VISUALIZING THE MOOD OF A GROUP OF INDIVIDUALS

• US 20140205977A1
• Filed: 03/24/2014
• Published: 07/24/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 10/05/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Bak, Peter, Jou, Stephan Fong-Jau
• Granted Patent: US 9,189,972 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 434/236
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 18/00 Pattern recognition
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 11/00 2D [Two Dimensional] image generation
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 11/206 Drawing of charts or graphs
• CPC Class Codes: G09B 19/00 Teaching not covered by other main groups of this subclass teaching or practice apparatus for gun-aiming or gun-laying F41G3/26

Abstract

Techniques are described for visualizing the mood of a group of individuals. In one example, a graphical display is divided into regions representing different emotions. Input indicative of an emotion is received from individuals located in an area of interest. As the input is received, a set of indicators is output in each of the regions of the graphical display. Each indicator represents a different one of the individuals who is experiencing the emotion associated with the region in which the indicator is displayed and is displayed with a color assigned to the emotion. The indicators are animated to move over time toward a center of the graphical display and are removed upon reaching the center of the graphical display. In this way, the graphical display depicts a current mood for the group and indicates a rate of change of each of the different emotions.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method comprising:

generating a graphical display having a plurality of regions, each of the regions representing a different one of a plurality of emotions;

receiving input from each of a plurality of individuals, wherein the input received from each of the individuals is indicative of an emotion of the individual from which the input was received;

as the input is received, outputting a set of indicators in each of the regions of the graphical display, wherein each of the indicators represents a different one of the individuals who is experiencing the emotion associated with the region in which the indicator is displayed and is displayed with a color assigned to the emotion; and

animating the indicators to move the indicators within the regions and removing the indicators after a time duration to depict a current mood for the individuals.

2. The method of claim 1,

determining a respective frequency at which input is received for each of the emotions;

and

controlling the time duration that the indicators are displayed within each of the regions as a function of the determined frequency for the emotion represented by the region of the graphical display.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein controlling the time duration further comprises:

controlling, as a function of the determined frequency for the emotion represented by each of the regions, a rate at which the indicators move within each of the regions and the time duration at which the indicators are output by the graphical display before removal.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein animating the indicators comprises:

moving each of the indicators at a controlled speed such that each of the indicators travels across a respective one of the graphical regions and reaches a center of the graphical display over the time duration; and

removing the indicators when the indicators reaching the center of the graphical display.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein displaying a set of indicators comprises displaying a corresponding indicator for each input received from the individuals.

6. The method of claim 4, further comprising displaying an indicator with a highlight to represent that the indicator corresponds to an individual from which input was most recently received with respect to other indicators presented by the graphical display.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

computing a number of inputs received over a time duration for each of the emotions; and

dynamically updating, in real-time as the inputs are received, a size of each of the regions of the graphical display based on the number of inputs received over the time duration for the emotion represented by the region.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein generating a graphical display having a plurality of regions comprises generating the display as a pie shape having a plurality of wedge-shaped regions that each correspond to a different one of the emotions.

9. The method of claim 1,

wherein generating a graphical display having a plurality of regions comprises generating the display to depict a river having a plurality of water bands as regions that each correspond to a different one of the emotions, and

wherein outputting a set of indicators in each of the regions of the graphical display comprises outputting the indicators as graphical fish within the water bands.