Dynamically displaying current status of tasks

• US 7,877,686 B2
• Filed: 10/11/2006
• Issued: 01/25/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 10/16/2000
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Robarts, James O., Newell, Dan, Abbott, Kenneth H.
• Primary Examiner(s): Hailu; Tadesse
• Assistant Examiner(s): Ulrich; Nicholas S
• Application Number:
  US11/548,569
• Publication Number:
  US 20070089067A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,567 Days
• Field of Search: 715/708, 715/821, 715/818, 715/810, 715/772, 715/712
• US Class Current: 715/712
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/109 Time management, e.g. calendars, reminders, meetings or time accounting

Abstract

The current status of a list of tasks to be performed is dynamically displayed. The tasks may be performed by a user (e.g., data entered by the user, words spoken by the user, actions taken by the user, and so forth) or alternatively by a computer (e.g., the steps it follows in carrying out a programmed task). At least a portion of the list is displayed at any given time along with an indication of which task is the next task to be performed. As the tasks are completed, the current status of the progression through the items on the list is dynamically updated so as to readily inform the user (or someone else) as to what the current task is that needs to be performed, as well as what tasks have already been performed and/or what tasks remain to be performed.

Claims

1. One or more computer-readable media storing a computer program that, when executed by one or more processors on a mobile computer, causes the one or more processors to:

present, on a display, a subset of a plurality of steps in an order to be performed by a user;

alter an appearance of a current step in the subset of steps that needs to be performed by the user to distinguish the current step from other steps in the subset;

receive information about a current context of the user from a context awareness component that receives sensed information from multiple sources and that mediates amongst the multiple sources to build a model of the current context of the user, the information about the current context of the user comprising information on the user'"'"'s current location, current activity and/or previous behavior;

in response to the received information about the current context of the user, alter instructions for performing one or more of the subset of steps that need to be performed by the user based on the received information;

allow the user to input data corresponding to the current step;

when input data is not received from the user for the current step and information received from the context awareness component indicates that the user currently has a high cognitive load, alter a manner of presenting information to the user relating to the current step, comprising selecting a manner of presentation that is less intrusive upon the user and formatting the information relating to the current step based on the selected manner of presentation;

scroll, in response to user input of data corresponding to the current step, the plurality of steps so that a new subset of the plurality of steps is presented to the user; and

amend the step for which the data input was received from the user with indications of that data input.

2. One or more computer-readable media as recited in claim 1, wherein the computer program further causes the one or more processors to:

alter, in response to user input of data corresponding to the current step, the appearance of another step as necessary to identify the new current step in the subset of steps that needs to be performed by the user.

3. One or more computer-readable media as recited in claim 1, wherein altering the appearance of the current step comprises marking the current location with a ball.

4. One or more computer-readable media as recited in claim 1, wherein altering the appearance of the current step comprises displaying the current step differently than other steps in the subset.

5. One or more computer-readable media as recited in claim 1, wherein altering the appearance of the current step comprises replacing the current step with a set of one or more input options for the current step.

6. One or more computer-readable media as recited in claim 1, wherein altering the appearance of the current step comprises superimposing, on the current step, a set of one or more input options for the current step.

7. One or more computer-readable media as recited in claim 1, wherein the computer program further causes the one or more processors to:

replace, in the subset, the display of the current step with a display of the input data.

8. One or more computer-readable media as recited in claim 1, wherein the computer program further causes the one or more processors to:

display a current processing marker that identifies which step in the subset of steps is currently being processed by the one or more processors.

9. One or more computer-readable media as recited in claim 1, wherein the one or more computer-readable media comprise a computer memory of a wearable computer.

10. A method comprising:

displaying a list of items to be handled by a user in a particular order;

identifying one item in the list of items that is a current item;

displaying instructions for performing the current item, the instructions specifying one or more possible inputs by the user in relation to the current item;

receiving information about a current context of the user;

in response to the received information about the current context of the user, altering a manner in which the instructions for performing the current item are presented based on the received information, the altering comprising selecting a manner of presentation that is less intrusive upon the user and formatting the instructions for performing the current item based on the selected manner of presentation;

receiving a user input corresponding to the current item;

updating, in response to receiving the user input, the list to reflect the received user input corresponding to the current item; and

updating the identification of the one item that is the current item to indicate the next item in the list of items as the current item.

11. A method as recited in claim 10, wherein displaying the list of items comprises displaying at least one item corresponding to a task that has already been performed and at least one item corresponding to a task that still needs to be performed by the user.

12. A method as recited in claim 10, wherein displaying the list of items comprises displaying, after the user input is received, the user input in place of the corresponding item.

13. A method as recited in claim 10, wherein displaying the list of items comprises displaying only a subset of the list of items at any given time, the subset of the list of items comprising a plurality of items.

14. A method as recited in claim 13, further comprising scrolling through the list of items to display different subsets as items in the list are handled by the user.

15. A method as recited in claim 10, further comprising displaying a current processing marker identifying an item in the list of items corresponding to a current user input being processed.

16. A method as recited in claim 10, wherein the list of items comprises a list of tasks to be completed by the user, and wherein handling of an item by the user comprises the user completing the task.

17. A method as recited in claim 16, wherein the list of tasks comprises a list of prompts corresponding to data to be entered into the computer by the user.

18. A method as recited in claim 10, wherein the list of items comprises a list of prompts of words to be spoken by the user, and wherein handling of an item by the user comprises speaking one or more words corresponding to the prompt.

19. A system comprising:

one or more output devices;

a user interface component, coupled to an output device, causing a user interface to be output on the output device;

a module that provides information about the current context of the user to the user interface component;

wherein the user interface includes a list portion in which a list of a plurality of items to be handled by a user are output;

wherein the user interface further includes a current location marker identifying one of the items in the list as the current item to be handled by the user;

wherein the user interface further displays information relating to the current item, the information comprising one or more possible inputs by the user in relation to the current item in the list;

wherein the user interface further updates the list, in response to the user providing an input in relation to the current item in the list, to reflect the provided input;

wherein the user interface component further automatically updates the current location marker to identify a new item in the list in response to the user handling the current item in the list;

wherein the user interface component, in response to the received information about the current context of the user, alters a manner of presenting information to the user, comprising selecting a manner of presentation that is less intrusive upon the user and formatting the information to be presented based on the selected manner of presentation.

20. A system as recited in claim 19, wherein the user interface component further replaces, after the user has handled the current item, a user input in place of the current item.