AUTOMATICALLY CREATING A HIERARCHICAL STORYLINE FROM MOBILE DEVICE DATA

• US 20150088492A1
• Filed: 09/19/2014
• Published: 03/26/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 09/20/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: ARO, Inc. (Dibona Holding)
• Original Assignee: ARO, Inc. (Dibona Holding)
• Inventors: Liu, Alan Linchuan, Eustice, Kevin Francis, Perkowitz, Michael
• Granted Patent: US 10,049,413 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 704/9
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9537 Spatial or temporal dependent retrieval, e.g. spatiotemporal queries
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/01 Social networking

Abstract

Embodiments create and label contextual slices from observation data and aggregate slices into a hierarchical storyline for a user. A context is a (possibly partial) specification of what a user was doing in the dimensions of time, place, and activity. A storyline is composed of a time-ordered sequence of contexts that partition a given span of time that are arranged in groups at one or more hierarchical levels. A storyline is created through a process of data collection, slicing, labeling, and aggregating. Raw context data can be collected from a variety of observation sources with various error characteristics. Slicing refines the raw context data into a consistent storyline composed of a sequence of contexts representing homogeneous time intervals. Labeling adds more specific and semantically meaningful data (e.g., geography, venue, activity) to the slices. Aggregation identifies groups of slices that correspond to a single semantic concept.

Claims

1. A method for organizing contextual data, the method comprising:

receiving a plurality of labelled contextual slices derived from contextual data of a user, each labelled contextual slice comprising a time range, a location, and a contextual label indicating a semantic description of the labelled contextual slice;

obtaining a contextual pattern specifying a sequence of contextual labels applied to a sequence of labelled contextual slices to determine whether the sequence of labelled contextual slices match the contextual pattern;

identifying, by a processor, a group of labelled contextual slices from the plurality of labelled contextual slices, the group of labelled contextual slices matching the contextual pattern;

associating the identified group with a group label, the group label indicating a common semantic description of the group of labelled contextual slices; and

providing the group of labelled contextual slices and the group label to the user.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

obtaining an additional contextual pattern specifying an additional sequence of contextual labels;

identifying an additional group of labelled contextual slices from the plurality of labelled contextual slices, the additional group of labelled contextual slices matching the additional contextual pattern;

determining whether the additional group of labelled contextual slices comprises at least a threshold number of contextual slices in common with the group of labelled contextual slices; and

determining whether to merge the group and the additional group responsive to determining that the additional group comprises at least the threshold number of contextual slices in common with the group.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein determining whether to merge the group and the additional group comprises:

determining to merge the group and the additional group of labelled contextual slices responsive to determining that the additional group encompasses a shorter time duration than the group and responsive to determining that the group and the additional group are associated with group labels containing at least one matching non-temporal context.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein identifying the group of labelled contextual slices comprises identifying a temporally contiguous group of slices that match the contextual pattern.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein obtaining the contextual pattern comprises:

receiving additional groups of labelled contextual slices identified by the user; and

identifying the contextual pattern from a common temporal sequence of contextual labels identified at least a threshold number of instances among the additional groups of labelled contextual slices.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein associating the identified group with the group label comprises:

obtaining a label template associated with the obtained contextual pattern, the label template specifying one or more contextual categories;

identifying, from contextual labels of the group of labelled contextual slices, a contextual label describing at least a threshold proportion of the group of labelled contextual slices, the identified contextual label in one of the one or more contextual categories in the label template; and

generating the group label by using the identified contextual label in the pattern template.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein associating the identified group with the group label comprises:

selecting a contextual category specified by at least a threshold number of contextual labels in the group of contextual labels;

identifying contextual labels in the selected contextual category, the identified contextual labels describing at least a threshold proportion of contextual slices of the group; and

selecting the group label from the identified contextual labels, the selected group label having a highest level of specificity among the identified one or more contextual labels.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein providing the group of labelled contextual slices comprises providing a storyline comprising the group of labelled contextual slices and an additional group of labelled contextual slices, the group and the additional group associated with group labels comprising at least one matching contextual label.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the storyline is provided in a user interface displaying a visual representation of the group of labelled contextual slices, the user interface configured to display visual representations of the identified contextual slices responsive to a user input directed at the visual representation of the group.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein providing the group of labelled contextual slices comprises:

receiving, from the user, a correction comprising at least one of a corrected group label and a corrected group of labelled contextual slices; and

storing an updated version of at least one of the group label and the group responsive to receiving the correction.

