Context-sensitive query enrichment

• US 20130106685A1
• Filed: 11/30/2011
• Published: 05/02/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 10/31/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Elwha LLC (Intellectual Ventures LLC)
• Original Assignee: Lowell L. Wood Jr
• Inventors: Davis, Marc E., Dyor, Matthew G., Hyde, Roderick A., Jung, Edward K.Y., Kare, Jordin T., Levien, Royce A., Lu, Qi, Malamud, Mark A., Myhrvold, Nathan P., Nadella, Satya, Reed, Daniel, Shum, Harry, Tegreene, Clarence T., Wood, Lowell L. Jr., Gates, William, Huang, Xueong
• Granted Patent: US 8,959,082 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 345/156
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/00 Information retrieval; Database structures therefor; File system structures therefor
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/434 using image data, e.g. images, photos, pictures taken by a user
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/436 using biological or physiological data of a human being, e.g. blood pressure, facial expression, gestures

Abstract

Structures and protocols are presented for facilitating a search partly based on a movement status of a search-capable device or on a position of a person'"'"'s limb or on an association with another search-capable device.

Claims

1. A system comprising:

circuitry for obtaining an indication of a movement status of a first interface device;

circuitry for causing a first time-of-day recognition criterion to be applied to first content and to second content; and

circuitry for indicating via the first interface device a preference either for the first content or for the second content partly based on the indication of the movement status of the first interface device and partly based on a result of the first time-of-day recognition criterion being applied to the first content and to the second content.

2. The system of claim 1, further comprising:

a wearable device supporting the circuitry for obtaining the indication of the movement status of the first interface device and supporting the circuitry for causing the first time-of-day recognition criterion to be applied to the first content and to the second content and supporting the circuitry for indicating via the first interface device the preference either for the first content or for the second content partly based on the indication of the movement status of the first interface device and partly based on the result of the first time-of-day recognition criterion being applied to the first content and to the second content.

6. The system of claim 1, further comprising:

circuitry for determining from at least one of auditory data or optical data whether a user has apparently corroborated a configuration feature via the auditory data, the configuration feature being a search criterion, the first and second content each satisfying the search criterion.

8. The system of claim 1, further comprising:

circuitry for associating a first device used by a first user with a second device used by a second user in response to an association request from the first user, the first interface device being either one of the first and second devices.

9. The system of claim 1, further comprising:

circuitry for associating a first device with a second device by recording an identification of the first device in a memory of the second device, the first interface device being either one of the first and second devices.

10. The system of claim 1, further comprising:

circuitry for generating a first coordinate and a second coordinate that jointly characterize a position of a portion of an appendage of a user, the preference either for the first content or for the second content being partly based on the first and second coordinates that jointly characterize the position of the portion of the appendage of the user.

11. The system of claim 1, further comprising:

circuitry for determining whether a user has apparently assented to a structured dialog, the structured dialog including an expression of the indication of the movement status of the first interface device as a default value.

12. The system of claim 1, further comprising:

circuitry for adjusting a rectangular image component aspect ratio in response to an indication of a symbol adjacent an edge of a portion of an image, the first and second content each including an instance of the symbol.

13. The system of claim 1, further comprising:

circuitry for responding to an indication of a symbol adjacent an edge of a region of an image by adjusting a size of the region of the image, the first and second content each including an instance of the symbol.

14. The system of claim 1, further comprising:

circuitry for comparing a local time with temporal data in a first cached document and with temporal data in a second cached document, the first cached document including the first content, the second cached document including the second content, the local time being a component of a second time-of-day recognition criterion, the preference either for the first content or for the second content being partly based on a result of the second time-of-day recognition criterion being applied to the first content and to the second content.

15. The system of claim 1, further comprising:

circuitry for initiating a search using a character obtained from a photograph, the first and second content each including an instance of the character obtained from the photograph.

16. The system of claim 1, further comprising:

circuitry for displaying a search expression that includes a character sequence obtained from a photograph, the first and second content each including an instance of the character sequence.

17. The system of claim 1, further comprising:

circuitry for expressing a search term at a first interface that includes a character sequence obtained from a second interface, the first interface device including the first interface, the character sequence being a component of the first content and being a component of the second content.

