20/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Inventors: Scott, Matthew Robert, Hou, Huihua, Liu, Weipeng, Wei, Hao, Che, Chiwei, Changuion, Byron Huntley, Xu, Weijiang, Chen, Xi
• Primary Examiner(s): Bhargava, Anil K
• Application Number:
  US15/189,777
• Publication Number:
  US 20160299984A1
• Time in Patent Office: 853 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9535 Search customisation based on user profiles and personalisation
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9537 Spatial or temporal dependent retrieval, e.g. spatiotemporal queries
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/166 Editing, e.g. inserting or deleting
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/274 Converting codes to words; Guess-ahead of partial word inputs

Abstract

An input method editor (IME) described herein couples scenarios of the input of the user with specific network services to offer more relevant and richer candidates for higher input productivity. Data relating to a computer application in which the input candidates are to be input and/or context relating to a user-submitted query is collected and analyzed to determine a scenario. The input candidates may include text candidates and rich candidates. The IME may select a scenario-tuned and type specific engine to identify the text candidates and/or rich candidates. The scenario-tuned text candidate engines leverage scenario-tuned language models and lexicons, and the scenario-tuned rich candidate engines leverage scenario-relevant web services, such as image, mapping, and video search, when available and appropriate.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

determining that a query has been entered into a first user interface of a first computer application, the query comprising one or more input candidates;

determining a first scenario of the first computer application;

determining, based at least partly on the query and the first scenario of the first computer application, first scores for different types of input candidates;

determining, based at least in part on the first scores, a desired first type of input candidate from the different types of input candidates to be presented by an input method editor (IME);

generating a first set of input candidates at least partly based on a first relevancy of individual input candidates of the first set of input candidates to the first scenario, the query, and the desired first type of input candidate;

presenting the first set of input candidates via the IME;

determining that the query has been entered into a second user interface of a second computer application, the second computer application being separate from the first computer application and the IME;

determining a second scenario of the second computer application;

determining, based on the second scenario of the second computer application and the query, second scores for different types of input candidates; and

presenting based at least in part on the second scores, a second set of input candidates via the IME, wherein at least one input candidate of the second set of input candidates is not included in the first set of input candidates.

2. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein generating the first set of input candidates further comprises ranking two or more input candidates of the first set of input candidates at least partly based on the relevancy of the two or more input candidates to the first scenario.

3. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein determining the first scenario of the first computer application comprises:

collecting data relating to a user'"'"'s prior input associated with the first computer application,

wherein the first scenario of the first computer application is determined at least partly based on the collected data relating to the user'"'"'s prior input associated with the first computer application.

4. A method as recited in claim 3, wherein the data further comprises user history data relating to a user history associated with first scenario of the first computer application.

5. A method as recited in claim 3, wherein the data comprises a context of the query, the context being determined at least partly based on content displayed at the first user interface of the first computer application.

6. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein first set of input candidates comprises at least one of a text candidate and a rich candidate.

7. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein the generating the first set of input candidates comprises:

identifying a first input search engine from a pool of input candidate engines, the pool of input candidate engines including a plurality of input search engines, and

utilizing the first input search engine to identify the first set of input candidates; and

wherein the method further comprises;

identifying a second input search engine from the pool of input candidate engines, and

utilizing the second input search engine to identify the second set of input candidates.

8. A method as recited in claim 7, wherein the first input search engine is configured to provide both text candidates and rich candidates.

9. A method as recited in claim 7, wherein the query is inputted into the user interface of the first computer application via a client device, and wherein at least one input search engine of the pool of input candidate engines is located at a server separate from the client device, the remote server being accessible to the client device over a network.

