SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR AN INTELLIGENT PERSONAL TIMELINE ASSISTANT

• US 20120271676A1
• Filed: 04/24/2012
• Published: 10/25/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 04/25/2011
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Veveo, Inc. (Adeia Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Veveo, Inc. (Adeia Inc.)
• Inventors: ARAVAMUDAN, Murali, WELLING, Girish, VENKATARAMAN, Sashikumar, BARVE, Rakesh, GILL, Daren
• Application Number:
  US13/454,515
• Publication Number:
  US 20120271676A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/7.18
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/1093 Calendar-based scheduling for persons or groups

Abstract

The present disclosure provides methods and systems for assisting a user in managing a timeline of appointments in which at least one appointment is associated with an event, and the appointment has associated appointment information that describes aspects of the appointment and/or event, including receiving free-form scheduling information from an electronic notification, inferring that at least a portion of the free-form scheduling information relates to an existing appointment and/or associated event, the existing appointment having presently associated appointment information that describes aspects of the appointment and/or associated event, selecting an appointment for modification, and modifying the selected appointment based on (a) the portion of the free-form scheduling information inferred to relate to the existing appointment and/or associated event, and at least one of the appointment information presently associated with the existing appointment, and a user preference signature representing prior actions performed by and/or content preferences learned about the user.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented user interface method of assisting a user in managing a timeline of appointments in which at least one of the appointments is associated with an event, and the appointment has associated appointment information that describes aspects of the appointment and/or the event, the method comprising:

receiving free-form scheduling information from an electronic notification;

inferring that at least a portion of the free-form scheduling information relates to an appointment existing on a timeline of appointments and/or an event associated with the existing appointment, the existing appointment having presently associated appointment information that describes aspects of the appointment and/or the associated event;

selecting an appointment for modification; and

modifying the selected appointment based on

(a) the portion of the free-form scheduling information inferred to relate to the existing appointment and/or the associated event, and

(b) at least one of (i) the appointment information presently associated with the existing appointment, and (ii) a user preference signature representing prior actions performed by the user and/or content preferences learned about the user.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the existing appointment and/or the selected appointment includes (i) appointment information that describes aspects of the appointment and/or the associated event, (ii) an action to be performed on behalf of the user, (iii) a notification to update the user, and/or (iv) a suggested action for the user to take.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the electronic notification includes an email message, a calendar appointment, a task, an application, notes application data, a social network event, a web site event, a text message, an electronic communication, and/or location information of the user.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the associated appointment information includes an event type, one or more individuals involved with the event, location information about the event, and/or temporal information about the event.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the modifying the selected appointment includes:

identifying ambiguous appointment information in the selected appointment; and

identifying at least one suggested clarification to the ambiguous appointment information based on the portion of the free-form scheduling information.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the modifying the selected appointment further includes:

receiving confirmation from the user on whether the suggested clarification resolves the ambiguous appointment information; and

updating the selected appointment based on the suggested clarification and on the confirmation from the user.

7. The method of claim 5, wherein the modifying the selected appointment further includes:

concluding that the suggested clarification resolves the ambiguous appointment information based on exceeding a confidence threshold; and

updating the selected appointment based on the suggested clarification.

8. The method of claim 5, wherein the identifying at least one suggested clarification is based on free-form text entered in a description of the selected appointment.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the modifying the selected appointment is based on a location constraint and/or a time constraint.

10. A computer-implemented user interface method of assisting a user in managing a timeline of appointments in which at least one of the appointments is associated with an event, and the appointment has associated appointment information that describes aspects of the appointment and/or the event, the method comprising:

receiving free-form scheduling information from an electronic notification;

inferring that at least a portion of the free-form scheduling information relates to a new appointment to be created on a timeline of appointments, the new appointment being associated with an event;

determining appointment information for the new appointment based on (i) the portion of the free-form scheduling information inferred to relate to the new appointment and/or the associated event, and (ii) a user preference signature representing prior actions performed by the user and/or content preferences learned about the user; and

creating the new appointment using the determined appointment information.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the new appointment includes (i) an action to be performed on behalf of the user, (ii) a notification to update the user, and/or (iii) a suggested action for the user to take.

