U.S. patent application number 15/352780 was filed with the patent office on 2017-03-02 for system and method of modifying a user experience based on physical environment.
The applicant listed for this patent is eBay Inc.. Invention is credited to Eric J. Farraro, Krystal Rose Higgins, John Tapley.
Application Number | 20170060394 15/352780 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 51352236 |
Filed Date | 2017-03-02 |
United States Patent
Application |
20170060394 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Higgins; Krystal Rose ; et
al. |
March 2, 2017 |
SYSTEM AND METHOD OF MODIFYING A USER EXPERIENCE BASED ON PHYSICAL
ENVIRONMENT
Abstract
In an example embodiment, a first aspect of a physical
environment, other than location or current time, of the electronic
device is determined. Then a mode of a notification function within
the electronic device is dynamically modified such that the mode
changes from a first mode in which a notification does not activate
a vibration motor in the electronic device to a second mode in
which the notification does activate the vibration motor, based on
the determined first aspect of the physical environment.
Inventors: |
Higgins; Krystal Rose;
(Campbell, CA) ; Farraro; Eric J.; (San Jose,
CA) ; Tapley; John; (San Jose, CA) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
eBay Inc. |
San Jose |
CA |
US |
|
|
Family ID: |
51352236 |
Appl. No.: |
15/352780 |
Filed: |
November 16, 2016 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
|
|
|
|
|
|
Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
|
13769499 |
Feb 18, 2013 |
9501201 |
|
|
15352780 |
|
|
|
|
Current U.S.
Class: |
1/1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G06F 3/04845 20130101;
G06F 3/048 20130101; G06F 9/451 20180201; G06F 3/04886 20130101;
G06Q 30/0641 20130101; G06F 3/0482 20130101 |
International
Class: |
G06F 3/0484 20060101
G06F003/0484; G06Q 30/06 20060101 G06Q030/06; G06F 3/0482 20060101
G06F003/0482 |
Claims
1. An electronic device, comprising: a processor, a vibration motor
configured to cause a physical vibration in the electronic device
upon activation of the vibration motor; and a physical environment
tracking module configured to determine a first aspect of a
physical environment, other than location or current time, of the
electronic device and to dynamically alter a mode of a notification
function within the electronic device such that the mode changes
from a first mode in which a notification does not activate the
vibration motor to a second mode in which the notification does
activate the vibration motor, based on the determined first aspect
of the physical environment.
2. The electronic device of claim 1, further comprising a
microphone and wherein the first aspect of the physical environment
is ambient noise levels recorded by the microphone.
3. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the notification is an
incoming phone call.
4. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the notification is an
incoming text message.
5. The electronic device of claim 1, further comprising a
thermometer and wherein the first aspect of the physical
environment is temperature recorded by the thermometer.
6. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein intensity of the
physical vibration caused by the vibration motor is varied based on
a second aspect of the physical environment.
7. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the first aspect of
the physical environment is acceleration of the electronic device
as detected by an accelerometer.
8. A method of dynamically altering a user interface on an
electronic device, comprising: determining a first aspect of a
physical environment, other than location or current time, of the
electronic device; and dynamically altering a mode of a
notification function within the electronic device such that the
mode changes from a first mode in which a notification does not
activate a vibration motor in the electronic device to a second
mode in which the notification does activate the vibration motor,
based on the determined first aspect of the physical
environment.
9. The method of claim 8, wherein the first aspect of the physical
environment is ambient noise levels recorded by a microphone.
10. The method of claim 8, wherein the notification is an incoming
phone call.
11. The method of claim 8, wherein the notification is an incoming
text message.
12. The method of claim 8, wherein the first aspect of the physical
environment is temperature recorded by a thermometer.
13. The method of claim 8, wherein intensity of the physical
vibration caused by the vibration motor is varied based on a second
aspect of the physical environment.
14. The method of claim 8, wherein the first aspect of the physical
environment is acceleration of the electronic device as detected by
an accelerometer.
15. A non-transitory machine-readable storage medium comprising
instructions, which when implemented by one or more machines, cause
the one or more machines to perform operations comprising:
determining a first aspect of a physical environment, other than
location or current time, of an electronic device; and dynamically
altering a mode of a notification function within the electronic
device such that the mode changes from a first mode in which a
notification does not activate a vibration motor in the electronic
device to a second mode in which the notification does activate the
vibration motor, based on the determined first aspect of the
physical environment.
16. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 15,
wherein the first aspect of the physical environment is ambient
noise levels recorded by a microphone.
17. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 15,
wherein the notification is an incoming phone call.
18. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 15,
wherein the notification is an incoming text message.
19. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 15,
wherein the first aspect of the physical environment is temperature
recorded by a thermometer.
20. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 15,
wherein intensity of the physical vibration caused by the vibration
motor is varied based on a second aspect of the physical
environment.
Description
PRIORITY
[0001] The application is a continuation of and claims the benefit
of priority to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/769,499, filed
on Feb. 18, 2013, which is hereby incorporated by reference herein
in its entirety.
BACKGROUND
[0002] User experience is a broad term covering many aspects of
users' experiences with computing products or services accessed
through computing products (such as web sites). The user experience
includes not only the user interface, but also the graphics and
physical interaction. For the most part, such a user experience is
somewhat static in nature. The layout of an application on a
smartphone, for example, is generally the same for most or all
users who access the application, regardless of the physical
environment in which the application is being used. There are
factors, however, that can affect the user's ability to interact
with such a user experience. Cold temperatures, for example, can
make it difficult to use a touchscreen application due to shaking
or numb fingers or the use of gloves. While certain gloves have
been designed that are "touch-sensitive," in that a touchscreen
device can detect location of the glove despite the absence of an
actual finger touching the screen, these gloves still result in an
ultimate footprint of the "touch" being larger than the user's
finger.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS
[0003] FIG. 1 is a network diagram depicting a client-server system
within which one example embodiment may be deployed.
[0004] FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a progression, in
accordance with an example embodiment, of dynamic alteration of a
user interface based on temperature.
[0005] FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a progression, in
accordance with another example embodiment, of dynamic alteration
of a user experience.
[0006] FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a progression, in
accordance with another example embodiment, of dynamic alteration
of a user experience.
[0007] FIG. 5 is an interaction diagram illustrating a method, in
accordance with an example embodiment, of dynamically altering a
user interface.
[0008] FIG. 6 is an interaction diagram illustrating a method, in
accordance with an example embodiment, of dynamically altering a
user interface.
[0009] FIG. 7 is a flow diagram illustrating a method, in
accordance with an example embodiment, of dynamically altering a
user interface.
[0010] FIG. 8 is a flow diagram illustrating a method, in
accordance with another example embodiment, of dynamically altering
a user interface.
[0011] FIG. 9 shows a diagrammatic representation of a machine in
the example form of a computer system within which a set of
instructions for causing the machine to perform any one or more of
the methodologies discussed herein may be executed.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0012] The description that follows includes illustrative systems,
methods, techniques, instruction sequences, and computing machine
program products that embody illustrative embodiments. In the
following description, for purposes of explanation, numerous
specific details are set forth in order to provide an understanding
of various embodiments of the inventive subject matter. It will be
evident, however, to those skilled in the art that embodiments of
the inventive subject matter may be practiced without these
specific details. In general, well-known instruction instances,
protocols, structures, and techniques have not been shown in
detail.
[0013] Although the present embodiments have been described with
reference to specific example embodiments, it will be evident that
various modifications and changes may be made to these embodiments
without departing from the broader scope of the embodiments.
Accordingly, the specification and drawings are to be regarded in
an illustrative rather than a restrictive sense.
[0014] In an example embodiment, various aspects of a user
experience are dynamically altered in order to provide a customized
and efficient experience for the user, based on the physical
environment. In an example embodiment, temperature of the physical
environment of a user device is taken into account, and the user
experience is modified based on this temperature. Elements within a
user interface, such as button size, advertising sizing, font,
color, placement, the presences of certain interface objects, etc.,
can all be dynamically altered based on this physical environment
information as well as other factors (e.g., demographic
information, information from user profiles, etc.). For example, a
search bar displayed in an application may change in size and
location on the screen of a touchscreen device based on the current
temperature at the current location of the touchscreen device. In
an extreme embodiment, all elements but the search bar may be
removed when the temperature is extremely cold, reducing the user
interface to its bare minimum elements.
[0015] FIG. 1 is a network diagram depicting a client-server system
100, within which one example embodiment may be deployed. A
networked system 102, in the example forms of a network-based
marketplace or publication system, provides server-side
functionality, via a network 104 (e.g., the Internet or Wide Area
Network (WAN)) to one or more clients. FIG. 1 illustrates, for
example, a web client 106 (e.g., a browser), and a programmatic
client 108 executing on respective client machines 110 and 112.
[0016] An Application Program Interface (API) server 114 and a web
server 116 are coupled to, and provide programmatic and web
interfaces respectively to, one or more application servers 118.