10. One or more hardware computer storage media having stored thereupon a plurality of computer executable instructions that, when executed by a processor, causes the processor to perform operations comprising:

determining that a query has been inputted into a first user interface of a first computer application, the query comprising one or more input candidates;

determining, based at least partly on the query and a first scenario of the first computer application, scores for different types of input candidates;

determining, based at least in part on the scores, a desired type of input candidate from the types of input candidates to be presented by an input method editor (IME);

generating a first set of rich candidates at least partly based on a first relevancy of individual rich candidates of the first set of rich candidates to the first scenario and the query;

transmitting at least one rich candidate of the first set of rich candidates for presentation by the IME;

determining the query has been inputted into a second user interface of a second computer application, the second computer application being separate from the first computer application and the IME;

generating a second set of rich candidates at least partly based on a second relevancy of individual rich candidates of the second set of rich candidates to a second scenario and the query; and

transmitting at least one rich candidate of the second set of rich candidates for presentation by the IME, wherein the at least one rich candidate of the second set of rich candidates is not included in the first set of rich candidates.

11. One or more hardware computer storage media as recited in claim 10, wherein the first set of rich candidates include at least one of an image, a video, or an address book entry.

12. One or more hardware computer storage media as recited in claim 10, wherein generating the first set of rich candidates comprises:

determining a capability of the first computer application; and

based at least partly on the capability of the first computer application, transforming a first rich candidate of the first set of rich candidates into a file type that is compatible with the first computer application.

13. One or more hardware computer storage media as recited in claim 10, wherein the operations further comprise:

determining different sources of individual rich candidates of the first set of rich candidates; and

transmitting the different sources for presentation at the first user interface of the first computer application.

14. One or more hardware computer storage media as recited in claim 10, wherein generating the first set of rich candidates comprises utilizing web services to search for one or more rich candidates by using the first scenario and the query as parameters.

15. One or more hardware computer storage media as recited in claim 10, wherein generating the first set of rich candidates comprises:

storing an authentication credential of a user associated with the query to a web service;

accessing the web service by using the authentication credential;

searching information stored at the web service based on the query and the first scenario to identify individual rich candidates of the first set of candidates.

16. One or more hardware computer storage media as recited in claim 10, further comprising presenting the first set of rich candidates in an embedded web browser using a hypertext markup language (HTML) 5.0 format.

17. A system comprising:

memory storing one or more modules;

one or more processors operably coupled to the memory to execute the one or more modules, the one or more modules being configured to perform operations including;

determining that a query has been inputted into a first user interface of a first computer application;

determining a first context of the query in view of contents displayed at the user interface of the first computer application;

determining, based at least partly on the query and the first context of the query, a first scenario and a first desired type of input candidate;

selecting a first input candidate engine from an engine pool of input candidate engines, the first input candidate engine being tuned to at least one of the first scenario and the first desired type of input candidate;

utilizing the first input candidate engine to generate a first set of input candidates;

presenting the first set of input candidates via an input method editor (IME);

determining that the query has been inputted into a second user interface of a second computer application;

determining a second context of the query in view of contents displayed at the user interface of the second computer application;

determining, based at least partly on the query and the second context of the query, a second scenario and a second desired type of input candidate;

selecting a second input candidate engine from the engine pool of input candidate engines, the second input candidate engine being tuned to at least one of the second scenario and the second desired type of input candidate;

utilizing the second input candidate engine to generate a second set of input candidates;

presenting the second set of input candidates via the IME, wherein at least one input candidate of the second set of input candidates is not included in the first set of input candidates.

18. The system as recited in claim 17, wherein the engine pool includes one or more scenario-tuned text candidate input candidate engines and one or more scenario-tuned rich candidate engines, the one or more scenario-tuned text candidate input candidate engines having a scenario-tuned language model and a scenario-tuned lexicon, the one or more scenario-tuned rich candidate input candidate engines including a web service for the scenario.

19. The system as recited in claim 17, where in the engine pool is separate from a client device where the query is received and the first set of input candidates and the second set of input candidates are presented.

20. The system as recited in claim 17, where in the engine pool is located at a client device where the query is received and the first set of input candidates and the second set of input candidates are presented.