METHODS AND ARRANGEMENTS FOR MANAGING COMPUTER MESSAGES

• US 20090007168A1
• Filed: 06/30/2007
• Published: 01/01/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 06/30/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Lenovo PC International Limited (Lenovo Group Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: Lenovo Singapore Pte Limited (Lenovo Group Ltd.)
• Inventors: Finamore, Jamie Lynn
• Granted Patent: US 8,156,434 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 725/12
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 60/33 Arrangements for monitoring the users' behaviour or opinions
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 60/45 for identifying users

Abstract

An arrangement for determining those optimal times to permit an important pop-up message to be displayed by way of garnering a user'"'"'s attention, while permitting less important messages to be displayed at times when a user'"'"'s attention is unlikely to be garnered. In accordance with a particularly preferred embodiment, an arrangement is provided to recognize whether a user is looking towards a computer monitor and, at such times, to determine whether a blink rate of the user'"'"'s eyes corresponds to a degree of focus and concentration that would ensure a strong likelihood of the user seeing or “catching” a message that may then appear. If such likelihood is thus determined to be strong, then a critical message may preferably thence be displayed.

Claims

1. A system comprising:

a CPU;

a system memory in communication with said CPU;

a display medium;

a monitoring device acting to monitor a user'"'"'s focus on said display medium; and

a message management module acting to manage messages responsive to monitoring by said monitoring device.

2. The system according to claim 1, wherein said message management module acts to:

suppress display of a message at said display medium responsive to a first thresholded condition of a user'"'"'s focus; and

permit display of a message at said display medium responsive to a second thresholded condition of a user'"'"'s focus.

3. The system according to claim 1, wherein:

said monitoring device acts to monitor a user blink rate; and

said message management module acts to;

suppress display of a message at said display medium responsive to a user blink rate below a predetermined threshold; and

permit display of a message at said display medium responsive to a user blink rate above a predetermined threshold.

4. The system according to claim 1, wherein

said monitoring device acts to monitor a user blink rate;

and

said message management module acts to;

permit display of a first message type at said display medium responsive to a user blink rate below a predetermined threshold; and

permit display of a second message type at said display medium responsive to a user blink rate above a predetermined threshold.

5. The system according to claim 4 wherein said first message type includes at least one critical message and said second message type includes at least one non-critical message.

6. The system according to claim 5 wherein the at least one critical messages includes at least one message selected from the group consisting of:

a low battery warning message and a back-up reminder message.

7. The system according to claim 1, wherein said message management module acts to manage pop-up messages responsive to monitoring by said monitoring device.

8. The system according to claim 1, wherein said monitoring device acts to:

determine whether a user is facing said display medium; and

determine whether a user'"'"'s eyes are directed towards said display medium.

9. The system according to claim 8 wherein said monitoring device further acts to determine whether a user'"'"'s eyes are directed towards said display medium for a predetermined time span and to thereupon prompt a comparison of the user'"'"'s blink rate to a predetermined threshold.

10. The system according to claim 1, wherein said monitoring device comprises a facial recognition module.

11. The system according to claim 10, wherein said monitoring device further comprises an eye tracking module which measures the user'"'"'s blink rate.

12. A method comprising:

monitoring a user'"'"'s focus on a computer display medium; and

managing computer messages responsive to monitoring by said monitoring device.

13. The system according to claim 12, wherein said managing comprises:

suppressing display of a message at a computer display medium responsive to a first thresholded condition of a user'"'"'s focus; and

permitting display of a message at a computer display medium responsive to a second thresholded condition of a user'"'"'s focus.

14. The system according to claim 12, wherein:

said monitoring comprises monitoring a user blink rate;

said suppressing comprises suppressing display of a message at a computer display medium responsive to a user blink rate below a predetermined threshold; and

said permitting comprises permitting display of a message at a computer display medium responsive to a user blink rate above a predetermined threshold.

15. The system according to claim 12, wherein

said monitoring comprises monitoring a user blink rate;

and

said managing comprises;

permitting display of a first message type at a computer display medium responsive to a user blink rate below a predetermined threshold; and

permitting display of a second message type at a computer display medium responsive to a user blink rate above a predetermined threshold.

16. The system according to claim 15 wherein the first message type includes at least one critical message and the second message type includes at least one non-critical message.

17. The system according to claim 16 wherein the at least one critical messages includes at least one message selected from the group consisting of:

a low battery warning message and a back-up reminder message.

18. The system according to claim 12, wherein said monitoring comprises:

determining whether a user is facing a computer display medium; and

determining whether a user'"'"'s eyes are directed towards a computer display medium.

19. The system according to claim 18 wherein said monitoring device further comprises determining whether a user'"'"'s eyes are directed towards a computer display medium for a predetermined time span and to thereupon prompt a comparison of the user'"'"'s blink rate to a predetermined threshold.

20. A program storage device readable by machine, tangibly embodying a program of instructions executable by the machine to perform method steps comprising:

monitoring a user'"'"'s focus on a computer display medium; and

managing computer messages responsive to monitoring by said monitoring device.