Dynamic collaboration assistant

• US 7,543,237 B2
• Filed: 03/19/2003
• Issued: 06/02/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 03/19/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Accenture Global Services Limited (Accenture PLC)
• Original Assignee: Accenture Global Services GmbH (Accenture PLC)
• Inventors: Jacobson, Mark, Kontny, Nathan D., Arnholt, Katie J., Groon, J. C., Nebolsky, Charles
• Primary Examiner(s): BONSHOCK, DENNIS G
• Application Number:
  US10/391,680
• Publication Number:
  US 20040183829A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,267 Days
• Field of Search: 715/751, 715/759, 715/733, 715/754
• US Class Current: 715/759
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management

Abstract

A dynamic collaboration assistant application for use in a computing system including a terminal connected to a server. The dynamic collaboration assistant application includes a collaborative gateway application for generating a collaborative gateway GUI on the terminal. A context listener module located on the terminal is used to continuously monitor a context in which a user is using the terminal. A context translator module analyzes the context message and dynamically adjusts the display of the plurality of collaboration applications in the collaborative gateway GUI as a function of the context in which the user is using the terminal.

Claims

1. A computer readable storage media for use in collaborating across a computing network, comprising:

computer readable program code embodied on the computer readable storage media, wherein the computer readable program code is executable on a terminal, the computer readable program code including;

the computer readable program code executable on the terminal to generate a collaborative gateway graphical user interface on the terminal that includes a display of at least one collaboration application, wherein the collaboration application includes at least one of a plurality of collaboration options;

the computer readable program code executable on the terminal to substantially continuously monitor a document in an application configured to display information to a user of the terminal;

the computer readable program code executable on the terminal to scan or parse a content of the document in the application to detect a change in a context in which the terminal is being used by the user of the terminal;

the computer readable program code executable on the terminal to receive from a server via the computing network, a context profile of the user, wherein the context profile is stored in a context profile database in association with the server and defines at least one relevant context associated with the collaboration gateway graphical user interface, and wherein the context profile is at least partially defined by the user;

the computer readable program code executable on the terminal to, when the change in the context is detected, compare the change detected in the context in which the terminal is being used by the user of the terminal to the received context profile of the user to determine a correlation, or a match, between the change detected in the context and the received context profile of the user;

the computer readable program code executable on the terminal to determine whether the change detected in the context includes the at least one relevant context based upon the correlation, or the match, of the change detected in the context and the received context profile of the user, wherein the at least one relevant context is defined by the user in the context profile of the user stored in the context profile database;

the computer readable program code executable on the terminal, responsive to determination that the change detected in context includes the at least one relevant context, to generate a context message;

the computer readable program code executable on the terminal to transmit the context message to the server, wherein the context message includes a user identifier and a context indication;

the computer readable program code executable on the terminal to receive a new context notification transmitted by a collaboration assistant application on the server in response to the context message; and

the computer readable program code executable on the terminal to adjust the display of the collaboration options in the collaborative gateway graphical user interface based on the new context notification.

2. The computer readable storage media of claim 1, wherein the document is a newly opened document;

and

wherein the computer readable program code executable on the terminal to substantially continuously monitor the document in the application configured to display information to the user of the terminal further comprises;

the computer readable program code executable on the terminal to background text-scan the newly opened document at a time the newly opened document is opened on the terminal; and

the computer readable program code executable on the terminal to determine whether a document context of the newly opened document was previously determined; and

the computer readable program code executable on the terminal to analyze the newly opened document to determine the document context based upon determination that the document context was previously undetermined.

3. The computer readable storage media of claim 2, further comprising computer readable program code embodied on a server memory, wherein the computer readable program code is executable on a server processor of the server in communication with the server memory, the computer readable program code including:

the computer readable program code executable on the server to query the context indication against a knowledge model to determine a list of relations, based on the context indication received from the terminal.

4. The computer readable storage media of claim 3, wherein the list of relations includes an associated user list and a document list.

5. The computer readable storage media of claim 4, further comprising the computer readable program code executable on the server to generate a message including the new context notification for transmission to the terminal.

