Refining a search based on schedule items

• US 10,572,476 B2
• Filed: 03/12/2014
• Issued: 02/25/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 03/14/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Original Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Inventors: Skinder, Jason A.
• Primary Examiner(s): Hu, Jensen
• Application Number:
  US14/207,090
• Publication Number:
  US 20140280292A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,176 Days
• Field of Search: 707767
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/24534 Query rewriting; Transformation
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/3338 Query expansion
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/109 Time management, e.g. calendars, reminders, meetings or time accounting

Abstract

A method includes receiving a search request from a user, the search request specifying one or more search criteria for selecting one or more selection items from a respective selection domain; identifying one or more schedule items relevant to the search request; augmenting the search request based on information contained in at least one of the identified schedule items; and presenting the augmented search request or search results retrieved based on the augmented search request to the user.

Claims

1. A method of operating a digital assistant, comprising:

at a device having one or more processors and memory;

receiving a search request from a user, the search request specifying one or more search criteria for selecting one or more selection items from a respective selection domain;

identifying one or more schedule items relevant to the search request;

presenting the one or more schedule items to the user;

receiving a user input responsive to the presentation of the one or more schedule items, the user input specifying a search criterion associated with the one or more schedule items;

before performing the search request, augmenting the search request based on the search criterion specified in the user input and information contained in at least one of the identified schedule items, wherein the augmenting comprises modifying at least one of the one or more search criteria or adding an additional search criterion to the search request; and

presenting the augmented search request or search results retrieved based on the augmented search request to the user.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the schedule items include one or more calendar items from a calendar associated with the user.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the schedule items further include one or more calendar items from a calendar that has been shared with the user by another user.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the schedule items further include one or more reminder items in the user'"'"'s electronic schedule.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the schedule items further include one or more to-dos in the user'"'"'s electronic schedule.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein identifying the one or more schedule items relevant to the search request further comprises:

identifying one or more schedule items that are relevant to the search request in at least one of location, time, associated people, and subject matter.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein modifying at least one of the one or more search criteria or adding the additional search criterion to the search request comprises:

establishing, based on the search criterion specified in the user input and the information contained in the at least one of the identified schedule items, a refinement on the at least one of the one or more search criteria specified in the search request; and

modifying the search request based on the refinement.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the additional search criterion is not specified in the received search request, and wherein modifying at least one of the one or more search criteria or adding the additional search criterion to the search request comprises:

establishing, based on the search criterion specified in the user input and the information contained in the at least one of the identified schedule items, the additional search criterion; and

modifying the search request to include the additional search criterion.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein augmenting the search request based on the search criterion specified in the user input and the information contained in the at least one of the identified schedule items comprises:

establishing, based on the search criterion specified in the user input and the information contained in the at least one of the identified schedule items, a new preference order that has not been specified in the search request; and

modifying the search request to include the new preference order.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein modifying at least one of the one or more search criteria or adding the additional search criterion to the search request comprises:

adding a new time criterion or modifying an existing time criterion based on an event time associated with the at least one of the identified schedule items.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein adding the new time criterion or modifying the existing time criterion is further based on an event location associated with at least one of the identified schedule items.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein modifying at least one of the one or more search criteria or adding the additional search criterion to the search request comprises:

adding a new location criterion or modifying an existing location criterion based on a respective location associated with at least one of the identified schedule items.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein adding the new location criterion or modifying the existing location criterion is further based on an event time associated with at least one of the identified schedule items.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein identifying the one or more schedule items relevant to the search request further comprises:

identifying a respective group of relevant schedule items, wherein each of the respective group of relevant schedule items is associated with a respective time window overlapping with a present time window of a given duration.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein identifying the respective group of relevant schedule items is performed in accordance with a determination that the search request includes neither any distant time criterion nor any distant location criterion.

16. The method of claim 14, wherein identifying the one or more schedule items relevant to the search request further comprises:

identifying an additional group of relevant schedule items, wherein each of the additional group of relevant schedule items is associated with (1) a respective time window that does not overlap with the present time window, and (2) a respective local geographic region that meets a location criterion specified in the search request.

29. The method of claim 1, wherein identifying the one or more schedule items relevant to the search request is based on the one or more search criteria.

30. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining, based on the search request, a user intent, wherein the user intent corresponds to the respective selection domain, and wherein the one or more schedule items relevant to the search request is identified based on the respective selection domain.

31. The method of claim 1, wherein the respective selection domain is a domain of an active ontology.

33. The method of claim 1, further comprising performing natural language processing on the search request to identify the one or more search criteria and the respective selection domain.

35. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more identified schedule items are each within a threshold time of a current time.

36. The method of claim 1, wherein identifying the one or more schedule items includes comparing respective domains associated with the one or more schedule items to the respective selection domain.

37. The method of claim 1, further comprising performing natural language processing on the search request to determine a second search criterion, the second search criterion not explicitly specified in the search request;

and

wherein identifying the one or more schedule items relevant to the search request includes comparing the second search criterion to information contained in the one or more schedule items.

38. The method of claim 1, wherein each of the search results retrieved satisfies the modified at least one of the one or more search criteria or the additional search criterion.

17. A method of operating a digital assistant, comprising:

at a device having one or more processors and memory;

receiving a speech input from a user;

processing the speech input to infer a respective user intent, the user intent being embodied in one or more search criteria for a search request;

based on the search request, generating a constrained selection task for selecting one or more selection items from a respective selection domain based on the one or more search criteria;

identifying one or more schedule items relevant to the search request based on the respective selection domain and the one or more search criteria;

presenting the one or more schedule items to the user;

receiving a user input responsive to the presentation of the one or more schedule items, the user input specifying a search criterion associated with the one or more schedule items;

before performing the search request, augmenting the search request based on the search criterion specified in the user input and information contained in at least one of the identified schedule items, wherein the augmenting comprises modifying at least one of the one or more search criteria or adding an additional search criterion to the search request; and

presenting the augmented search request or search results retrieved based on the augmented search request to the user.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the schedule items include one or more calendar items from a calendar associated with the user.

