MEDIATION OF TASKS BASED ON ASSESSMENTS OF COMPETING COGNITIVE LOADS AND NEEDS

• US 20120004802A1
• Filed: 06/30/2010
• Published: 01/05/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 06/30/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Horvitz, Eric, Iqbal, Shamsi Tamara
• Granted Patent: US 8,825,304 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 701/29
• CPC Class Codes: G06N 20/00 Machine learning

Abstract

Among other things, one or more techniques and/or systems are disclosed for mediating tasks in real-time for safety-related concerns. A nature for a safety-related primary task, such as contextual elements of the task, is determined; and a nature of a secondary task that draws attention away from the primary task is also determined. A risk factor for a potential lack of cognitive resources which may be needed by the primary task is determined by applying the nature of the primary task and the nature of the secondary task to a trained risk factor model. The risk factor is applied to one or more safety-related systems in real-time, for example, to mitigate potential safety concerns.

Claims

1. A computer-based method for mediating tasks in real-time for safety-related concerns, comprising:

determining a nature of a primary task related to safety;

determining a nature of a secondary task that draws attention away from the primary task;

determining a risk factor for a potential lack of cognitive resources by applying the nature of the primary task and the nature of the secondary task to a trained risk factor model, using a computer-based processor; and

applying the risk factor to one or more safety-related systems in real-time.

2. The method of claim 1, comprising:

determining a nature of a potential intervening interference that could occur during performance of the primary and secondary tasks; and

determining the risk factor for a potential lack of cognitive resources by applying the nature of the primary task, the nature of the secondary task, and the nature of the potential intervening interference to the trained risk factor model.

3. The method of claim 2, determining the nature of the potential intervening interference comprising gathering information about one or more potential intervening interferences that could interfere with a vehicle operation task.

4. The method of claim 2, determining the nature of the potential intervening interference comprising determining one or more of the following in real-time:

traffic-related interferences;

route-related interferences;

environmental related interferences; and

primary task performer related interferences.

5. The method of claim 1, determining the nature of the primary task comprising determining a context of a vehicle operation task in real-time.

6. The method of claim 5, determining the context of the vehicle operation task comprising gathering real-time information related to one or more of:

route complexity;

traffic conditions;

environmental conditions; and

vehicle conditions.

7. The method of claim 1, determining the nature of the secondary task comprising determining a context of a communications-related task in real-time.

8. The method of claim 7, determining the context of the communications-related task comprising gathering real-time information related to mobile communications device interaction with a third party.

9. The method of claim 1, determining a nature of the primary task or the secondary task comprising one or more of:

gathering real-time telemetry from one or more systems associated with at least one of the primary task and the secondary task;

gathering real-time task-related information from one or more non-task systems; and

determining a probabilistic model for the nature of the primary task using the gathered telemetry and task-related information.

10. The method of claim 9:

where the primary task comprises a vehicle operation task, performing one or more of;

gathering real-time vehicle safety-related information, from one or more vehicle systems; and

gathering real-time vehicle operation-related information from one or more systems not associated with the vehicle involved in the primary task; and

where the secondary task comprises a communications-related task, gathering real-time communication information, from one or more communication device related systems.

11. The method of claim 1, determining a risk factor comprising:

training a classifier to determine the risk factor using labeled classification data for one or more primary and secondary tasks;

inputting a probabilistic model for the primary task into the trained classifier;

inputting a probabilistic model for the secondary task into the trained classifier; and

running the trained classifier to determine a risk factor.

12. The method of claim 1, applying the risk factor to one or more safety-related systems in real-time comprising one or more of:

lowering a threshold for activating a safety related system;

activating a safety related system; and

mitigating performance of the secondary task.

13. The method of claim 1, applying the risk factor to one or more safety-related systems in real-time comprising one or more of:

using the risk factor to automatically take control of one or more primary task related systems;

using the risk factor to provide one or more alerts to the primary task performer;

using the risk factor to activates one or more systems that can mitigate performance of the secondary task; and

using the risk factor to activate external cues for surrounding drivers indicating dual-tasking within a car.

14. A system for mediating tasks in real-time for safety-related concerns, comprising:

a primary task determination component configured to determine one or more primary task related factors for a safety-related primary task;

a secondary task determination component configured to determine one or more secondary task related factors for a secondary task that draws attention away from the primary task;

a risk factor determination component, operably coupled with the primary task determination component, the secondary task determination component and a computer-based processor, and the risk factor determination component configured to determine a risk factor for a potential lack of cognitive resources using the computer-based processor by applying the one or more primary task related factors and the one or more secondary task related factors to a trained risk factor model; and

a safety systems application component, operably coupled with the risk factor determination component, and configured to apply the risk factor to one or more safety-related systems in real-time.

15. The system of claim 14, comprising:

an interference determination component configured to determine one or more interference factors for one or more potential intervening interferences that could occur during performance of the primary and secondary tasks, the risk factor determination component configured to determine the risk factor for the potential lack of cognitive resources by applying the one or more primary task related factors, the one or more secondary task related factors and the one or more interference factors to a trained risk factor model.

16. The system of claim 15, the interference determination component operably coupled with one or more of:

one or more traffic-related systems that provide real-time traffic-related information;

one or more travel-route related systems that provide real-time travel-route related information; and

one or more task-performer related systems that provide real-time information related to a primary task performer.

17. The system of claim 14:

the primary task determination component operably coupled with one or more of;

one or more vehicle systems that provide safety-related telemetry in real-time to the primary task determination component; and

one or more non-vehicle systems that provide vehicle operation-related information in real-time to the primary task determination component; and

the secondary task determination component operably coupled with one or more communications device related systems that provide real-time communications telemetry related to the secondary task.

18. The system of claim 17:

the primary task determination component comprising a primary probabilistic modeling component configured to determine the one or more primary task factors using a primary probabilistic model from inputted safety-related telemetry and vehicle operation-related information; and

the secondary task determination component comprising a secondary probabilistic modeling component configured to determine the one or more secondary task factors using a secondary probabilistic model from inputted communications telemetry related to the secondary task.

19. The system of claim 14, the safety systems application component comprising one or more of:

a threshold lowering component configured to lower a threshold for activating a safety related system based on the risk factor;

a safety-system activation component configured to provide a signal for activating a primary task-related safety system based on the risk factor; and

a secondary task mitigation component configured to mitigate performance of the secondary task based on the risk factor.

20. A computer-based method for mediating tasks in real-time for safety-related concerns, comprising:

determining a nature of a primary task related to safety comprising gathering real-time vehicle operation-related information related to one or more of;

route complexity;

traffic conditions;

environmental conditions; and

vehicle conditions;

determining a nature of a secondary task that draws attention away from the primary task, comprising determining a context of a communications-related task in real-time by gathering real-time information related to mobile communications device interaction with a third party;

determining a nature of a potential intervening interference that could occur during performance of the primary and secondary tasks comprising determining one or more of the following in real-time;

traffic-related interferences;

route-related interferences; and

primary task performer related interferences;

determining a risk factor for a potential lack of cognitive resources by applying the nature of the primary task, the nature of the secondary task, and the nature of the potential intervening interference to the trained risk factor model, using a computer-based processor; and

applying the risk factor to one or more safety-related systems in real-time comprising one or more of;

lowering a threshold for activating a safety related system;

activating a safety related system; and

mitigating performance of the secondary task.