The application servers 118 host one or more marketplace
applications 120 and payment applications 122. The application
servers 118 are, in turn, shown to be coupled to one or more
database servers 124 that facilitate access to one or more
databases 126.
[0017] The marketplace applications 120 may provide a number of
marketplace functions and services to users that access the
networked system 102. The payment applications 122 may likewise
provide a number of payment services and functions to users. The
payment applications 122 may allow users to accumulate value (e.g.,
in a commercial currency, such as the U.S. dollar, or a proprietary
currency, such as "points") in accounts, and then later to redeem
the accumulated value for products (e.g., goods or services) that
are made available via the marketplace applications 120. While the
marketplace and payment applications 120 and 122 are shown in FIG.
1 to both form part of the networked system 102, it will be
appreciated that, in alternative embodiments, the payment
applications 122 may form part of a payment service that is
separate and distinct from the networked system 102.
[0018] Further, while the system 100 shown in FIG. 1 employs a
client-server architecture, the present disclosure is of course not
limited to such an architecture, and may equally well find
application in a distributed, or peer-to-peer, architecture system,
for example. The various marketplace and payment applications 120
and 122 may also be implemented as standalone software programs,
which do not necessarily have networking capabilities.
[0019] The web client 106 accesses the various marketplace and
payment applications 120 and 122 via the web interface supported by
the web server 116. Similarly, the programmatic client 108 accesses
the various services and functions provided by the marketplace and
payment applications 120 and 122 via the programmatic interface
provided by the API server 114. The programmatic client 108 may,
for example, be a seller application (e.g., the TurboLister
application developed by eBay Inc., of San Jose, Calif.) to enable
sellers to author and manage listings on the networked system 102
in an off-line manner, and to perform batch-mode communications
between the programmatic client 108 and the networked system
102.
[0020] FIG. 1 also illustrates a third party application 128,
executing on a third party server machine 130, as having
programmatic access to the networked system 102 via the
programmatic interface provided by the API server 114. For example,
the third party application 128 may, utilizing information
retrieved from the networked system 102, support one or more
features or functions on a website hosted by the third party. The
third party website may, for example, provide one or more
promotional, marketplace, or payment functions that are supported
by the relevant applications of the networked system 102.
[0021] FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a progression, in
accordance with an example embodiment, of dynamic alteration of a
user interface based on temperature. Pictured here are a mobile
device 200a, 200b, 200c in three states. It should be noted that
while a mobile device is depicted, a similar process could run on
any electronic device. Beginning with the mobile device 200a in the
first state, it can be seen that the user interface 202a has
various sections, including a search bar 204, an activity dashboard
206, a merchandise area 208, and an advertisement 210. For
discussion purposes, this may he referred to as a default or
beginning layout, although since the methods described herein are
dynamically applied, there need not be any state that is strictly
known as a default or beginning layout because the layout may
simply be continuously adjusted. The user interface 202a here may
depict an interface to an online auction web site, although one of
ordinary skill in the art will recognize that this disclosure can
apply to other types of user interfaces as well.
[0022] Within the activity dashboard 206 are three activities:
watching 212 (for items in the online auction the user has selected
as being of interest), buying 214 (for items in the online auction
the user has bid on), and selling 216 (for items in the online
auction the user is selling).
[0023] Within the merchandise area 208 may be a number of buttons
218, 220, 222, 224, 226, 228.
[0024] Turning to mobile device 200b, which is in the second state,
the temperature of the environment surrounding the mobile device
200b has fallen below a predetermined threshold. The system may
track this temperature change and adjust the user interface 202b to
better align with the temperature. Specifically, the size of the
search bar 204 may be increased, and the buttons 218-224 in the
merchandise area 208 may he increased in size, making it easier for
the user to select these items with a shivering, numb, or gloved
finger. In order to compensate for the increase in size of these
elements, the activity dashboard 206 has been eliminated.
[0025] Turning to mobile device 200c, which is in the third state,
the temperature of the environment surrounding the mobile device
200c has fallen even more, past a further threshold. This
temperature decrease may be so extreme that the system may decide
to reduce the user interface 202c to its barest minimum element,
namely the search bar 204, which here has been increased in size to
fill the entire user interface 202c.