6. A method of collaborating across a computing network comprising:

generating a collaborative gateway graphical user interface on a terminal that includes a display of at least one collaboration application, the at least one collaboration application including at least one of a plurality of collaboration options;

identifying, at the terminal, a subject matter related context in which the terminal is being used by a user of the terminal;

detecting a change in a focus to a newly active document at the terminal;

recognizing at the terminal that the newly active document is new, or unscanned, or unparsed;

detecting at the terminal whether a context of the newly active document is known in response to detection that the newly active document is new, or unscanned, or unparsed;

pattern matching, at the terminal, a content of the newly active document to detect a contextual pattern match for the content of the active document in response to detection that the newly active document is unknown;

in response to detection diction of the contextual pattern match at the terminal, determining, at the terminal, the context of the newly active document based upon the content of the newly active document and the detected contextual pattern match performed by the terminal at the terminal;

retrieving, by the terminal via the computer network, a user context profile from a database, wherein the user context profile includes user defined relevant context information, and wherein the user context profile is at least partially defined by the user;

comparing, at the terminal, the determined context of the newly active document to the user defined relevant context information in response to determination of the context of the newly active document to detect whether the determined context is relevant to the at least one collaboration application displayed on the terminal;

determining, at the terminal, whether the determined context of the newly active document is different from the identified subject matter related context in response to detection that the determined context is relevant to the at least one collaboration application;

detecting a context change in use of the terminal by the user in response to determination that the determined context of the newly active document is different from the identified subject matter related context;

transmitting a context message from the terminal to a collaboration assistant application resident on a server in response to detection of the context change, wherein the context message is indicative of a change in the identified subject matter related context, wherein the context message includes a user identity and a detected subject matter related context indication; and

adjusting the display at the terminal of the at least one collaboration option in the collaborative gateway graphical user interface in response to receipt of an update indication transmitted by the collaboration assistant application that reflects the detected subject matter related context indication.

7. The method of claim 6, further comprising:

querying, at the server, the detected subject matter related context indication against a knowledge model to determine a list of relations in response to receipt of the context message based on the detected subject matter related context indication, wherein the list of relations includes an associated user list and a document list.

8. The method of claim 7, further comprising:

transmitting an update indication from the server to the terminal in response to determination of the list of relations; and

in response to the update indication, refreshing data associated with the collaboration applications at the terminal.

9. The method of claim 6, wherein identifying, at the terminal, the subject matter related context in which the terminal is being used by the user further comprises:

collecting, at the terminal, entries in an active application used by the user of the terminal;

contextual matching, at the terminal, the entries in the active application to at least one relevant context included in the relevant context information of the user context profile; and

in response to the contextual match between the at least one relevant context and entries in the active application, detecting the subject matter related context of the active application based upon the contextual match.

10. The method of claim 6, wherein the terminal detecting whether the context of the newly active document is known further comprises:

the terminal detecting whether the newly active document is a new document with respect to at least one other relevant document associated with the plurality of collaboration application displayable on the collaborative gateway graphical user interface of the terminal.

11. The method of claim 6, further comprising:

in response to detection that the newly active document includes a known context, the terminal comparing the known context of the newly active document to the user context profile to detect whether the known context is relevant to the plurality of collaboration applications displayed on the collaborative gateway graphical user interface.

12. The method of claim 6, wherein the user context profile includes information indicating a plurality of context that are relevant to the plurality of collaboration applications displayed on the collaborative gateway graphical user interface.

13. A method of collaborating across a computing network comprising:

generating, at a terminal collaborative gateway graphical user interface for at least one of a plurality of collaboration applications, the at least one of the plurality of collaboration applications including at least one of a plurality of collaboration options on a display of the terminal;

background text scanning, at the terminal, a plurality of open documents displayed on the terminal to detect an unparsed, or unscanned, or new, document among all the displayed documents;

determining, at the terminal, whether the at least one unparsed, or unscanned, or new, document from among all the displayed documents is an active document;

in response to determination that the at least one unparsed document is the active document, context parsing, or scanning, the active document at the terminal to identify a document context;

detecting, at the terminal, that the document context of the active document is unknown;

