Adaptive computing environment

• US 20050108642A1
• Filed: 11/18/2003
• Published: 05/19/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 11/18/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Sinclair, Robert E. II
• Granted Patent: US 7,983,920 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 715/700
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/44505 Configuring for program initiating, e.g. using registry, configuration files
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72454 according to context-related or environment-related conditions
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2250/12 including a sensor for measuring a physical value, e.g. temperature or motion telephones including GPS signal receivers H04M2250/10

Abstract

A method and system for adapting a computing device in response to changes in an environment surrounding the computing device, or in response to the user'"'"'s stated preferences. The computing device includes one or more sensors that sense the environment. A changed characteristic of the environment is detected. A determination is made as to one or more settings to change in response to the changed characteristic. Then one or more of the settings are changed to cause the computing device to interact with the user in a different mode. A mode may include which inputs, outputs, and/or processes are used to communicate with the user. A mode may also include how an application formats output or receives input.

Claims

1. A computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions, comprising:

providing a set of modes for interacting with a computing device, at least some of the modes selectable by a user of the computing device, the modes being associated with settings of the computing device, the computing device interacting with the user in a first mode;

detecting a characteristic of an environment of the computing device, the characteristic having changed;

determining at least one of the settings to change in response to the changed characteristic; and

changing the at least one of the settings to cause the computing device to interact with the user in a second mode.

2. The computer-readable medium of claim 1, further comprising querying the user as to whether the user wants to interact with the computing device in the second mode.

3. The computer-readable medium of claim 1, wherein changing the setting is automatically done in response to the characteristic having changed.

4. The computer-readable medium of claim 1, wherein the characteristic is a light incident to a display of the computing device.

5. The computer-readable medium of claim 4, wherein before the setting is changed, the display displays at a first intensity and wherein after the setting is changed, the display displays at a second intensity.

6. The computer-readable medium of claim 4, wherein the setting causes output to come from an audio device.

7. The computer-readable medium of claim 6, wherein the output is speech.

8. The computer-readable medium of claim 5, further comprising detecting that the characteristic has changed again and in response adjusting the display to display at the first intensity.

9. The computer-readable medium of claim 1, wherein the characteristic is an ambient noise surrounding the computing device.

10. The computer-readable medium of claim 9, wherein before the setting is changed, a speaker associated with the computing device outputs sound at a first volume and wherein after the setting is changed, the speaker outputs sound at a second volume.

11. The computer-readable medium of claim 9, wherein a speaker associated with the computing device stops outputting sound when the ambient noise is greater than or equal to a threshold.

12. The computer-readable medium of claim 1, wherein detecting the characteristic is accomplished via at least one of a photocell, a microphone, a global positioning system (GPS), a gyroscope, a galvanic skin response strip, a camera, a heat sensor, a motion sensor, and a humidity sensor.

13. The computer-readable medium of claim 1, wherein detecting the characteristic comprises detecting that a device has been attached to the computing device.

14. The computer-readable medium of claim 1, wherein detecting the characteristic comprises detecting that a device has been unattached from the computing device.

15. The computer-readable medium of claim 1, further comprising storing a user preference related to at least one setting in a removable storage medium.

16. The computer-readable medium of claim 15, further comprising attaching the removable storage medium to another computing device, wherein the other computing device obtains the user preference from the removable storage medium.

17. The computer-readable medium of claim 16, wherein the other computing device downloads an application in response to the user preference.

18. The computer-readable medium of claim 17, wherein the application is a screen reader indicated by the user preference.

19. The computer-readable medium of claim 16, wherein the other computing device installs a driver in response to the user preference.

20. The computer-readable medium of claim 19, wherein the other computing device uninstalls the driver after the user removes the removable storage medium from the other computing device.

21. The computer-readable medium of claim 1, further comprising storing a user preference related to at least one setting on a server.

22. The computer-readable medium of claim 21, wherein another computing device accesses the user preference from the server and interacts with the user in accordance with the user preference.

23. The computer-readable medium of claim 1, wherein the input or output device comprises an application executing on the computing device.

24. A computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions, comprising:

a plurality of applications, the applications executable by a computing device, each application having one or more settings associated therewith, at least one of the settings indicating a mode for interacting with a user of the application associated with the setting;

detecting that a characteristic of an environment of the computing device has changed;

changing at least one of the settings in response, the at least one of the settings changed affecting a mode in which the computing device interacts with the user.

25. The computer-readable medium of claim 24, wherein changing the at least one of the settings occurs automatically.

26. The computer-readable medium of claim 24, further comprising asking the user whether the user wants the computing device to interact with the user in a different mode.

27. The computer-readable medium of claim 24, wherein the mode comprises a set of devices with which the computing device communicates with the user.

28. The computer-readable medium of claim 24, wherein the mode comprises a characteristic of a font.

29. The computer-readable medium of claim 28, wherein the characteristic of the font includes at least one of a size, name, weight, foreground color, and background color.

30. The computer-readable medium of claim 24, wherein the mode comprises a set of features provided to user.

31. The computer-readable medium of claim 24, further comprising detecting when an anxiety level of the user has increased and simplifying the set of features provided to the user in response.

32. The computer-readable medium of claim 31, wherein the anxiety level is detected via a galvanic skin response strip.

33. The computer-readable medium of claim 24, wherein detecting that a characteristic of the environment has changed comprises detecting that a new user has started interacting with the computing device.

34. The computer-readable medium of claim 33, wherein detecting that a new user has started interacting with the computing device comprises detecting that a storage medium has been attached to the computing device, the storage medium including preferences associated with the new user.

35. The computer-readable medium of claim 24, further comprising retrieving preferences associated with the user.

36. The computer-readable medium of claim 35, wherein the preferences relate to at least one of appearance, preferred input, preferred output, preferred user interface complexity, preferred multimedia settings, and preferred presentation effects.

37. A system for interacting with a user, comprising:

one or more sensors configured to sense changes in an environment of the system;

one or more input devices configured to enter input into the system;

one or more output devices configured to output data to the user; and

an engine configured to receives data from the one or more sensors and determine a mode in which the system interacts with the user.

38. The system of claim 37, wherein the mode in which the system interacts with the user depends at least in part on at least one of the changes in the environment of the system.

39. The system of claim 38, wherein a change of the environment includes a change in light.

40. The system of claim 39, wherein the one or more output devices include a display and wherein the engine causes the display to display at a different intensity in response to the change in light.

41. The system of claim 39, wherein the one or more output devices include a speaker and wherein the engine causes output to be directed to the speaker when the change in light passes a threshold.

42. The system of claim 37, wherein the one or more sensors detect that the user has a problem associated with entering data via a keyboard.

43. The system of claim 42, wherein the problem comprises a difficulty in pressing multiple keys at once.

44. The system of claim 43, wherein in response to detecting that the user has difficulties in pressing multiple keys at once, the engine queries the user whether the user would like to have sticky keys enabled, sticky keys logically causing a first key to remain depressed until a second key is depressed.