SENTIMENT AWARE USER INTERFACE CUSTOMIZATION

• US 20130152000A1
• Filed: 12/08/2011
• Published: 06/13/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 12/08/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Liu, Weipeng, Scott, Matthew Robert, Zhou, Ming, Hou, Huihua
• Granted Patent: US 9,348,479 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 715/765
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2203/011 Emotion or mood input determined on the basis of sensed human body parameters such as pulse, heart rate or beat, temperature of skin, facial expressions, iris, voice pitch, brain activity patterns
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/048 Interaction techniques based on graphical user interfaces [GUI]
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0481 based on specific properties of the displayed interaction object or a metaphor-based environment, e.g. interaction with desktop elements like windows or icons, or assisted by a cursor's changing behaviour or appearance
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/44 Arrangements for executing specific programs
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/451 Execution arrangements for user interfaces
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72436 for text messaging, e.g. short messaging services [SMS] or e-mails
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72454 according to context-related or environment-related conditions

Abstract

The customization of an application user interface with a skin package based on context data that includes the emotional states of a user may strengthen the emotional attachment for the application by the user. The customization includes determining an emotional state of a user that is inputting content into an application. A skin package for the user interface of the application is selected based on the emotional state of the user. The selected skin package is further applied to the user interface of the application.

Claims

1. A computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed, cause one or more processors to perform acts comprising:

determining an emotional state of a user that is inputting content into an application;

selecting a skin package for a user interface of the application based at least on the emotional state; and

applying the skin package to the user interface of the application to at least alter an appearance of the user interface.

2. The computer-readable medium of claim 1, further comprising ascertaining an operation scenario type of the application, the operation scenario type corresponding to a usage formality of the application, wherein the selecting includes selecting a skin package for a user interface of the application based on the emotional state and the operation scenario type.

3. The computer-readable medium of claim 1, wherein the determining includes determining the emotional state based on context data, the context data including content inputted into the application by the user or communication that the user transmitted through the application.

4. The computer-readable medium of claim 3, wherein the context data further includes at least one of application specific data, environmental data, or user status data.

5. The computer-readable medium of claim 4, wherein the application specific data includes at least one of a name of the application, a type of the application, or a of the application.

6. The computer-readable medium of claim 4, wherein the environmental data includes at least one of data on a real-world environment, a software status or event of an electronic device that is executing the application, or a hardware status or event of the electronic device.

7. The computer-readable medium of claim 4, wherein the user status data includes data collected from personal web services used by the user that provide implicit or explicit clues regarding the emotional state of the user.

8. The computer-readable medium of claim 3, wherein the determining includes:

normalizing the context data into context features that are expressed as name value pairs; and

classifying the context features into one of multiple predefined emotional states and generating a classification confidence value for the classifying using at least one of a machine learning algorithm or a classification algorithm.

9. The computer-readable medium of claim 8, wherein the selecting includes:

selecting a first skin package that reflects or alters the emotional state when the classification confidence value at least meets a corresponding predefined confidence threshold; and

selecting a second skin package that corresponds to a neutral emotional state when the classification confidence value is below the corresponding predefined confidence threshold.

10. The computer-readable medium of claim 2, wherein the ascertaining includes:

polling the application for application information that includes one or more of application process names, field classes, an application object model, and screen pixel information of output data generated by the application; and

classifying the application as operating in one of multiple operation scenario types and generating a type confidence value for the classifying based at least on the application information.

11. The computer-readable medium of claim 10, wherein the selecting includes:

selecting a first skin package that corresponds to the emotional state and a usage formality of the application indicated by the operation scenario type of the application when the type confidence value at least meets a corresponding predefined confidence threshold; and

selecting a second skin package that corresponds to the emotional state and a most formal usage formality when the type confidence value is below the corresponding predefined confidence threshold.

12. The computer-readable medium of claim 1, wherein the skin package includes an image and at least one of a sound or an animation.

13. The computer-readable medium of claim 12, wherein the animation is displayed according to an emotion term inputted into the application by the user.

14. A computer-implemented method, comprising:

determining an emotional state of a user that is inputting content into a principal application;

ascertaining an operation scenario type of the principal application;

selecting a skin package for a user interface of a language input method editor application that is executing cooperative with the principal application based on the emotional state and the operation scenario type; and

applying the skin package to the user interface of the language input method editor application to alter the user interface, the skin package including an image and at least one of a sound and an animation.

15. The computer-implemented method of claim 14, wherein the selecting includes selecting the skin package to reflect or alter the emotional state of the user.

16. The computer-implemented method of claim 14, wherein the selecting includes selecting the skin package to correspond to a usage formality of the principal application as indicated by the operation scenario type.

17. The computer-implemented method of claim 14, wherein the principal application is a communication application, further comprising applying the skin package to an additional user interface of another communication application that is used to send communication to the instant messaging client application.

18. The computer-implemented method of claim 14, wherein the determining includes:

translating content that is inputted into the principal application from a first language into a second language; and

determining the emotional state of the user based on context data that includes the content that is in the second language.

19. A computing device, comprising:

one or more processors; and

a memory that includes a plurality of computer-executable components, the plurality of computer-executable components comprising;

a sentiment analysis component that determines an emotional state of a user that is inputting content into an application based on context data, the context data including content inputted into the application by the user or communication that the user transmitted through the application;

an application classification component that ascertains an operation scenario type of the application, the operation scenario type corresponding to a usage formality of the application;

a skin selection component that selects a skin package for a user interface of the application based on the emotional state and the operation scenario type, the skin package including an image and at least one of a sound and an animation; and

a skin renderer component that applies the skin package to the user interface of the application.

20. The computing device of claim 19, further comprising a skin design component that enables a designer to create the skin package using at least one of an assistant functionality or one or more skin templates.