Dynamic and configurable user interface

• US 9,672,049 B2
• Filed: 01/06/2012
• Issued: 06/06/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 09/22/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Inventors: Krishnamurthi, Govindarajan
• Primary Examiner(s): Pham, Linh K
• Assistant Examiner(s): TRAN, TAM T
• Application Number:
  US13/344,735
• Publication Number:
  US 20130080890A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,978 Days
• Field of Search: 715702, 715863, 715864, 715763, 715854
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/016 Input arrangements with force or tactile feedback as computer generated output to the user
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0481 based on specific properties of the displayed interaction object or a metaphor-based environment, e.g. interaction with desktop elements like windows or icons, or assisted by a cursor's changing behaviour or appearance
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0482 Interaction with lists of selectable items, e.g. menus
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0488 using a touch-screen or digitiser, e.g. input of commands through traced gestures
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04886 by partitioning the display area of the touch-screen or the surface of the digitising tablet into independently controllable areas, e.g. virtual keyboards or menus
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/451 Execution arrangements for user interfaces
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/20 Services signaling; Auxiliary data signalling, i.e. transmitting data via a non-traffic channel
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/50 Service provisioning or reconfiguring

Abstract

In some embodiments, a method for generating a mobile device'"'"'s user interface is provided. The method may include: receiving, via the mobile device, input from a user of the mobile device, the input being related to a property for presenting dynamic context-dependent informational cues; determining a context; identifying a subset of a set of informational cues, the subset being associated with the context; and predominately presenting, via the mobile device, the identified subset to the user, the presentation being predominate as compared to any presentation of other informational cues in the set of informational cues, wherein the presentation accords with the received user input.

Claims

1. A method for generating a mobile device'"'"'s user interface, the method comprising:

receiving, via the mobile device, input from a user of the mobile device, the input being related to a selection of a notification area within a graphical user interface (GUI) for presenting dynamic context-dependent informational cues;

determining one or more context-associated variables associated with an environment in which the mobile device is or has been located;

determining a future context by identifying cumulative or time-weighted clusters of values of the one or more context-associated variables, the future context determined based on the one or more context-associated variables;

identifying a subset of a set of informational cues, the subset being associated with the future context; and

presenting, via the mobile device, the identified subset within the notification area to the user, and hiding other informational cues in the set of informational cues, wherein the identified subset is presented prior to occurrence of the future context,

wherein the presentation accords with the received user input,

wherein the set of informational cues represent programs executable on the mobile device, each of the set of informational cues comprising a graphical icon associated with a respective one of the programs, and

wherein the future context is determined, and the subset of informational cues is identified and presented, prior to execution of any of the programs.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the set of informational cues comprises an alert of the future context.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the set of informational cues comprises an alert of a deal.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the future context is determined based on previously received context-defining user input.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the previously received context-defining user input identifies one or more conditions for displaying the subset of the set of informational cues.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the one or more conditions comprise receiving an email from one or more specific senders.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the input comprises an actual or approximate border of a dynamic portion of a screen on the mobile device for visually presenting the identified subset.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the input comprises one or more touch-screen-drawn borders.

9. The method of claim 7, wherein the dynamic portion comprises a plurality of regions of a screen on the mobile device, the plurality of regions covering less than an entirety of the screen.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the identified subset are visually presented within a system-defined portion of a screen on the mobile device.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein one or more informational cues of the set of informational cues are associated with a plurality of contexts.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the identified subset is presented with at least one scrolling feature, such that the identified subset is not simultaneously presented in its entirety on a screen of the mobile device.

13. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

ranking at least some of the informational cues of the set of informational cues, wherein the presentation of the identified subset is based at least partly on the ranking.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein a screen location associated with the presentation of each of the informational cues of the identified subset of the set of informational cues is based at least partly on the ranking.

15. The method of claim 1, wherein the input comprises a selection between a plurality of system-generated screen partitioning options.

16. The method of claim 1, wherein presenting the identified subset comprises displaying graphical icons associated with the subset as compared to any display of graphical icons associated with the other informational cues in the set of informational cues.

17. The method of claim 1, wherein informational cues in the subset are visually presented to the user on a display screen of the mobile device, and the other informational cues are not visually presented to the user on the display screen.

18. The method of claim 1, wherein informational cues in the subset are visually presented to the user on a desktop or home screen of the mobile device, and the other informational cues are not visually presented to the user on the desktop or home screen.

19. The method of claim 1, wherein the subset comprises an informational cue indicating that the future context was determined.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein the informational cue indicating that the future context was determined is presented to the user using a at least one of a sound and a vibration of the mobile device.

21. The method of claim 1, further comprising presenting, via the mobile device, a static context-independent set of informational cues to the user.

22. The method of claim 1, wherein the mobile device is a cellular phone.

23. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving one or more context-associated variables,

wherein determining the future context comprises inferring the context based on the received one or more context-associated variable.

24. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining a second context;

identifying a second subset of the set of informational cues, the second subset being associated with the second context; and

presenting, via the mobile device, the second subset as compared to any presentation of other informational cues in the set of informational cues,

wherein the presentation accords with the received user input, and

wherein the second subset is different than the subset.

