Task selection apparatus and task selection assistance method

• US 7,783,590 B2
• Filed: 03/31/2006
• Issued: 08/24/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 03/31/2005
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: NTT Docomo Incorporated (Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation)
• Original Assignee: NTT Docomo Incorporated (Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation)
• Inventors: Naganuma, Takefumi, Kurakake, Shoji, Fukazawa, Yusuke
• Primary Examiner(s): Hudspeth; David R
• Assistant Examiner(s): Spooner; Lamont M
• Application Number:
  US11/393,827
• Publication Number:
  US 20060223509A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,607 Days
• Field of Search: 704/9, 704/10, 704/270, 704/275, 707 2- 6, 705/9, 455/414.3, 709/203, 718/1, 718100-108
• US Class Current: 705/7.13
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06311 Scheduling, planning or task assignment for a person or group
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management

Abstract

The present invention provides a task selection assistance apparatus, and a task selection assistance method, which enable burdens on a user to be alleviated in selecting a task for solving a problem. A domain candidate determining portion 210 determines domain candidates to be presented to the user from among domains stored in a task model DB 102, and a domain candidate transmitting portion 201 transmits the domain candidates to a portable terminal 101. A user selected domain obtaining portion 203 obtains a domain, which has been selected by the user, from the portable terminal 101, and the task candidate determining portion 211 determines task candidates to be presented to the user from among tasks stored in the task model DB 102 based on the domain selected by the user.

Claims

1. A task selection assistance apparatus for assisting a user to select a task, the task selection assistance apparatus comprising a task selection assistance server communicable with a portable terminal, the task selection assistance server including:

task model storing means for storing one or more tasks each indicating an action to be taken by the user to solve the user'"'"'s problem in association with one or more pieces of attribute information each indicating an attribute of a task;

attribute candidate determining means for determining one or more attribute information candidates to be presented to the user from the one or more pieces of attribute information stored in the task model storing means;

user selected attribute obtaining means for obtaining the one or more pieces of attribute information selected by the user from the one or more attribute information candidates determined by the attribute candidate determining means; and

task candidate determining means for determining one or more task candidates to be presented to the user from the one or more tasks stored in the task model storing means, based on the one or more pieces of attribute information obtained by the user selected attribute obtaining means,

wherein the one or more task candidates can be narrowed down with the one or more pieces of attribute information including;

a domain that is subject location information indicating a location subject to a task; and

a task phase, and

wherein the task phase includes an executing phase and a planning phase, the task in the executing phase is expected to be accomplished in the domain, the task in the planning phase is expected to be accomplished in other locations than the domain, and the task which is expected to be accomplished in a location independent of the domain is applicable to both of the executing and planning phases.

2. The task selection assistance apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising user location information obtaining means for obtaining from the portable terminal the user location information indicating the user'"'"'s location, wherein the attribute candidate determining means determines one or more pieces of the subject location information to be preferentially presented to the user based on the user location information obtained by the user location information obtaining means.

3. The task selection assistance apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising task phase determining means for determining the task phase desired by the user, by comparing the user location information obtained by the user location information obtaining means to the one or more pieces of the subject location information, which is the domain included in the attribute information and which is obtained by the user selected attribute obtaining means,

wherein the task candidate determining means determines the one or more task candidates to be preferentially presented to the user, based on the task phase determined by the task phase determining means, and

wherein the task phase determining means determines that the user desires the task in the executing phase when the user location information corresponds to the domain that is the subject location information selected by the user, and determines that the user desires the task in the planning phase when the user location information does not correspond to the domain that is the subject location information selected by the user.

4. The task selection assistance apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising query obtaining means for obtaining a query inputted by the user to search for a desired task, wherein the task candidate determining means determines the one or more task candidates to be preferentially presented to the user, based on the query obtained by the query obtaining means.

5. The task selection assistance apparatus according to claim 1,

wherein the attribute information further includes an environmental condition around the user,

and further comprising sensor information obtaining means for obtaining one or more pieces of sensor information measured by one or more sensors which measure the environmental condition around the user,

wherein the task candidate determining means determines the one or more task candidates to be preferentially presented to the user, based on the one or more pieces of sensor information obtained by the sensor information obtaining means and the one or more pieces of attribute information obtained by the user selected attribute obtaining means.

6. The task selection assistance apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the task model storing means has data items including:

a task ID;

a parent task ID;

the task;

the domain;

the task phase; and

weather sensor.

7. The task selection assistance apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising:

a task candidate transmitting portion that transmits the one or more task candidates determined by the task candidate determining means to a portable terminal in order to present the one or more task candidates to the user; and

a user selected task obtaining portion that obtains a task selected by the user operating the portable terminal from the one or more task candidates transmitted by the task candidate transmitting portion.

8. The task selection assistance apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the portable terminal includes a location sensor.

9. A task selection assistance method for assisting a user to select a task, the task selection assistance method comprising:

a subject location candidate obtaining step of obtaining one or more subject location information candidates to be presented to the user from a task model database storing one or more tasks each indicating an action to be taken by the user to solve the user'"'"'s problem in association with one or more pieces of subject location information each indicating a location subject to a task;

a user location from a portable terminal of the user information obtaining step of obtaining user location information indicating the user'"'"'s location;

a rearranging step of rearranging the one or more subject location information candidates obtained in the subject location candidate obtaining step so that one or more pieces of subject location information corresponding to the user location information obtained in the user location information obtaining step is located at higher level; and

a subject location presenting step of presenting the one or more subject location information candidates rearranged in the rearranging step to the user, and a task candidate determining step of determining one or more task candidates to be presented to the user from the task model database,

wherein the one or more task candidates can be narrowed down with the one or more pieces of attribute information including;

a domain that is subject location information indicating a location subject to a task; and

a task phase, and

wherein the task phase includes an executing phase and a planning phase, the task in the executing phase is expected to be accomplished in the domain, the task in the planning phase is expected to be accomplished in other locations than the domain, and the task which is expected to be accomplished in a location independent of the domain is applicable to both of the executing and planning phases.

10. The task selection assistance method according to claim 9, further comprising:

a user selected subject location information obtaining step of obtaining one or more pieces of subject location information selected by the user from the one or more subject location information candidates presented to the user in the subject location presenting step; and

the task candidate determining step of determining one or more task candidates to be presented to the user from the task model database is based the one or more pieces of subject location information obtained in the user selected subject location information obtaining step.

11. The task selection assistance method according to claim 9, wherein the portable terminal includes a location sensor.