18. The system of claim 1, further comprising:

circuitry for highlighting an areal portion of an image selectively in response to a position of a depiction of an appendage in the image, the areal portion of the image including an informational element, the first content and the second content each including an instance of the informational element.

19. The system of claim 1, further comprising:

circuitry for recognizing a literal expression of a time signifying when a specific time interval begins in the first content or in the second content, the preference either for the first content or for the second content being partly based on a difference between a local time and the literal expression of the time signifying when the specific time interval begins.

20. The system of claim 1, further comprising:

circuitry for obtaining a boolean expression indicative of whether content includes a literal expression of a time of day, the content including the first content, the boolean expression resulting from the first time-of-day recognition criterion being applied to the first content.

21. The system of claim 1, further comprising:

circuitry for obtaining a boolean expression indicative of whether content includes a geographic identifier, the content being the first content, the preference either for the first content or for the second content being partly based on the boolean expression.

22. The system of claim 1, further comprising:

circuitry for ranking a first component of a search result in relation to a second component of the search result partly based on a digital expression of a time of day and partly based on whether a confirmation of a search criterion has been received, the first content being the first component of the search result, the second content being the second component of the search result, ranking the first component of the search result in relation to the second component of the search result generating an expression of the preference either for the first content or for the second content.

23. The system of claim 1, further comprising:

circuitry for causing a first search term and a second search term to be transmitted to a mobile device after initiating a first search using the first search term and after initiating a second search using the second search term, the mobile device being the first interface device, the first content being a result of the first search, the second content being a result of a second search.

24. The system of claim 1, further comprising:

circuitry for causing a search engine to use a search term conditionally in response to a user of a mobile device corroborating the search term via the mobile device, the mobile device being the first interface device, the search term being a component of a search expression, the search expression matching the first content and matching the second content.

25. The system of claim 1, further comprising:

circuitry for receiving a result of a search from an Internet search engine into a memory of a mobile device, the mobile device being the first interface device, the result of the search from the Internet search engine including the first content and including the second content.

26. The system of claim 1, further comprising:

circuitry for triggering a search task by transmitting a search expression to a search engine as a real time response to detecting a component of the search expression in a component of a vocalization at the first interface device, the search expression matching the first content and matching the second content.

27. The system of claim 1, further comprising:

circuitry for triggering an anticipatory search task by transmitting a search expression to a remote search engine in response to detecting a component of the search expression in a component of a visual image without first detecting a confirmation of the search expression, the search expression matching the first content and matching the second content.

28. The system of claim 1, further comprising:

circuitry for highlighting a first portion of an image without highlighting a remainder of the image, the first portion having a location that depends upon whether the image depicts an appendage of a user, the first portion of the image including an informational element, the first content and the second content each including an instance of the informational element.

29. The system of claim 1, further comprising:

circuitry for performing an image modification upon a first region of a photographic image without performing the image modification upon a remainder of the photographic image, the first region having a location that depends upon whether the photographic image includes a semblance of an appendage, the remainder of the photographic image including an informational element, the first content and the second content each including an instance of the informational element.

30. The system of claim 1, further comprising:

circuitry for responding to a detection of a depiction of an appendage by discarding a major portion of a photographic image without discarding a remainder of the photographic image, the remainder of the photographic image having a rectangular shape, the major portion of the photographic image encompassing more than 50% of an area of the depiction of the appendage and more than 50% of an area of the photographic image, the remainder of the photographic image including an informational element, the first content and the second content each including an instance of the informational element.

31. The system of claim 1, further comprising:

circuitry for responding to a depiction of an appendage in a data file representative of a graphic image by discarding a first informational element in the data file without discarding a second informational element in the data file, the first content and the second content each including an instance of the second informational element.