25. The method of claim 1, wherein the subset is identified based at least partly on user inputs associating programs with the future context, the programs being executable on the mobile device.

26. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

monitoring the user'"'"'s interactions with programs executable on the mobile device;

identifying a correlation between the user'"'"'s interactions and a context-associated variable;

receiving a value of the context-associated variable; and

inferring the future context based on the identified correlation and the received value.

27. The method of claim 1, wherein the future context is selected from a plurality of future contexts, the future context selected based on a determination that the one or more context-associated variables indicate that the future context has a highest probability of occurring from among the plurality of future contexts.

28. The method of claim 1, wherein the identifying the subset of informational cues includes:

selecting the subset of informational cues from the set of informational cues by determining that the subset is the highest probability subset from among the set of informational cues of corresponding to the future context, the probability determined based on the one or more context-associated variables.

29. A processor-readable non-transitory medium comprising processor readable instructions configured to cause a processor to:

receive input from a user of the mobile device, the input being related to a selection of a user specified notification area within a graphical user interface (GUI) for presenting dynamic context-dependent informational cues;

determine one or more context-associated variables associated with an environment in which the mobile device is or has been located;

determine a future context by identifying cumulative or time-weighted clusters of values of the one or more context-associated variables, the future context determined based on the one or more context-associated variables;

associate the determined future context with a subset of a set of informational cues; and

generate a user interface that presents the subset within the notification area and hides presentation of other informational cues in the set of informational cues, wherein the user interface that presents the subset is generated prior to occurrence of the future context,

wherein the presentation of the subset accords with the received user input,

wherein the set of informational cues represent programs executable on the mobile device, each of the set of informational cues comprising a graphical icon associated with a respective one of the programs, and

wherein the future context is determined, and the subset of informational cues is identified and presented, prior to execution of any of the programs.

30. The processor-readable non-transitory medium of claim 29, wherein the processor readable instructions are further configured to cause the processor to define a portion of a display of the mobile device for displaying the dynamic context-dependent informational cues, the defining depending on the user input.

31. The processor-readable non-transitory medium of claim 29, wherein the processor readable instructions are further configured to cause the processor to at least periodically adjust a plurality of context definitions.

32. The processor-readable non-transitory medium of claim 29, wherein the processor readable instructions are further configured to cause the processor to at least periodically adjust associations between contexts and portions of the set of informational cues.

33. A system for generating a mobile device'"'"'s user interface, the system comprising:

an input device configured to receive an input from a user of the mobile device, the input being related to a selection of a user specified notification area within a graphical user interface (GUI) for presenting dynamic context-dependent informational cues; and

one or more processors programmed with computer-executable instructions to;

determine one or more context-associated variables associated with an environment in which the mobile device is or has been located;

determine a future context by identifying cumulative or time-weighted clusters of values of the one or more context-associated variables, the future context determined based on the one or more context-associated variables;

identify a subset of a set of informational cues, the subset being associated with the future context; and

generate the user interface to present the identified subset within the notification area to the user, the presentation comprising presenting the identified subset and hiding other informational cues in the set of informational cues, wherein the user interface is generated to present the identified subset prior to occurrence of the future context,

wherein the presentation accords with the received user input,

wherein the set of informational cues represent programs executable on the mobile device, each of the set of informational cues comprising a graphical icon associated with a respective one of the programs, and

wherein the future context is determined, and the subset of informational cues is identified and presented, prior to execution of any of the programs.

34. The system of claim 33, wherein the mobile device comprises the one or more processors.

35. The system of claim 33, wherein an external computer comprises at least one of the one or more processors, and wherein the external computer is coupled to the mobile device via a wireless connection.

36. The system of claim 33, wherein the mobile device further comprises one or more sensors configured to monitor one or more context-associated variables.

37. A system for generating a user interface, the system comprising:

means for receiving input from a user of a mobile device, the input being related to a selection of a user specified notification area within a graphical user interface (GUI) for presenting dynamic context-dependent informational cues;

means for determining one or more context-associated variables associated with an environment in which the mobile device is or has been located;

means for determining a future context by identifying cumulative or time-weighted clusters of values of the one or more context-associated variables, the future context determined based on the one or more context-associated variables;

means for identifying a subset of a set of informational cues, the subset being associated with the future context; and

means for presenting the identified subset within the notification area and hiding presentation of other informational cues in the set of informational cues, wherein the presentation accords with the received user input, wherein the identified subset is presented prior to occurrence of the future context,

wherein the set of informational cues represent programs executable on the mobile device, each of the set of informational cues comprising a graphical icon associated with a respective one of the programs, and

wherein the means for determining the future context is configured to determine the future context, the means for identifying is configured to identify the subset of informational cues, and the means for presenting is configured to present the identified subset, prior to execution of any of the programs.

38. The system of claim 37, wherein the means for identifying the subset comprises using a neural network.

39. The system of claim 37, wherein the means for receiving input comprises a touch screen.