IMPAIRMENT-ADAPTIVE ELECTRONIC DATA INTERACTION SYSTEM

• US 20150212677A1
• Filed: 01/28/2014
• Published: 07/30/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 01/28/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: DUNNE, JONATHAN, GALVIN, JAMES P. Jr., O'SULLIVAN, PATRICK J., FRENCH, PAUL B.
• Granted Patent: US 10,324,593 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/002 Specific input/output arrangements not covered by G06F3/01 - G06F3/16 other optical apparatus G02B27/00
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/007 Digital input from or digital output to memories of the shift register type
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/048 Interaction techniques based on graphical user interfaces [GUI]
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0484 for the control of specific functions or operations, e.g. selecting or manipulating an object, an image or a displayed text element, setting a parameter value or selecting a range
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/451 Execution arrangements for user interfaces
• CPC Class Codes: G09B 21/001 Teaching or communicating with blind persons G09B21/02 - G09B21/06 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G09B 21/005 Details of specially-adapted software to access information, e.g. to browse through hyperlinked information
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00127 Connection or combination of a still picture apparatus with another apparatus, e.g. for storage, processing or transmission of still picture signals or of information associated with a still picture
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/0035 User-machine interface; Control console input or output arrangements for computers G06F3/00

Abstract

A system for dynamically adjusting content for an interaction impairment can include a data provider, an end-user electronic device, a user identification module, and a data adjustment module. The data provider can be capable of providing access to electronic data. One or more characteristics of the electronic data can be incompatible with an impairment of an impaired user. The end-user electronic device can be configured to allow the impaired user to interact with electronic data. The user identification module can be configured to identify an identity of the impaired user and/or the impairment of the impaired user. The data adjustment module can be configured to automatically adjust incompatible characteristics of the electronic data prior to presentation by the end-user electronic device. This adjustment can increase the ability of the impaired user to utilize the electronic data with the end-user electronic device.

Claims

1. A system for dynamically adjusting content for an interaction impairment comprising:

a data provider capable of providing access to electronic data, wherein at least one characteristic of the electronic data is incompatible with an impairment of an impaired user, wherein said at least one characteristic adversely affects an ability of the impaired user to utilize the electronic data;

an end-user electronic device configured to allow the impaired user to interact with electronic data;

a user identification module configured to identify at least one of an identity of the impaired user and the impairment of the impaired user; and

a data adjustment module configured to automatically adjust the at least one incompatible characteristic of the electronic data prior to presentation by the end-user electronic device, wherein said adjustment increases the ability of the impaired user to utilize the electronic data with the end-user electronic device.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the user identification module further comprises:

an impairment profile associated with the impaired user that expresses at least one of acceptable limit values for a plurality of data characteristics incompatible the impairment and means of handling incompatible data characteristics, wherein the impairment profile is stored within a data store accessible to the impairment-adaptive data interaction system; and

at least one data input component configured to capture identification data from the impaired user, wherein said identification data correlates to the impairment profile associated with the impaired user.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein the identification data comprises at least one of textual data, graphical data, audio data, biometric data, and video data.

4. The system of claim 2, wherein the at least one data input component is an integrated component of the end-user electronic device.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the data adjustment module further comprises:

a plurality of data processing elements, each capable of modifying at least one characteristic of the electronic data.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the data adjustment module is at least one of a hardware plug-in component and a software plug-in component installed upon one of the end-user electronic device and the data provider.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the data adjustment module is installed upon a secondary electronic device that acts as an intermediary between the data provider and the end-user electronic device.

8. The system of claim 7, wherein the secondary electronic device is an Internet Protocol television (IPTV) device that connects an IPTV service is the data provider to a television end-user device.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein the data provider is a Web server and the end-user electronic device is one of a desktop computer, a tablet computer, a laptop computer, a notebook computer, a Web-enabled smartphone, and a computer kiosk.

10. The system of claim 1, wherein the electronic data is comprised of a plurality of data types, wherein the data adjustment module handles each data type comprising the electronic data independently.

11. The system of claim 1, wherein the data provider is a portable media storage device.

12-16. -16. (canceled)

17. A computer program product comprising a computer readable storage medium having computer usable program code embodied therewith, the computer usable program code comprising:

computer usable program code configured to receive electronic data from a data provider, wherein at least one characteristic of the electronic data is incompatible with an impairment of an impaired user, wherein said at least one characteristic adversely affects an ability of the impaired user to utilize the electronic data;

computer usable program code configured to automatically process the received electronic data to adjust the at least one incompatible characteristic, wherein said processing reduces an adverse effect of the at least one incompatible characteristic upon the ability of the impaired user to utilize the electronic data; and

computer usable program code configured to provide the processed electronic data to the impaired user for interaction, wherein it is unnecessary for the impaired user to make additional modifications to the processed electronic data to compensate for their impairment.

18. The computer program product of claim 17, further comprising:

computer usable program code configured to identify the impairment of the impaired user, wherein the impairment is defined within an impairment profile associated with the impaired user, wherein the impairment profile expresses at least one of acceptable limit values for a plurality of data characteristics incompatible the impairment of the impaired user and means of handling incompatible data characteristics.

19. The computer program product of claim 18, wherein identifying the impairment further comprises:

computer usable program code configured to receive identification data from the impaired user; and

computer usable program code configured to obtain the impairment profile that correlates to the received identification data.

20. The computer program product of claim 17, wherein processing of the received electronic data further comprises:

computer usable program code configured to assess characteristics of the received electronic data;

computer usable program code configured to determine an existence of the at least one incompatible characteristic from the assessed characteristics using the impairment profile;

computer usable program code configured to identify at least one process for modifying the at least one incompatible characteristic of the electronic data; and

computer usable program code configured to apply the identified at least one process to the electronic data.