retrieving a user context profile via the computer network stored in a context profile database from a server, wherein the user context profile is associated with a user account of a user of the terminal, and wherein at least a portion of the user context profile is at least partially defined by the user;

comparing, at the terminal, the detected document context of the active document to the retrieved user context profile to determine a correlation, or a match, between the detected document context of the active document and the retrieved context profile;

determining, at the terminal, whether the detected document context includes a relevant context based upon the correlation or the match of the detected document context of the active document to the retrieved context profile of the user;

in response to determination that the detected document context includes the relevant context, t identifying, at the terminal, a subject matter related context in which the terminal is being used by the user based upon the correlation between the detected document context and the relevant context;

generating, at the terminal, a context message including a user identifier and a context indication based upon the identified subject matter related context;

sending, from the terminal, the context message to a collaboration assistance application resident on the server;

receiving, at the terminal, a new context notification generated by the collaboration assistant application in response to the context message; and

adjusting the display of the at least one of the collaboration options in the collaborative gateway graphical user interface based upon the new context notification.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein identifying, at the terminal, the subject matter related context in which the terminal is being used by the user further comprises:

collecting, at the terminal, entries in an active application used by the user of the terminal; and

contextual matching, at the terminal, the entries in the active application to the retrieved user context profile to detect the subject matter related context of the active application.

15. The method of claim 13, wherein adjusting the display of the at least one of the collaboration applications in the collaborative gateway graphical user interface further comprises:

displaying a list of instant message contacts that are related to the identified subject matter related context.

16. The method of claim 13, wherein adjusting the display of the at least one of the collaboration applications in the collaborative gateway graphical user interface further comprises:

displaying a list of calendared events, a user email list, and a task list that are each related to the identified subject matter related context.

17. A dynamic collaboration system comprising:

a computer terminal including a collaborative gateway module and a context listener module;

the collaborative gateway module executable on the computer terminal and operable to generate a collaborative gateway graphical user interface on the computer terminal, wherein the collaborative gateway graphical user interface includes a display of at least one collaboration application, the at least one collaboration application including at least one of a plurality of collaboration options;

the context listener module executable on the computer terminal and operable on the computer terminal to substantially continuously monitor a particular subject matter context in which the computer terminal is being used by a user,

wherein the context listener module is further operable to scan, or parse, an active document when the active document is recognized as new, or unscanned, or unparsed and to identify a document content of the active document,

wherein the context listener module is further operable to obtain relevant contexts from a user profile stored on a server, wherein the user profile is associated with the user of the computer terminal, and wherein a portion of the user profile is at least partially defined by the user;

the context listener module is further operable to detect a contextual pattern match between the document content of the active document and at least one of the relevant contexts from the user profile;

in response to the detected contextual pattern match, the computer terminal is further operable to generate, for receipt by the server, a context message that includes a detected context indication and a user identity, wherein the detected context indication identifies the particular subject matter context in which the computer terminal is being used by the user of the computer terminal;

the computer terminal is further operable to detect receipt of a new context notification received from a collaboration assistant application on the server in response to the context message; and

the collaborative gateway module is further operable to adjust the display of the at least one of the collaboration options in the collaborative gateway graphical user interface based on the new context notification.

18. The dynamic collaboration system of claim 17, wherein the context listener module includes a background text scanning component operable to scan the active document opened on the computer terminal to recognize that the active document is new, or unscanned, or unparsed, and to generate a new document indication, wherein the document recognized as new, or unscanned, or unparsed, is yet to be associated with any of the relevant contexts associated with the user of the computer terminal.

19. The dynamic collaboration system of claim 18, wherein the context listener module includes a context parser algorithm operable to compare the document content of the active document to the user profile, with the computer terminal, to detect one of the relevant contexts in response to the new document indication.

20. The dynamic collaboration system of claim 19, wherein the comparison is based at least in part on the contextual pattern match between the document content of the active document and the at least one of the relevant contexts from the user profile of the user of the computer terminal.

21. The dynamic collaboration system of claim 17, wherein the server includes a context translator module executable on the server, and the context translator module further includes a context message handling component operable to read the context message to determine the user identity and the detected context indication.