12. The method of claim 10, wherein the electronic notification includes an email message, a calendar appointment, a task, an application, notes application data, a social network event, a web site event, a text message, an electronic communication, and/or location information of the user.

13. The method of claim 10, wherein the determined appointment information includes an event type, one or more individuals involved with the event, location information about the event, and/or temporal information about the event.

14. The method of claim 10, wherein the creating the new appointment is based on a location constraint and/or a time constraint.

15. A system for assisting a user in managing a timeline of appointments in which at least one of the appointments is associated with an event, and the appointment has associated appointment information that describes aspects of the appointment and/or the event, the system comprising:

a computer memory store comprising instructions in computer readable form that when executed cause a computer system to

receive free-form scheduling information from an electronic notification;

infer that at least a portion of the free-form scheduling information relates to an appointment existing on a timeline of appointments and/or an event associated with the existing appointment, the existing appointment having presently associated appointment information that describes aspects of the appointment and/or the associated event;

select an appointment for modification; and

modify the selected appointment based on

(a) the portion of the free-form scheduling information inferred to relate to the existing appointment and/or the associated event, and

(b) at least one of (i) the appointment information presently associated with the existing appointment, and (ii) a user preference signature representing prior actions performed by the user and/or content preferences learned about the user.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein the existing appointment and/or the selected appointment includes (i) appointment information that describes aspects of the appointment and/or the associated event, (ii) an action to be performed on behalf of the user, (iii) a notification to update the user, and/or (iv) a suggested action for the user to take.

17. The system of claim 15, wherein the electronic notification includes an email message, a calendar appointment, a task, an application, notes application data, a social network event, a web site event, a text message, an electronic communication, and/or location information of the user.

18. The system of claim 15, wherein the associated appointment information includes an event type, one or more individuals involved with the event, location information about the event, and/or temporal information about the event.

19. The system of claim 15, wherein the computer memory store instructions to modify the selected appointment include instructions to:

identify ambiguous appointment information in the selected appointment; and

identify at least one suggested clarification to the ambiguous appointment information based on the portion of the free-form scheduling information.

20. The system of claim 19, wherein the computer memory store instructions to modify the selected appointment further include instructions to:

receive confirmation from the user on whether the suggested clarification resolves the ambiguous appointment information; and

update the selected appointment based on the suggested clarification and on the confirmation from the user.

21. The system of claim 19, wherein the computer memory store instructions to modify the selected appointment further include instructions to:

conclude that the suggested clarification resolves the ambiguous appointment information based on exceeding a confidence threshold; and

update the selected appointment based on the suggested clarification.

22. The system of claim 19, wherein the computer memory store instructions to identify at least one suggested clarification are based on free-form text entered in a description of the selected appointment.

23. The system of claim 15, wherein the computer memory store instructions to modify the selected appointment are based on a location constraint and/or a time constraint.

24. A system for assisting a user in managing a timeline of appointments in which at least one of the appointments is associated with an event, and the appointment has associated appointment information that describes aspects of the appointment and/or the event, the system comprising:

a computer memory store comprising instructions in computer readable form that when executed cause a computer system to

receive free-form scheduling information from an electronic notification;

infer that at least a portion of the free-form scheduling information relates to a new appointment to be created on a timeline of appointments, the new appointment being associated with an event;

determine appointment information for the new appointment based on (i) the portion of the free-form scheduling information inferred to relate to the new appointment and/or the associated event, and (ii) a user preference signature representing prior actions performed by the user and/or content preferences learned about the user; and

create the new appointment using the determined appointment information.

25. The system of claim 24, wherein the new appointment includes (i) an action to be performed on behalf of the user, (ii) a notification to update the user, and/or (iii) a suggested action for the user to take.

26. The system of claim 24, wherein the electronic notification includes an email message, a calendar appointment, a task, an application, notes application data, a social network event, a web site event, a text message, an electronic communication, and/or location information of the user.

27. The system of claim 24, wherein the determined appointment information includes an event type, one or more individuals involved with the event, location information about the event, and/or temporal information about the event.

28. The system of claim 24, wherein the computer memory store instructions to create the new appointment are based on a location constraint and/or a time constraint.