AUTOMATED SELECTION OF APPROPRIATE INFORMATION BASED ON A COMPUTER USER'S CONTEXT

• US 20150106467A1
• Filed: 09/15/2014
• Published: 04/16/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 12/18/1998
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Robarts, James O., Newell, Dan, Abbott, Kenneth H.
• Granted Patent: US 9,906,474 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/207
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9535 Search customisation based on user profiles and personalisation
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/107 Computer-aided management of electronic mailing [e-mailing]
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/212 using filtering or selective blocking

Abstract

A system filters received messages (e.g., unsolicited advertisements) to determine if they are appropriate for a user based on the non-static, constantly evolving, context of the user. The system can track the user'"'"'s context by monitoring various environmental parameters, such as related to the user'"'"'s physical, mental, computing and data environments, and can model the current context of the user based at least in part on the monitoring. The system selects a set of one or more filters to apply to incoming messages based on the user'"'"'s context, and the selected filters can be updated as the user'"'"'s context changes. Messages that survive the filters are then evaluated against the user'"'"'s context to determine whether they should be presented immediately or stored for delayed presentation.

Claims

1-21. -21. (canceled)

22. A computer-readable medium having computer program logic recorded thereon for enabling a hand-held computing device to filter message(s), the computer program logic comprising:

logic for enabling the hand-held computing device to receive a message from a source that is external to the hand-held computing device; and

logic for enabling the hand-held computing device to select, based on a context of a user of the hand-held computing device, one or more filters to apply to the message, the selected one or more filters comprising a first filter when the context of the user indicates that the user is in a first state and a second filter when the context of the user indicates that the user is in a second state that is different from the first state, the first state being a sleeping state, and the first filter being configured to block messages having a priority that is less than a designated priority.

23. The computer-readable medium of claim 22, wherein the logic for enabling the hand-held computing device to select the one or more filters comprises:

logic for enabling the hand-held computing device to de-select at least one of the one or more filters and to select at least one other filter to be applied to a message in response to a change in the context of the user.

24. The computer-readable medium of claim 22, further comprising:

selectively presenting the message to the user based on whether the message satisfies criteria of the one or more filters.

25. The computer-readable medium of claim 24, further comprising:

delaying presentation of the message to the user for a designated period of time in response to the message satisfying the criteria of the one or more filters.

26. The computer-readable medium of claim 24, further comprising:

determining whether to present the message to the user based on the context of the user in response to the message satisfying the criteria of the one or more filters.

27. A method comprising:

receiving one or more messages for presentation to a user of a hand-held computing device;

detecting that the user of the hand-held computing device is in a sleep state; and

generating a temporary filter, which is to be applied to the one or more messages while the user is in the sleep state based on the user being in the sleep state, the temporary filter configured to block each message of the one or more messages that has a priority that is less than a designated priority.

28. The method of claim 27, further comprising:

applying the temporary filter to the one or more messages while the user is in the sleep state, the applying the temporary filter includes temporarily blocking at least one message of the one or more messages; and

discontinuing application of the temporary filter in response to the user no longer being in the sleep state.

29. The method of claim 28, wherein discontinuing the application of the temporary filter comprises:

passing the at least one message of the one or more messages for presentation to the user.

30. The method of claim 28, wherein discontinuing the application of the temporary filter comprises:

applying at least one other filter in lieu of the temporary filter to the at least one message of the one or more messages in response to the user no longer being in the sleep state.

31. The method of claim 27, wherein generating the temporary filter comprises:

generating the temporary filter dynamically in response to detecting that the user is in the sleep state.

32. The method of claim 27, wherein generating the temporary filter comprises:

generating the temporary filter to be configured to block each message of the one or more messages that has a priority that is less than a designated priority for a designated period of time.

33. The method of claim 27, wherein detecting that the user of the hand-held computing device is in the sleep state comprises:

sensing a state of a body of the user to detect that the user is in the sleep state.

34. A system comprising:

a condition-dependent output supplier (CDOS) system configured to determine whether a user of a hand-held computing device is in a sleep state; and

a filtering system configured to receive one or more messages for presentation to the user of the hand-held computing device,

the filtering system further configured to generate a temporary filter, which is to be applied to the one or more messages while the user is in the sleep state based on the user being in the sleep state, the temporary filter configured to block each message of the one or more messages that has a priority that is less than a designated priority.

35. The system of claim 34, wherein the filtering system is further configured to apply the temporary filter to the one or more messages while the user is in the sleep state to temporarily block at least one message of the one or more messages;

and

wherein the filtering system is further configured to discontinue application of the temporary filter in response to the user no longer being in the sleep state.

36. The system of claim 35, wherein the filtering system is configured to pass the at least one message of the one or more messages for presentation to the user based on the user no longer being in the sleep state.

37. The system of claim 35, wherein the filtering system is configured to apply at least one other filter in lieu of the temporary filter to the at least one message of the one or more messages in response to the user no longer being in the sleep state.

38. The system of claim 34, wherein the filtering system is configured to generate the temporary filter dynamically in response to detection that the user is in the sleep state.

39. The system of claim 34, wherein the system includes one or more servers, the one or more servers including the CDOS system and the filtering system;

and

wherein the hand-held computing device is a thin client device communicatively coupled to the one or more servers.

40. The system of claim 34, wherein the temporary filter is configured to block each message of the one or more messages that has a priority that is less than a designated priority for a designated period of time.

41. The system of claim 34, wherein the CDOS system is configured to sense a state of a body of the user to determine whether the user is in the sleep state.