22. The dynamic collaboration system of claim 21, wherein a context lookup component included in the context translator module is operable to query the detected context indication against a knowledge model to generate a list of relations as a function of the detected context indication.

23. The dynamic collaboration system of claim 22, wherein the list of relations includes an associated user list and a document list.

24. The dynamic collaboration system of claim 23, wherein a new context notification component included in the context translator module is operable to generate the new context notification that is transmittable to the computer terminal.

25. The dynamic collaboration system of claim 22, wherein the knowledge model comprises a plurality of information items representative of links to sources of corresponding information, wherein the information items are inter-related within the knowledge model.

26. The dynamic collaboration system of claim 17, wherein the collaboration options further include a calendar component, a task management component and an email component that are each operable to display in the collaborative gateway graphical user interface respective information related to the identified particular subject matter context.

27. The dynamic collaboration system of claim 17, wherein the at least one of the collaboration options further include a buddy list operable to display a list of contacts that are related to the identified particular subject matter context.

28. The dynamic collaboration system of claim 17, further comprising a context translator module executable on the server, the context translator module operable to receive the context message and further configured to analyze the context message and generate the new context notification for receipt by the computer terminal.

29. The dynamic collaboration system of claim 28, wherein the context translator module is further operable to query the received context message against a knowledge model to determine a list of relations based on the detected context indication.

30. The dynamic collaboration system of claim 17, wherein the collaborative gateway user interface further comprises a virtual file directory component configured to display on the computer terminal a list of files or documents, or a combination thereof, that are related to the new context notification.

31. The dynamic collaboration system of claim 17, wherein the context listener module is further configured to determine that the active document is unassociated with any of the relevant contexts associated with the user of the computer terminal.

32. A method for creating a dynamic collaboration environment between users of a plurality of terminals and a server, the method comprising:

generating a collaborative gateway graphical user interface on a terminal, wherein the collaborative gateway graphical user interface includes a display of at least one collaboration application including at least one of a plurality of collaboration options;

monitoring an activity on the terminal to recognize a new, or unscanned, or unparsed, document as an active document;

scanning the active document on the terminal in response to recognition of the new or unscanned or unparsed document as the active document to identify a document content of the active document;

retrieving a user profile associated with a terminal user from the server, wherein the user profile is at least partially defined by the terminal user and contains at least one relevant context;

detecting a contextual pattern match at the terminal between the document content of the active document and the at least one relevant context of the user profile;

generating a context message at the terminal for receipt by a collaboration assistant application resident on the server in response to the detected contextual pattern match, wherein the context message includes a detected context indication and a user identity of the terminal user;

receiving a new context notification at the terminal transmitted by the collaboration assistant application in response to the context message; and

adjusting the display at the terminal of the at least one of the collaboration options in the collaborative gateway graphical user interface based on the new context notification.

33. The method of claim 32 further comprising:

querying the detected context indication against a knowledge model to generate a list of relations as a function of the detected context indication.

34. The method of claim 33, wherein the knowledge model comprises a plurality of information items representative of links to sources of corresponding information, and wherein the information items are inter-related within the knowledge model.

35. The method of claim 33, wherein the list of relations includes an associated user list and a document list.

36. The method of claim 32, further comprising:

generating, at the server, generate the new context notification that is transmittable to the terminal.

37. The method of claim 32, wherein the collaboration options further include a calendar component, a task management component and an email component;

and

wherein adjusting the display of the at least one of the collaboration options in the collaborative gateway graphical user interface based on the new context notification further comprises;

displaying in the collaborative gateway graphical user interface information related to the detected contextual pattern match.

38. The method of claim 32, wherein the collaboration options further include a buddy list, and wherein adjusting the display of the at least one of the collaboration options in the collaborative gateway graphical user interface based on the new context notification further comprises:

displaying a list of contacts that are associated with the detected context indication.

39. The method of claim 32, wherein the collaborative gateway user interface further comprises a virtual file directory component;

the method comprising;

displaying on the terminal a list of files or documents, or a combination thereof, that are related to the new context indication.