User-specific customization based on characteristics of user-interaction

• US 9,329,767 B1
• Filed: 06/08/2011
• Issued: 05/03/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 06/08/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Google LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Google Inc. (Alphabet Inc.)
• Inventors: Teller, Eric, Mannby, Claes-Fredrik, Furr, Kevin Anthony, King, Martin T.
• Primary Examiner(s): Yodichkas, Aneeta
• Application Number:
  US13/156,001
• Time in Patent Office: 1,791 Days
• Field of Search: 345/173, 345/179
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 2027/0178 Eyeglass type eyeglass details G02C
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 2027/0187 slaved to motion of at least a part of the body of the user, e.g. head, eye
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 27/017 Head mounted
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2203/04105 Pressure sensors for measuring the pressure or force exerted on the touch surface without providing the touch position
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/011 Arrangements for interaction with the human body, e.g. for user immersion in virtual reality blind teaching G09B21/00
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/03545 Pens or stylus
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0412 Digitisers structurally integrated in a display
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0414 using force sensing means to determine a position
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/042 by opto-electronic means
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0487 using specific features provided by the input device, e.g. functions controlled by the rotation of a mouse with dual sensing arrangements, or of the nature of the input device, e.g. tap gestures based on pressure sensed by a digitiser
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0488 using a touch-screen or digitiser, e.g. input of commands through traced gestures
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04883 for inputting data by handwriting, e.g. gesture or text

Abstract

The disclosed methods, devices, and systems may enable the user of an input device to be identified based on characteristics of the user'"'"'s input. In one aspect, an example computer-implemented method may involve: (i) receiving an input signal corresponding to a touch interaction on a touch-based interface; (ii) determining, based at least in part on the input signal, one or more characteristics of the touch interaction, where the one or more characteristics of the touch interaction include at least one behavioral characteristic of the touch interaction; (iii) using the one or more characteristics of the touch interaction as a basis for determining a user-profile; and (iv) initiating at least one action based on the determined user-profile.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method comprising:

receiving an input signal corresponding to a touch interaction on a touch-based interface;

determining a geographic location of the touch-based interface at a time corresponding to the touch interaction;

determining, based at least in part on the input signal, one or more characteristics of the touch interaction, wherein the one or more characteristics of the touch interaction comprise at least one behavioral characteristic of the touch interaction;

determining that the one or more characteristics of the touch interaction match to a plurality of potential user-profiles from a set of user-profiles;

in response to determining that the one or more characteristics of the touch interaction match to the plurality of potential user-profiles;

(a) comparing the determined geographic location to location information indicated by the plurality of potential user-profiles, and

(b) based at least on the comparison, selecting a particular user-profile from among the plurality of potential user-profiles; and

initiating at least one action based on one or more of the following factors;

(i) the particular user-profile, (ii) the touch interaction, and (iii) the determined geographic location.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the touch interaction is associated with a finger touch.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein determining the one or more characteristics of the touch interaction comprises determining that the touch interaction is associated with a finger touch.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the touch interaction is associated with a pen device.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein determining the one or more characteristics of the touch interaction comprises determining that the touch interaction is associated with a pen device.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein determining the one or more characteristics of the touch interaction further comprises receiving an identifier of the pen device.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the identifier of the pen device comprises a radio-frequency identification (RFID) tag.

8. The method of claim 4, wherein initiating the at least one action comprises sending a command to the pen device, wherein the command instructs the pen device to provide feedback based on the touch interaction and the particular user-profile.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the feedback based on the touch interaction and the particular user-profile comprises vibration of the pen device.

