Electronic Communication Warning and Modification

• US 20140074943A1
• Filed: 09/12/2012
• Published: 03/13/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 09/12/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Kanevsky, Dimitri, Kozloski, James R., Pickover, Clifford A., Sainath, Tara N.
• Granted Patent: US 9,402,576 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/206
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/163 by tracking eye movement, gaze, or pupil change
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/165 Evaluating the state of mind, e.g. depression, anxiety
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/107 Computer-aided management of electronic mailing [e-mailing]
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/01 Social networking
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 25/63 for estimating an emotional state
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/212 using filtering or selective blocking

Abstract

Techniques for electronic communication warning and modification. A method includes automatically detecting an emotional state of a sender of an electronic communication, encoding the detected emotional state of the sender, using input from at least one additional source, as metadata, embedding the metadata in the electronic communication to create an annotated version of the electronic communication, and transmitting the annotated version of the electronic communication to a recipient.

Claims

1. A method for transmitting an electronic communication in annotated form based on a detected emotional state of a sender of the electronic communication, the method comprising:

automatically detecting an emotional state of a sender of an electronic communication;

encoding the detected emotional state of the sender, using input from at least one additional source, as metadata;

to embedding the metadata in the electronic communication to create an annotated version of the electronic communication; and

transmitting the annotated version of the electronic communication to a recipient;

wherein at least one of the steps is carried out by a computer device.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the electronic communication comprises an email, an instant message, a voice mail, a communication in a virtual universe, an animated communication, a video segment, a text message, a tweet, and/or a forwarding of a separate message.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein said transmitting comprises transmitting the annotated version of the electronic communication to a recipient in accordance with at least one pre-determined recipient preference.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the at least one pre-determined recipient preference comprises receiving the annotated version of the electronic communication in computer graphic form and/or in audio form.

5. The method of claim 3, wherein the at least one pre-determined recipient preference comprises placing an emphasis on sender'"'"'s emotional state in the annotated version of the electronic communication.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

extracting the metadata from the annotated version of the electronic communication; and

converting the metadata into a representation of the emotional state of the sender to present to the recipient with the annotated version of the electronic communication.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the representation of the emotional state of the sender is in a form of a graphic, a color change, an animation, a sound, and/or at least one keyword.

8. The method of claim 6, wherein said converting comprises implementing a machine-learning element to interpret a context of the recipient based on a user profile of the recipient.

9. The method of claim 8, further comprising:

receiving input from the recipient and/or a third party.

10. The method of claim 8, further comprising:

receiving input from the sender, recipient, and/or third party in a form of a subsequent training to provide notification that an emotional state was not represented appropriately to the recipient.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein said automatically detecting an emotional state of a sender comprises determining at least one physiological parameter and/or motor-behavioral parameter based on sender action.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein said automatically detecting an emotional state of a sender comprises analyzing at least one of sender typing speed, sender typing errors, and sender typing rhythm.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein said automatically detecting an emotional state of a sender comprises analyzing at least one of sender biometrics derived from eye tracking, and biometrics derived from engagement of a mouse, pointer or touch-screen of a sender device.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein said automatically detecting an emotional state of a sender comprises analyzing at least one of sender voice characteristic and gesture recognition of the sender.

15. The method of claim 1, wherein said automatically detecting an emotional state of a sender comprises scanning the electronic communication to identify one or more keywords that indicate a particular emotional state of the sender.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein said identifying one or more keywords that indicate a particular emotional state is based on discovered and/or learned emotional states derived in connection with user feedback.

17. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

providing the sender with a notification of the detected emotional state, wherein the notification comprises at least one of an audio message, a tactile message, a speech message, a tone, an image, a lack of responsiveness in a communication device, a vibration, a color change on a screen, a change in avatar appearance in a virtual world, and a change of appearance of an environment in a virtual world.

18. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

delaying said transmitting the annotated version of the electronic communication to the recipient by a pre-determined amount of time that is a function of the detected emotional state of the sender.

19. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

redirecting the electronic communication to a designated reviewer based on the detected emotional state of the sender.

20. A method for automatically managing a transmission of an electronic communication based on an emotional state of a sender of the electronic communication, the method comprising:

automatically detecting an emotional state of an author of an electronic communication;

providing the author with a notification of the detected emotional state;

delaying transmission of the electronic communication to a recipient by a pre-determined amount of time that is a function of the detected emotional state of the author; and

deploying an action to facilitate modification and/or cancellation of the transmission of the electronic communication during said delay;

wherein at least one of the steps is carried out by a computer device.