144. The system of claim 1, further comprising:

circuitry for associating a first device with a second device by recording an identification of the first device in a memory of the second device, the first interface device being either one of the first and second devices;

circuitry for causing a first search term and a second search term to be transmitted to a mobile device after initiating a first search using the first search term and after initiating a second search using the second search term, the mobile device being the first interface device, the first content being a result of the first search, the second content being a result of a second search;

circuitry for displaying a search expression that includes a character sequence obtained from a photograph, the first and second content each including an instance of the character sequence;

circuitry for triggering a search task by transmitting the search expression to an Internet search engine as a real time response to detecting a component of the search expression in a component of a vocalization at the first interface device, the search expression matching the first content and matching the second content;

circuitry for receiving a result of a search from the Internet search engine into a memory of the mobile device, the result of the search from the Internet search engine including the first content and including the second content;

circuitry for highlighting an areal portion of a graphic image selectively in response to a position of a depiction of an appendage in the graphic image, the areal portion of the graphic image including an informational element, the first content and the second content each including an instance of the informational element; and

circuitry for responding to the depiction of the appendage in a data file representative of the graphic image by discarding a first informational element in the data file without discarding a second informational element in the data file, the first content and the second content each including an instance of the second informational element.

145. The system of claim 1, further comprising:

circuitry for determining from at least one of auditory data or optical data whether a user has apparently corroborated a configuration feature via the auditory data, the configuration feature being a search criterion, the first and second content each satisfying the search criterion;

circuitry for generating a first coordinate and a second coordinate that jointly characterize a position of a portion of an appendage of the user, the preference either for the first content or for the second content being partly based on the first and second coordinates that jointly characterize the position of the portion of the appendage of the user;

circuitry for determining whether the user has apparently assented to a structured dialog, the structured dialog including an expression of the indication of the movement status of the first interface device as a default value;

circuitry for comparing a local time with temporal data in a first cached document and with temporal data in a second cached document, the first cached document including the first content, the second cached document including the second content, the local time being a component of a second time-of-day recognition criterion, the preference either for the first content or for the second content being partly based on a result of the second time-of-day recognition criterion being applied to the first content and to the second content;

circuitry for initiating a search using a character obtained from a photograph, the first and second content each including an instance of the character obtained from the photograph;

circuitry for expressing a search term at a first interface that includes a character sequence obtained from a second interface, the first interface device including the first interface, the character sequence being a component of the first content and being a component of the second content;

circuitry for obtaining a boolean expression indicative of whether the first content includes a geographic identifier, the preference either for the first content or for the second content being partly based on the boolean expression;

circuitry for ranking a first component of a search result in relation to a second component of the search result partly based on a digital expression of a time of day and partly based on whether a confirmation of a search criterion has been received, the first content being the first component of the search result, the second content being the second component of the search result, ranking the first component of the search result in relation to the second component of the search result generating an expression of the preference either for the first content or for the second content; and

circuitry for responding to an indication of a symbol adjacent an edge of a region of a visual image by adjusting a size of the region of the image, the first and second content each including an instance of the symbol.

3-5. -5. (canceled)

7. (canceled)

32. A method comprising:

obtaining an indication of a movement status of a first interface device;

causing a first time-of-day recognition criterion to be applied to first content and to second content; and

invoking circuitry for indicating via the first interface device a preference either for the first content or for the second content partly based on the indication of the movement status of the first interface device and partly based on a result of the first time-of-day recognition criterion being applied to the first content and to the second content.

33-59. -59. (canceled)

60. A system comprising:

means for obtaining an indication of a movement status of a first interface device;

means for causing a first time-of-day recognition criterion to be applied to first content and to second content; and

means for indicating via the first interface device a preference either for the first content or for the second content partly based on the indication of the movement status of the first interface device and partly based on a result of the first time-of-day recognition criterion being applied to the first content and to the second content.

61-87. -87. (canceled)

88. An article of manufacture comprising:

one or more physical media configured to bear a device-detectable implementation of a method including at least

obtaining an indication of a movement status of a first interface device;

causing a first time-of-day recognition criterion to be applied to first content and to second content; and

indicating via the first interface device a preference either for the first content or for the second content partly based on the indication of the movement status of the first interface device and partly based on a result of the first time-of-day recognition criterion being applied to the first content and to the second content.

89-115. -115. (canceled)

116. An article of manufacture comprising:

one or more physical media bearing a device-detectable outcome indicating an occurrence of

obtaining an indication of a movement status of a first interface device;

causing a first time-of-day recognition criterion to be applied to first content and to second content; and

indicating via the first interface device a preference either for the first content or for the second content partly based on the indication of the movement status of the first interface device and partly based on a result of the first time-of-day recognition criterion being applied to the first content and to the second content.

117-143. -143. (canceled)