19. The method of claim 17, wherein the schedule items further include one or more calendar items from a calendar that has been shared with the user by another user.

20. The method of claim 17, wherein the schedule items further include one or more reminder items in the user'"'"'s electronic schedule.

21. The method of claim 17, wherein the schedule items further include or one or more to-dos in the user'"'"'s electronic schedule.

22. The method of claim 17, wherein identifying the one or more schedule items relevant to the search request further comprises:

identifying one or more schedule items that are relevant to the search request in at least one of location, time, associated people, and subject matter.

32. The method of claim 17, wherein the respective selection domain is a domain of an active ontology.

34. The method of claim 17, wherein processing the speech input to infer the respective user intent comprises performing natural language processing on the speech input to identify the respective selection domain.

39. The method of claim 17, wherein modifying at least one of the one or more search criteria or adding the additional search criterion to the search request comprises:

adding a new time criterion or modifying an existing time criterion based on an event time associated with the at least one of the identified schedule items.

40. The method of claim 17, wherein modifying at least one of the one or more search criteria or adding the additional search criterion to the search request comprises:

adding a new location criterion or modifying an existing location criterion based on a respective location associated with at least one of the identified schedule items.

41. The method of claim 17, wherein identifying the one or more schedule items includes comparing respective domains associated with the one or more schedule items to the respective selection domain.

42. The method of claim 17, further comprising:

determining, based on results of the speech input processing, a second search criterion, wherein the second search criterion is not explicitly specified in the speech input; and

wherein identifying the one or more schedule items relevant to the search request includes comparing the second search criterion to information contained in the one or more schedule items.

23. A system, comprising:

one or more processors; and

memory having instructions stored thereon, the instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the processors to perform;

receiving a search request from a user, the search request specifying one or more search criteria for selecting one or more selection items from a respective selection domain;

identifying one or more schedule items relevant to the search request;

presenting the one or more schedule items to the user;

receiving a user input responsive to the presentation of the one or more schedule items, the user input specifying a search criterion associated with the one or more schedule items;

before performing the search request, augmenting the search request based on the search criterion specified in the user input and information contained in at least one of the identified schedule items, wherein the augmenting comprises modifying at least one of the one or more search criteria or adding an additional search criterion to the search request; and

presenting the augmented search request or search results retrieved based on the augmented search request to the user.

24. The system of claim 23, wherein the schedule items include one or more calendar items from a calendar.

25. The system of claim 23, wherein identifying the one or more schedule items relevant to the search request further comprises:

identifying one or more schedule items that are relevant to the search request in at least one of location, time, associated people, and subject matter.

43. The system of claim 23, wherein modifying at least one of the one or more search criteria or adding the additional search criterion to the search request comprises:

adding a new time criterion or modifying an existing time criterion based on an event time associated with the at least one of the identified schedule items.

44. The system of claim 23, wherein modifying at least one of the one or more search criteria or adding the additional search criterion to the search request comprises:

adding a new location criterion or modifying an existing location criterion based on a respective location associated with at least one of the identified schedule items.

45. The system of claim 23, wherein identifying the one or more schedule items includes comparing respective domains associated with the one or more schedule items to the respective selection domain.

46. The system of claim 23, wherein the memory has further instructions stored thereon, the further instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the processors to perform:

performing natural language processing on the search request to determine a second search criterion, the second search criterion not explicitly specified in the search request; and

wherein identifying the one or more schedule items relevant to the search request includes comparing the second search criterion to information contained in the one or more schedule items.

26. A non-transitory computer readable medium having instructions stored thereon, the instructions, when executed by one or more processors, cause the processors to perform:

receiving a search request from a user, the search request specifying one or more search criteria for selecting one or more selection items from a respective selection domain;

identifying one or more schedule items relevant to the search request;

presenting the one or more schedule items to the user;

receiving a user input responsive to the presentation of the one or more schedule items, the user input specifying a search criterion associated with the one or more schedule items;

before performing the search request, augmenting the search request based on the search criterion specified in the user input and information contained in at least one of the identified schedule items, wherein the augmenting comprises modifying at least one of the one or more search criteria or adding an additional search criterion to the search request; and

presenting the augmented search request or search results retrieved based on the augmented search request to the user.

27. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 26, wherein the schedule items include one or more calendar items from a calendar.

28. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 26, wherein identifying the one or more schedule items relevant to the search request further comprises:

identifying one or more schedule items that are relevant to the search request in at least one of location, time, associated people, and subject matter.

47. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 26, wherein modifying at least one of the one or more search criteria or adding the additional search criterion to the search request comprises:

adding a new time criterion or modifying an existing time criterion based on an event time associated with the at least one of the identified schedule items.

48. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 26, wherein modifying at least one of the one or more search criteria or adding the additional search criterion to the search request comprises:

adding a new location criterion or modifying an existing location criterion based on a respective location associated with at least one of the identified schedule items.

49. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 26, wherein identifying the one or more schedule items includes comparing respective domains associated with the one or more schedule items to the respective selection domain.

50. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 26, wherein the memory has further instructions stored thereon, the further instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the processors to perform:

performing natural language processing on the search request to determine a second search criterion, the second search criterion not explicitly specified in the search request; and

wherein identifying the one or more schedule items relevant to the search request includes comparing the second search criterion to information contained in the one or more schedule items.