FACILITATING A MEETING USING GRAPHICAL TEXT ANALYSIS

• US 20170097929A1
• Filed: 12/19/2016
• Published: 04/06/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 11/03/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Cecchi, Guillermo A., Kozloski, James R., Pickover, Clifford A., Rish, Irina
• Granted Patent: US 10,346,539 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/35 Clustering; Classification
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/358 Browsing; Visualisation therefor
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/30 Semantic analysis
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/109 Time management, e.g. calendars, reminders, meetings or time accounting
• CPC Class Codes: G09B 5/02 with visual presentation of the material to be studied, e.g. using film strip

Abstract

Embodiments relate to facilitating a meeting. A method for facilitating a meeting of a group of participants is provided. The method generates a graph of words from speeches of the participants as the words are received from the participants. The method partitions the group of participants into a plurality of subgroups of participants. The method performs a graphical text analysis on the graph to identify a cognitive state for each participant and a cognitive state for each subgroup of participants. The method informs at least one of the participants about the identified cognitive state of a participant or a subgroup of participants.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method for facilitating a meeting of a group of participants, the method comprising:

partitioning, by a processor, the group of participants into a first subgroup of participants and a second subgroup of participants;

generating, by the processor, a data structure that represents a graph of words from each of the participants, wherein the graph includes a plurality of nodes and a plurality of edges, each node representing a word or a phrase uttered by a participant and an identity of the participant, and each edge representing a temporal precedence of utterance of the words;

determining, by the processor, cognitive states of the participants respectively by analyzing the graph of words;

determining, by the processor, a first cognitive state of the first subgroup of participants based on the respective cognitive states of one or more participants from the first subgroup;

detecting, by the processor, a change in the first cognitive state of the first subgroup of participants; and

in response, informing the second subgroup of participants of the change in the first cognitive state of the first subgroup of participants.

2. The computer implemented method of claim 1, wherein the change in the first cognitive state of the first subgroup is detected in response to identifying a change in a cognitive state of a participant from the first subgroup.

3. The computer implemented method of claim 1, wherein detecting the change in the first cognitive state of the first subgroup of participants further comprises predicting the change in the first cognitive state based on one or more prior graphs.

4. The computer implemented method of claim 3, wherein in response to a confidence value of a prediction in the change in the first cognitive state being above a predetermined threshold, the second subgroup of participants is informed of the change in the first cognitive state.

5. The computer implemented method of claim 3, wherein in response to a confidence value of a prediction in the change in the first cognitive state being below a predetermined threshold:

accessing, by the processor, an external information repository for information associated with a participant from the first subgroup; and

boosting, by the processor, the confidence value of the prediction based on the information from the external information repository.

6. The computer implemented method of claim 5, wherein the information from the external information repository includes a biometric information of the participant, social network content of the participant, and speeches made by the participant in a prior meeting.

7. The computer implemented method of claim 1, wherein the first subgroup includes a teacher and the second subgroup includes students learning from the teacher in the meeting.

8. A system for facilitating a meeting of a group of participants, the system comprising:

a memory;

a network interface; and

a processor coupled with the memory and the network interface, the processor configured to;

partition the group of participants into a first subgroup of participants and a second subgroup of participants;

generate a data structure that represents a graph of words from each of the participants, wherein the graph includes a plurality of nodes and a plurality of edges, each node representing a word or a phrase uttered by a participant and an identity of the participant, and each edge representing a temporal precedence of utterance of the words;

determine cognitive states of the participants respectively by analyzing the graph of words;

determine a first cognitive state of the first subgroup of participants based on the respective cognitive states of one or more participants from the first subgroup;

predict a change in the first cognitive state of the first subgroup of participants; and

in response, inform the second subgroup of participants of the change in the first cognitive state of the first subgroup of participants.

9. The system of claim 8, wherein the change in the first cognitive state of the first subgroup is detected in response to identifying a change in a cognitive state of a participant from the first subgroup.

10. The system of claim 8, wherein the processor predicts the change in the first cognitive state of the first subgroup of participants based on one or more prior graphs.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein in response to a determination that a confidence value of a prediction in the change in the first cognitive state is above a predetermined threshold, the processor informs the second subgroup of participants of the change in the first cognitive state.

12. The system of claim 10, wherein in response to a confidence value of a prediction in the change in the first cognitive state being below a predetermined threshold, the processor is configured to:

access an external information repository for information associated with a participant from the first subgroup; and

update the confidence value of the prediction based on the information from the external information repository.

13. The system of claim 12, wherein the information from the external information repository includes a biometric information of the participant, social network content of the participant, and speeches made by the participant in a prior meeting.

14. The system of claim 8, wherein the first subgroup includes a teacher and the second subgroup includes students learning from the teacher in the meeting.

15. A computer program product, comprising a non-transitory computer readable storage medium having program instructions embodied therewith, the program instructions readable by a processing circuit to cause the processing circuit to perform a method of facilitating a meeting of a group of participants, the computer readable storage medium comprising instructions to:

partition the group of participants into a first subgroup of participants and a second subgroup of participants;

generate a data structure that represents a graph of words from each of the participants, wherein the graph includes a plurality of nodes and a plurality of edges, each node representing a word or a phrase uttered by a participant and an identity of the participant, and each edge representing a temporal precedence of utterance of the words;

determine cognitive states of the participants respectively by analyzing the graph of words;

determine a first cognitive state of the first subgroup of participants based on the respective cognitive states of one or more participants from the first subgroup;

predict a change in the first cognitive state of the first subgroup of participants based on one or more prior graphs; and

in response, inform the second subgroup of participants of the change in the first cognitive state of the first subgroup of participants.

16. The computer program product of claim 15, wherein the change in the first cognitive state of the first subgroup is detected in response to identifying a change in a cognitive state of a participant from the first subgroup.

17. The computer program product of claim 15, wherein the second subgroup of participants is informed of the change in the first cognitive state in response to a determination that a confidence value of a prediction in the change in the first cognitive state is above a predetermined threshold.

18. The computer program product of claim 15, wherein the computer readable storage medium further includes instructions to:

in response to a confidence value of a prediction in the change in the first cognitive state being below a predetermined threshold;

access an external information repository for information associated with a participant from the first subgroup; and

update the confidence value of the prediction based on the information from the external information repository.

19. The computer program product of claim 18, wherein the information from the external information repository includes a biometric information of the participant, social network content of the participant, and speeches made by the participant in a prior meeting.

20. The computer program product of claim 15, wherein the first subgroup includes a teacher and the second subgroup includes students learning from the teacher in the meeting.