Notification platform architecture
First Claim
1. A notification system embodied on a computer-readable storage medium, comprising:
- a context analyzer configured to store information regarding notification parameters, the context analyzer comprising;
a user notification parameters store configured to store default notification preferences for a user, anda user context module configured to determine a current context of the user based on at least one context source, the current context includes at least an inference of a current attentional focus of the user;
at least one notification source configured to generate notifications intended for the user;
at least one notification sink configured to provide the notifications to the user; and
a notification manager configured to convey the notifications generated by the at least one notification source to the at least one notification sink based on the information stored in the context analyzer by performing a decision-theoretic analysis, wherein the notification parameters represent at least;
an importance of a current notification generated by the notification source indicating value of information contained in the current notification to the user;
a time criticality of the current notification generated by the notification source indicating time-dependent decay of the value of the information contained in the current notification to the user;
a relevance of the current notification indicating a likelihood of the relevance of information contained in the current notification to the user;
a novelty of the current notification indicating a likelihood that the user already knows the information; and
a fidelity of the current notification indicating a loss of value to the user of the information upon truncation of the information.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
The present invention relates to a system and methodology to enable a variety of information associated with one or more notification sources to be directed to one or more notification sinks via a notification platform architecture. The architecture includes a context analyzer for determining a user'"'"'s state such as location and attentional focus, wherein the user'"'"'s state is employed by a notification manager to make decisions regarding what, when and how information generated by the notification sources should be forwarded to the notification sinks, for example. These decisions can include a cost benefit analysis wherein considerations are given as to whether the benefits of notifying the user are outweighed by the costs of disrupting the user. Decision-theoretic policies and/or somewhat less formal heuristic policies can be employed to enable the decision-making process within the notification manager.
-
Citations
20 Claims
-
1. A notification system embodied on a computer-readable storage medium, comprising:
-
a context analyzer configured to store information regarding notification parameters, the context analyzer comprising; a user notification parameters store configured to store default notification preferences for a user, and a user context module configured to determine a current context of the user based on at least one context source, the current context includes at least an inference of a current attentional focus of the user; at least one notification source configured to generate notifications intended for the user; at least one notification sink configured to provide the notifications to the user; and a notification manager configured to convey the notifications generated by the at least one notification source to the at least one notification sink based on the information stored in the context analyzer by performing a decision-theoretic analysis, wherein the notification parameters represent at least; an importance of a current notification generated by the notification source indicating value of information contained in the current notification to the user; a time criticality of the current notification generated by the notification source indicating time-dependent decay of the value of the information contained in the current notification to the user; a relevance of the current notification indicating a likelihood of the relevance of information contained in the current notification to the user; a novelty of the current notification indicating a likelihood that the user already knows the information; and a fidelity of the current notification indicating a loss of value to the user of the information upon truncation of the information. - View Dependent Claims (2)
-
-
3. A notification system embodied on a computer-readable storage medium, comprising:
-
a context analyzer configured to determine a context associated with an entity and to access and store information regarding context information and notification parameters; and a notification manager configured to convey one or more notifications to the entity based at least in part on the determined context, at least one notification source configured to generate the one or more notifications; and at least one notification sink configured to receive the one or more notifications, the at least one notification sink having parameters associated with it representing; an importance of a current notification generated by the notification source indicating value of information contained in the current notification to the user; a time criticality of the current notification generated by the notification source indicating time-dependent decay of the value of the information contained in the current notification to the user; a relevance of the current notification indicating a likelihood of the relevance of information contained in the current notification; a novelty of the current notification indicating a likelihood of whether an entity already knows the information; and a fidelity of the current notification indicating a loss of value to the entity of the information upon truncation of the information. - View Dependent Claims (4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
-
-
17. Computer-executable instructions stored on computer readable storage media for performing a method of providing notifications, the method comprising:
-
determining an expected value of a notification; receiving contextual information associated with a user, the contextual information comprising a location of the user and an attentional focus of the user; and conveying the notification to the user based at least on a decision-theoretic analysis of the contextual information, the decision-theoretic analysis comprising; determining an importance of the notification indicating a value of information contained in the notification to the user; determining a time criticality of the notification indicating time-dependent decay of the value of the information contained in the notification to the user; determining a relevance of the notification indicating a likelihood of the relevance of information contained in the notification to the user; determining a novelty of the notification indicating a likelihood that the user has prior knowledge of the information contained in the notification; and determining a fidelity of the notification indicating a loss of value to the user of the information contained in the notification upon truncation of the information. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20)
-
Specification