10. The method of claim 8, wherein the feedback based on the touch interaction and the particular user-profile comprises a feedback message for display on a graphic display of the pen device.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one behavioral characteristic comprises a characteristic of the touch interaction where natural variation results from physiological differences between users.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one behavioral characteristic comprises a characteristic of the touch interaction where natural variation results from cognitive differences between users.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one behavioral characteristic comprises one or more of:

(a) a measure of pressure associated with the touch interaction, (b) a measure of jitter associated with the touch interaction, (c) one or more handwriting characteristics associated with the touch interaction, (d) a speed associated with the touch interaction, (e) a touch pattern associated with the touch interaction, (f) a fingerprint, (g) a size of a contact region of the touch interaction, (h) a galvanic skin response (GVR) measurement associated with the touch interaction, (i) a pulse measurement associated with the touch interaction, and (j) a pulse-oximetry measurement associated with the touch interaction.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein content provided by the touch interaction comprises a text segment, and wherein the one or more characteristics of the touch interaction further comprise at least one semantic characteristic of the text segment.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the at least one semantic characteristic of the text segment comprises at least one characteristic indicative of one or more of (a) vocabulary and (b) grammar.

16. The method of claim 1, wherein the particular user-profile comprises an individual user-profile corresponding to a particular user.

17. The method of claim 1, wherein determining that the one or more characteristics of the touch interaction match to a plurality of potential user-profiles comprises:

using the one or more characteristics of the touch interaction as a basis for determining one or more user-categories; and

determining that each of the plurality of potential user-profiles corresponds to one or more of the determined one or more user-categories.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the one or more user-categories comprise one or more of (a) an age-range category, (b) an occupation category, (c) a profession category, (d) a status category, (e) a personal-interest category, (f) a state-of-being category, (g) an intelligence category, (h) an authority category, (i) a gender category, (j) a computing-competence category, (k) a mood category, and/or (1) a security-clearance level category.

19. The method of claim 17, wherein the one or more user-categories comprise a particular age-range category from a set of possible age-range categories, and where the at least one action comprises an adjustment to one or more of the following based on the particular age-range category:

(a) font, (b) text size, (c) volume, (d) touch-based interface sensitivity, (e) user-interface layout, (f) content presented, (g) pacing of user-interface change and (h) pacing of content change.

20. The method of claim 1, wherein the touch interaction corresponds to a text segment, and wherein initiating the at least one action comprises:

determining an e-mail account associated with the particular user-profile; and

sending an e-mail message to the associated e-mail account.

21. The method of claim 1, wherein initiating the at least one action comprises adjusting at least one user-interface feature based on at least one user-interface setting indicated by the particular user-profile.

22. The method of claim 1, wherein initiating the at least one action comprises adjusting to at least one application setting as indicated by the particular user-profile.

23. The method of claim 22, wherein the at least one application setting comprises one or more of the following:

(a) font, (b) text size, (c) volume, (d) touch-based interface sensitivity, (e) user-interface layout, (f) content presented, (g) pacing of user-interface change and (h) pacing of content change.

24. The method of claim 1, wherein initiating the at least one action comprises adjusting at least one system setting as indicated by the particular user-profile.

25. The method of claim 24, wherein the at least one system setting comprises one or more of the following:

(a) font, (b) text size, (c) volume, (d) touch-based interface sensitivity, (e) user-interface layout, (f) content presented, (g) pacing of user-interface change and (h) pacing of content change.

26. The method of claim 1, wherein initiating the at least one action comprises adjusting one or more error-correction settings as indicated by the particular user-profile.

27. The method of claim 1, wherein initiating the at least one action comprises adjusting a tactile-feedback configuration of the touch-based interface based on at least one tactile-feedback setting indicated by the particular user-profile.

28. The method of claim 27, wherein adjusting the tactile-feedback configuration of the touch-based interface comprises adjusting at least one setting that affects electrostatic forces created by the touch-based interface in response to touch interaction.

29. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

detecting, based on the input signal, that the touch interaction comprises an increase in pressure from a first pressure range to a second pressure range followed by a reduction in pressure from the second pressure range to a third pressure range below the first pressure range; and

responsively initiating a predetermined operation based on a region of the touch-based interface that corresponds to the touch interaction, wherein initiating the at least one action comprises adjusting at least one of the first pressure range, the second pressure range, and the third pressure range as indicated by the particular user-profile.

30. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

detecting, based on the input signal, that the touch interaction comprises an increase in pressure by at least a predetermined percentage followed by a reduction in pressure to below an initial pressure level; and

responsively initiating a predetermined operation based on a region of the touch-based interface that corresponds to the given touch interaction, wherein initiating the at least one action comprises adjusting the predetermined percentage as indicated by the particular user-profile.

31. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

during the touch interaction, further determining a current context; and

further in response to determining that the one or more characteristics of the touch interaction match to the plurality of potential user-profiles, using the current context as a further basis to select the particular user-profile from among the plurality of potential user-profiles.

32. The method of claim 31, wherein the current context is determined based on one or more context signals, wherein the one or more context signals comprise one or more of the following:

(a) a current time, (b) a current date, (c) a current day of the week, (d) a current month, (e) a current season, (f) a time of a future event or future context, (g) a date of a future event or future context, (h) a day of the week of a future event or future context, (i) a month of a future event or future user-context, (j) a season of a future event or future context, (k) a time of a past event or past context, (l) a date of a past event or past context, (m) a day of the week of a past event or past context, (n) a month of a past event or past context, (o) a season of a past event or past context, (p) ambient temperature, (q) a current, future, or past weather forecast at a current location, (r) a current, future, or past weather forecast at a location of a planned event, (s) a current, future, or past weather forecast at or near a location of a previous event, (t) information on a calendar associated with the user-profile, such as information regarding events or statuses of a user or a user'"'"'s friends, (t) information accessible via a user'"'"'s social networking account, such as information relating a user'"'"'s status, statuses of a user'"'"'s friends in a social network group, and/or communications between the user and the users friends, (u) noise level or any recognizable sounds detected by a device, (v) items that are currently detected by a device, (w) items that have been detected in the past by the device, (x) items that other devices associated with a device are currently in communication with or have communicated with in the past, (y) information derived from cross-referencing any two or more of;

information on a user'"'"'s calendar, information available via a user'"'"'s social networking account, and/or other context signals or sources of context information, (z) health statistics or characterizations of a user'"'"'s current health, (aa) a user'"'"'s recent context as determined from sensors on or near the user and/or other sources of context information, (bb) a current location, (cc) a past location, and (dd) a future location, (ee) a galvanic skin response (GVR) measurement, (dd) a pulse measurement, and (ee) a pulse-oximetry measurement.

33. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

during the touch interaction, further determining a current context; and

using the current context as a further basis for initiating the at least one action.

34. The method of claim 33, wherein the current context is determined based on one or more context signals, wherein the one or more context signals comprise one or more of the following:

(a) a current time, (b) a current date, (c) a current day of the week, (d) a current month, (e) a current season, (f) a time of a future event or future context, (g) a date of a future event or future context, (h) a day of the week of a future event or future context, (i) a month of a future event or future user-context, (j) a season of a future event or future context, (k) a time of a past event or past context, (l) a date of a past event or past context, (m) a day of the week of a past event or past context, (n) a month of a past event or past context, (o) a season of a past event or past context, (p) ambient temperature, (q) a current, future, or past weather forecast at a current location, (r) a current, future, or past weather forecast at a location of a planned event, (s) a current, future, or past weather forecast at or near a location of a previous event, (t) information on a calendar associated with the user-profile, such as information regarding events or statuses of a user or a user'"'"'s friends, (t) information accessible via a user'"'"'s social networking account, such as information relating a user'"'"'s status, statuses of a user'"'"'s friends in a social network group, and/or communications between the user and the users friends, (u) noise level or any recognizable sounds detected by a device, (v) items that are currently detected by a device, (w) items that have been detected in the past by the device, (x) items that other devices associated with a device are currently in communication with or have communicated with in the past, (y) information derived from cross-referencing any two or more of;

information on a user'"'"'s calendar, information available via a user'"'"'s social networking account, and/or other context signals or sources of context information, (z) health statistics or characterizations of a user'"'"'s current health, (aa) a user'"'"'s recent context as determined from sensors on or near the user and/or other sources of context information, (bb) a current location, (cc) a past location, and (dd) a future location, (ee) a galvanic skin response (GVR) measurement, (dd) a pulse measurement, and (ee) a pulse-oximetry measurement.