11. A non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising instructions executable by a processor, the instructions for:

receiving a plurality of labelled contextual slices derived from contextual data of a user, each labelled contextual slice comprising a time range, a location, and a contextual label indicating a semantic description of the labelled contextual slice;

obtaining a contextual pattern specifying a sequence of contextual labels applied to a sequence of labelled contextual slices to determine whether the sequence of labelled contextual slices match the contextual pattern;

identifying, by a processor, a group of labelled contextual slices from the plurality of labelled contextual slices, the group of labelled contextual slices matching the contextual pattern;

associating the identified group with a group label, the group label indicating a common semantic description of the group of labelled contextual slices; and

providing the group of labelled contextual slices and the group label to the user.

12. The computer-readable medium of claim 11, further comprising instructions for:

obtaining an additional contextual pattern specifying an additional sequence of contextual labels;

identifying an additional group of labelled contextual slices from the plurality of labelled contextual slices, the additional group of labelled contextual slices matching the additional contextual pattern;

determining whether the additional group of labelled contextual slices comprises at least a threshold number of contextual slices in common with the group of labelled contextual slices; and

determining whether to merge the group and the additional group responsive to determining that the additional group comprises at least the threshold number of contextual slices in common with the group.

13. The computer-readable medium of claim 12, wherein instructions for determining whether to merge the group and the additional group comprise instructions for:

determining to merge the group and the additional group of labelled contextual slices responsive to determining that the additional group encompasses a shorter time duration than the group and responsive to determining that the group and the additional group are associated with group labels containing at least one matching non-temporal context.

14. The computer-readable medium of claim 11, wherein instructions for identifying the group of labelled contextual slices comprise instructions for identifying a temporally contiguous group of slices that match the contextual pattern.

15. The computer-readable medium of claim 11, wherein instructions for obtaining the contextual pattern comprise instructions for:

receiving additional groups of labelled contextual slices identified by the user; and

identifying the contextual pattern from a common temporal sequence of contextual labels identified at least a threshold number of instances among the additional groups of labelled contextual slices.

16. The computer-readable medium of claim 11, wherein instructions for associating the identified group with the group label comprise instructions for:

obtaining a label template associated with the obtained contextual pattern, the label template specifying one or more contextual categories;

identifying, from contextual labels of the group of labelled contextual slices, a contextual label describing at least a threshold proportion of the group of labelled contextual slices, the identified contextual label in one of the one or more contextual categories in the label template; and

generating the group label by using the identified contextual label in the pattern template.

17. The computer-readable medium of claim 11, wherein instructions for associating the identified group with the group label comprise instructions for:

selecting a contextual category specified by at least a threshold number of contextual labels in the group of contextual labels;

identifying contextual labels in the selected contextual category, the identified contextual labels describing at least a threshold proportion of contextual slices of the group; and

selecting the group label from the identified contextual labels, the selected group label having a highest level of specificity among the identified one or more contextual labels.

18. The computer-readable medium of claim 11, wherein instructions for providing the group of labelled contextual slices comprise instructions for providing a storyline comprising the group of labelled contextual slices and an additional group of labelled contextual slices, the group and the additional group associated with group labels comprising at least one matching contextual label.

19. The computer-readable medium of claim 18, wherein the storyline is provided in a user interface displaying a visual representation of the group of labelled contextual slices, the user interface configured to display visual representations of the identified contextual slices responsive to a user input directed at the visual representation of the group.

20. A system for organizing contextual data, the system comprising:

a processor; and

a non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising instructions executable by the processor, the instructions for;

receiving a plurality of labelled contextual slices derived from contextual data of a user, each labelled contextual slice comprising a time range, a location, and a contextual label indicating a semantic description of the labelled contextual slice;

obtaining a contextual pattern specifying a sequence of contextual labels applied to a sequence of labelled contextual slices to determine whether the sequence of labelled contextual slices match the contextual pattern;

identifying, by a processor, a group of labelled contextual slices from the plurality of labelled contextual slices, the group of labelled contextual slices matching the contextual pattern;

associating the identified group with a group label, the group label indicating a common semantic description of the group of labelled contextual slices; and

providing the group of labelled contextual slices and the group label to the user.