Context reactive hints mechanism for natural language user interface
First Claim
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1. A user interface method executing on hardware, comprising the steps of:
- providing a network of agents, the network including a root node, a plurality of agents of a first type each downchain from the root node, a plurality of agents of a second type each downchain from at least one of the agents of the first type, and a plurality of agents of a third type each downchain from at least one of the agents of the second type;
developing a set of at least one interpretation path through the network in dependence upon the content of user input, each of the paths in the set including at least one agent in the network;
in dependence upon the set of interpretation paths, developing a set of alternative paths through the network, each of the alternative paths differing from all the paths in the set of interpretation paths in at least one of the agent types; and
offering at least one of the alternative paths to the user for potential follow-up,wherein the steps of developing the set of at least one interpretation paths and the alternative paths comprises developing hints from all agent types immediately downchain from a given agent type and developing hints from all agents immediately upchain from a given agent type.
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Abstract
Roughly described, a context reactive user interface which offers user-selectable on-screen choices or hints to help the user follow up in the context of his or her previous interactions. Alternatively or additionally, the system can offer on-screen choices which, when selected by the user, can invoke one or more back-end applications with entry fields pre-filled from the user'"'"'s previous interactions or from other contextual information.
20 Citations
35 Claims
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1. A user interface method executing on hardware, comprising the steps of:
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providing a network of agents, the network including a root node, a plurality of agents of a first type each downchain from the root node, a plurality of agents of a second type each downchain from at least one of the agents of the first type, and a plurality of agents of a third type each downchain from at least one of the agents of the second type; developing a set of at least one interpretation path through the network in dependence upon the content of user input, each of the paths in the set including at least one agent in the network; in dependence upon the set of interpretation paths, developing a set of alternative paths through the network, each of the alternative paths differing from all the paths in the set of interpretation paths in at least one of the agent types; and offering at least one of the alternative paths to the user for potential follow-up, wherein the steps of developing the set of at least one interpretation paths and the alternative paths comprises developing hints from all agent types immediately downchain from a given agent type and developing hints from all agents immediately upchain from a given agent type. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. A user interface method executing on hardware, comprising the steps of:
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providing a network of agents; developing a first interpretation path through the network in dependence upon the content of user input, the first interpretation path including a first agent and a second agent downchain from the first agent; developing a first alternative path through the network, the first alternative path including a third agent and a fourth agent, the third agent being different from and sharing a common group attribute with the second agent, and the fourth agent being upchain of the third agent, the first alternative path different by at least one agent from the first interpretation path; and offering the first alternative path to the user for potential follow-up, wherein the steps of developing the first interpretation path and the first alternative path comprises developing hints from all agents immediately downchain from the first agent and developing hints from all agents immediately upchain from the third agent.
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18. A user interface method executing on hardware, comprising the steps of:
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providing a network of agents; developing a first interpretation path through the network in dependence upon the content of user input, the first interpretation path including a first agent and a second agent immediately downchain from the first agent; developing a first alternative path through the network, the first alternative path including the second agent and a third agent immediately upchain from the second agent and different from the first agent; and offering the first alternative path to the user for potential follow-up, wherein the steps of developing the first interpretation path and the first alternative path comprises developing hints from all agents immediately downchain from the first agent and developing hints from all agents immediately upchain from the second agent. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35)
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Specification