Hypertext concept notation for dynamically constructing a sentence to respond to a user request

• US 20020002575A1
• Filed: 02/15/2001
• Published: 01/03/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 02/14/2000
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: MobUI, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Action Engine Corp. (MobUI, Inc.)
• Inventors: Eisler, Craig G., Roundtree, Brian C.
• Granted Patent: US 6,941,553 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 718/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/748 Hypervideo linking data to content, e.g. by linking an URL to a video object in the context of video distribution systems H04N21/858
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/94 Hypermedia Hyperlinking G06F40/134
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9537 Spatial or temporal dependent retrieval, e.g. spatiotemporal queries
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9558 Details of hyperlinks; Management of linked annotations
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/957 Browsing optimisation, e.g. caching or content distillation
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9577 Optimising the visualization of content, e.g. distillation of HTML documents
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/04 Forecasting or optimisation specially adapted for administrative or management purposes, e.g. linear programming or "cutting stock problem" market predictions or forecasting for commercial activities G06Q30/0202
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/109 Time management, e.g. calendars, reminders, meetings or time accounting
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0201 Market modelling; Market analysis; Collecting market data
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0203 Market surveys; Market polls
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/06 Buying, selling or leasing transactions
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 15/26 Speech to text systems G10L15/08 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/51 Discovery or management thereof, e.g. service location protocol [SLP] or web services
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/12 Messaging; Mailboxes; Announcements
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/005 Discovery of network devices, e.g. terminals

Abstract

Use of concepts to dynamically query a user and construct a sentence for responding to a user request. The use of hypertext concept notation permits the linking of related concepts through concept identifiers. The constructed sentence can be dynamically changed by a user selecting a representation of a concept within the sentence, either a complete sentence or one in the process of being constructed. The data for the selected concept can be updated and the new data inserted into the sentence using the links provided by the concept identifiers.

Claims

1. A method for dynamically constructing a sentence relating to a user request, comprising:

receiving an indication of concepts from a user;

selecting related queries to present to the user based upon the concepts;

using the concepts to construct a sentence relating to the user request; and

selectively repeating the selecting step, based upon user input, in order to dynamically change the sentence.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the receiving step includes receiving selection of one or more presented representations of the concepts.

3. The method of claim 1, further including linking each of the concepts with corresponding concept identifiers and concept data.

4. The method of claim 3, further including using the concept identifiers to link and determine the related queries.

5. The method of claim 4 wherein the selectively repeating step includes using the concept identifiers to determine a new query to dynamically change the sentence.

6. The method of claim 5 wherein the selectively repeating step includes:

receiving an indication of a new concept in response to the new query; and

using the concept identifiers to determine where to insert the new concept in the sentence.

7. The method of claim 1, further including presenting to the user the queries as representations of the concepts in order to construct the sentence.

8. The method of claim 1, further including presenting the sentence to the user.

9. The method of claim 8, further including providing an indication of concepts in the presented sentence that can be dynamically changed.

10. The method of claim 8, further including presenting the sentence with variable types of formatting.

11. The method of claim 3, further including linking the concept data with corresponding information in a database.

12. The method of claim 1, further including associating each of the concepts with a concept class.

13. The method of claim 7 wherein:

the receiving step includes receiving selection one of the presented queries; and

the presenting step includes presenting a plurality of items as possible responses to the concept corresponding to the presented query.

14. An apparatus for dynamically constructing a sentence relating to a user request, comprising:

a receive module for receiving an indication of concepts from a user;

a select module for selecting related queries to present to the user based upon the concepts;

a use module for using the concepts to construct a sentence relating to the user request; and

a repeat module for selectively repeating the selecting, based upon user input, in order to dynamically change the sentence.

15. The apparatus of claim 14 wherein the receive module includes a module for receiving selection of one or more presented representations of the concepts.

16. The apparatus of claim 14, further including a module for linking each of the concepts with corresponding concept identifiers and concept data.

17. The apparatus of claim 16, further including a module for using the concept identifiers to link and determine the related queries.

18. The apparatus of claim 17 wherein the repeat module includes a module for using the concept identifiers to determine a new query to dynamically change the sentence.

19. The apparatus of claim 18 wherein the repeat module includes:

a module for receiving an indication of a new concept in response to the new query; and

a module for using the concept identifiers to determine where to insert the new concept in the sentence.

20. The apparatus of claim 14, further including a presentation module for presenting to the user the queries as representations of the concepts in order to construct the sentence.

21. The apparatus of claim 14, further including a module for presenting the sentence to the user.

22. The apparatus of claim 21, further including a module for providing an indication of concepts in the presented sentence that can be dynamically changed.

23. The apparatus of claim 21, further including a module for presenting the sentence with variable types of formatting.

24. The apparatus of claim 16, further including a module for linking the concept data with corresponding information in a database.

25. The apparatus of claim 14, further including a module for associating each of the concepts with a concept class.

26. The apparatus of claim 20 wherein:

the receive module includes a module for receiving selection one of the presented queries; and

the presentation module includes a module for presenting a plurality of items as possible responses to the concept corresponding to the presented query.