35. A system comprising:

a non-transitory computer-readable medium; and

program instructions stored on the non-transitory computer-readable medium and executable by at least one processor to;

receive an input signal corresponding to a touch interaction on a touch-based interface;

determine a geographic location of the touch-based interface at a time corresponding to the touch interaction;

determine, based on the input signal, one or more characteristics of the touch interaction, wherein the one or more characteristics of the touch interaction comprise at least one behavioral characteristic of the touch interaction;

determine that the one or more characteristics of the touch interaction match to a plurality of potential user-profiles from a set of user-profiles;

in response to determining that the one or more characteristics of the touch interaction match to the plurality of potential user-profiles;

(a) compare the determined geographic location to location information indicated by the plurality of potential user-profiles, and

(b) based at least on the comparison, select a particular user-profile from among the plurality of potential user-profiles; and

initiate at least one action based on one or more of the following factors;

(i) the particular user-profile, (ii) the touch interaction, and (iii) the determined geographic location.

36. The system of claim 35, wherein the at least one behavioral characteristic comprises a characteristic of natural variation in touch interaction resulting from physiological differences between users.

37. The system of claim 35, wherein the at least one behavioral characteristic comprises a characteristic of natural variation in touch interaction resulting from cognitive differences between users.

38. The system of claim 35, wherein the at least one behavioral characteristic comprises one or more of:

(a) a measure of pressure associated with the touch interaction, (b) a measure of jitter associated with the touch interaction, (c) one or more handwriting characteristics associated with the touch interaction, (d) a speed associated with the touch interaction, and (e) a touch pattern associated with the touch interaction.

39. The system of claim 35, wherein the touch interaction is associated with a finger touch.

40. The system of claim 35, wherein the touch interaction is associated with a pen device.

41. The system of claim 35, wherein the touch interaction corresponds to a text segment, and wherein the one or more characteristics of the touch interaction further comprise at least one semantic characteristic of the text.

42. The system of claim 41, wherein the at least one semantic characteristic of the text segment comprises at least one characteristic indicative of one or more of (a) vocabulary and (b) grammar.

43. The system of claim 35, wherein the particular user-profile comprises an individual user-profile corresponding to a particular user.

44. The system of claim 35, wherein the particular user-profile corresponds to one or more user-categories.

45. The system of claim 44, wherein the one or more user-categories comprise one or more of the following:

(a) an age-range category, (b) an occupation category, (c) an employer category, (d) a status category, (e) a personal-interest category, and (f) a state-of-being category (g) an intelligence category (h) an authority category (i) a gender category, and (j) a computing-competence category.

46. The system of claim 35, wherein the at least one action comprises an adjustment to at least one application setting as indicated by the particular user-profile.

47. The system of claim 35, wherein the at least one action comprises an adjustment to at least one system setting as indicated by the particular user-profile.

48. The system of claim 35, wherein the at least one action comprises an adjustment to one or more error-correction settings based on one or more error-correction setting indicated by the particular user-profile.

49. The system of claim 35, wherein the at least one action comprises an adjustment to at least one user-interface based on at least one user-interface setting indicated by the particular user-profile.

50. The system of claim 35:

wherein the system is configured to determine pressure of a given touch interaction, to detect a given touch interaction comprising an increase in pressure from a first pressure range to a second pressure range followed by a reduction in pressure from the second pressure range to a third pressure range below the first pressure range, and to responsively initiate a predetermined operation based on a region of the touch-based interface that corresponds to the given touch interaction; and

wherein the at least one action comprises an adjustment to at least one of the first pressure range, the second pressure range, and the third pressure range as indicated by the particular user-profile.

51. The system of claim 35:

wherein the system is configured to determine pressure of a given touch interaction, to detect a given touch interaction comprising an increase in pressure by at least a predetermined percentage followed by a reduction in pressure to below an initial pressure level, and to responsively initiate a predetermined operation based on a region of the touch-based interface that corresponds to the given touch interaction;

wherein the at least one action comprises an adjustment to the predetermined percentage as indicated by the particular user-profile.