Identifying stress levels associated with context switches

• US 10,258,272 B2
• Filed: 10/08/2015
• Issued: 04/16/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 10/08/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Kyndryl Incorporated (Kyndryl Holdings, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Delaney, John V., Fornash, Sean T., Hunt, Anthony M., O'Reilly, Maeve, Zolotow, Clea A.
• Primary Examiner(s): Koharski, Christopher D
• Assistant Examiner(s): Dinga, Roland
• Application Number:
  US14/878,528
• Publication Number:
  US 20170100066A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,286 Days
• Field of Search: 600508
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2503/24 Computer workstation operators
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/02405 Determining heart rate variability
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/165 Evaluating the state of mind, e.g. depression, anxiety
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/4519 Muscles A61B5/389, A61B5/224 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/486 Bio-feedback A61B5/375 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/7278 Artificial waveform generation or derivation, e.g. synthesising signals from measured signals A61B5/327 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/535 Tracking the activity of the user network monitoring arrangements H04L43/00; recording of computer activity G06F11/34

Abstract

A computer-implemented method includes: receiving, by a computing device, information identifying a user'"'"'s activity; determining, by the computing device, the user'"'"'s tasks based on the information identifying the user'"'"'s activity; determining, by the computing device, the user'"'"'s context switches based on the user'"'"'s tasks; receiving, by the computing device, biometrics data associated with the user via an application programming interface (API); determining, by the computing device, the user'"'"'s stress levels at various times based on the biometrics data; storing, by the computing device, information linking the user'"'"'s stress level with the user'"'"'s context switches; and outputting, by the computing device, the information linking the user'"'"'s stress level with the user'"'"'s context switches.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method comprising:

receiving, by a computing device, information identifying a user'"'"'s activity;

determining, by the computing device, the user'"'"'s tasks based on the information identifying the user'"'"'s activity;

determining, by the computing device, the user'"'"'s context switches based on the user'"'"'s tasks;

receiving, by the computing device, biometrics data associated with the user via an application programming interface (API);

determining, by the computing device, the user'"'"'s stress levels at various times based on the biometrics data;

storing, by the computing device, information linking the user'"'"'s stress levels with the user'"'"'s context switches; and

outputting, by the computing device, the information linking the user'"'"'s stress levels with the user'"'"'s context switches.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising tagging the user'"'"'s context switches with respective timestamps, wherein storing the information linking the user'"'"'s stress level with the user'"'"'s context switches is based on the respective timestamps.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the biometrics data includes at least one of:

a heart rate;

a heart rate variation; and

muscle tension.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising determining an aggregate stress level based on the information linking the user'"'"'s stress level with the user'"'"'s context switches.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining stress levels for a plurality of users meeting particular criteria based on context switches associated with the plurality of users; and

outputting information regarding the stress levels for the plurality of users meeting the particular criteria.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the criteria includes at least one of:

personality type;

job title;

job department; and

job supervisor.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the user'"'"'s tasks includes parsing text in communication feeds associated with the user.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the user activity information includes at least one of:

instant messages;

network usage activity;

social media activity;

interactive media feed activity;

e-mail messages;

calling activity;

calendar entries; and

location data.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein a service provider at least one of creates, maintains, deploys and supports the computing device.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein steps of claim 1 are provided by a service provider on a subscription, advertising, and/or fee basis.

11. The method of claim 1, further comprising deploying a system for analyzing stress associated with context switches, comprising providing a computer infrastructure operable to perform the steps of claim 1.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the user context switches include a change from one user task to a different user task.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the determining the user'"'"'s stress levels at various times comprises:

determining the user'"'"'s stress level during the one user task; and

determining the user'"'"'s stress level during the different user task,

wherein the storing the information linking the user'"'"'s stress levels with the user'"'"'s context switches is based on the determining the user'"'"'s stress levels at various times.

14. A computer program product for analyzing stress associated with context switches, the computer program product comprising a computer readable storage medium having program instructions embodied therewith, the program instructions executable by a computing device to cause the computing device to:

monitor a user'"'"'s tasks based on the information identifying the user'"'"'s activity;

monitor the user'"'"'s context switches based on the user'"'"'s tasks;

tag the user'"'"'s context switches with respective timestamps indicating when the context switches occurred;

receive biometrics data associated with the user via an application programming interface (API);

determine the user'"'"'s stress levels at various times based on the biometrics data;

store information linking the user'"'"'s stress level with the user'"'"'s context switches; and

output the information linking the user'"'"'s stress level with the user'"'"'s context switches.

15. The computer program product of claim 14, wherein the biometrics data includes at least one of:

a heart rate;

a heart rate variation; and

muscle tension.

16. The computer program product of claim 14, wherein the program instructions further cause the computing device to determine an aggregate stress level based on the information linking the user'"'"'s stress level with the user'"'"'s context switches.

17. The computer program product of claim 14, wherein the program instructions further cause the computing device to:

determine stress levels for a plurality of users meeting particular criteria based on context switches associated with the plurality of users; and

output information regarding the stress levels for the plurality of users meeting the particular criteria.

18. The computer program product of claim 17, wherein the criteria includes at least one of:

personality type;

job title;

job department; and

job supervisor.

19. The computer program product of claim 14, wherein when determining the user'"'"'s tasks, the program instructions further cause the computing device to parse text in communication feeds associated with the user.

20. The computer program product of claim 14, wherein the user activity information includes at least one of:

instant messages;

network usage activity;

social media activity;

interactive media feed activity;

e-mail messages;

calling activity;

calendar entries; and

location data.