[0026] In the example embodiments where temperature is used as the
physical environmental factor affecting the user experience, the
temperature may be retrieved in a number of different ways. In one
example embodiment, a location of a mobile device is obtained via,
for example, global positioning system (GPS) information from a GPS
module located in the mobile device. Alternatively, the location
may be deduced using other information, such as Internet Protocol
(IP) address, cell phone tower proximity or triangulation, or
express user interaction (e.g., the user informs the application of
the location). A temperature corresponding to the location may then
be retrieved from a weather server, which may provide a current
temperature for the user's location. In some embodiments, it may be
appropriate to distinguish between when the user device is indoors
or outdoors. For example, wintertime outside in Minneapolis may be
-10 degrees Fahrenheit, but inside in the same city the temperature
may be 70 degrees Fahrenheit. While the GPS information may be
precise enough to determine whether the user is inside or outside,
there may be instances where it is borderline (such as if the user
is near an exit, or due to GPS interference). In such cases, other
factors may be used to help determine whether the mobile device is
inside or outside, such as ambient light levels or information
received from a microphone on the mobile device (e.g., crickets
chirping, traffic sounds, or wind noise may all be indicative of
being outside).
[0027] Other mechanisms to detect temperature may also be used. In
some example embodiments, a thermometer is embedded in a mobile
device, and the thermometer may be accessed directly to obtain the
local temperature.
[0028] Additionally, it is not just cold temperatures that may
affect the user experience. In some embodiments, hot temperatures
may also result in the system deciding to alter the user interface
or other elements. When temperatures exceed 90 or 100 degrees
Fahrenheit, for example, it is quite common for users' hands to get
sweaty, and the sweat can interfere with a touchscreen's ability to
accurately detect user position. As such, the same types of user
interface modifications described above with respect to cold
temperatures may also apply to extremely hot temperatures as
well.
[0029] Furthermore, while the above embodiments describe altering
the visual user interface itself in response to the physical
environment, other aspects of the user experience can be altered in
lieu of or in conjunction with the visual user interface.
[0030] FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a progression, in
accordance with another example embodiment, of dynamic alteration
of a user experience. Here, depicted are two states of the mobile
device 300a, 300b. The user interface 302a may be identical to the
user interface 302b, but in the presence of a lower temperature,
the mobile device 300b has automatically activated a voice
recognition service, which allows the user to speak commands as
opposed to, or in conjunction with, touch input.
[0031] FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a progression, in
accordance with another example embodiment, of dynamic alteration
of a user experience. Here, depicted are two states of the mobile
device 400a, 400b. The user interface 402a may be identical to the
user interface 402b, but in the presence of a lower temperature,
the mobile device 400b has automatically altered a mapping of a
physical button 404 to operate one of the functions of the user
interface. Here, the physical button 404, which ordinarily may be
used to raise a volume level of the mobile device, is automatically
switched to activate a search function of a user interface.
[0032] Other changes in response to the physical environment may
also be implemented. In one example embodiment, a mobile device,
upon detecting a low surrounding temperature, can activate a haptic
mode of the mobile device, which provides tactile feedback for
touch input through the use of, for example, vibrations. This can
be helpful when fingers are numb and a user may not ordinarily be
able to detect whether or not he or she is actually pressing a
touchscreen.
[0033] In another example embodiment, a mobile device, upon
detecting a low surrounding temperature, can take active steps to
raise the temperature of the mobile device. This may include, for
example, increasing the brightness of the screen, running a central
processing unit (CPU) at maximum levels, and taking other steps to
heat up the mobile device itself.
[0034] Other parameters of a physical environment can also be used
to dynamically alter the user experience. Humidity, sun position,
sunrise and sunset times, and other parameters that can be obtained
from a weather server can also be used. Additionally, other
factors, such as ambient noise and location can be utilized as
well. With respect to ambient noise, for example, a mobile device
could dynamically place itself into a vibrate mode and/or a
non-voice recognition mode when the ambient noise becomes too
great, as the user may not be able to hear a ringer in such an
environment or be able to speak voice commands that could be
understood.
[0035] FIG. 5 is an interaction diagram illustrating a method 500,
in accordance with an example embodiment, of dynamically altering a
user interface. In this method 500, a user interface 502, which may
be contained on a mobile device 504, interacts with a physical
environment tracking module 506, also located on the mobile device
504. At operation 508, the physical environment tracking module 506
detects a location of the mobile device 504, and then at operation
510 requests a local temperature for this location from a weather
server 512. The weather server 512 returns the temperature at
operation 514. The physical environment tracking module 506 then
determines that the local temperature passes a predetermined
threshold and dynamically modifies the user interface 502 based on
this local temperature at operation 516, and then at operation 518
passes the dynamically modified user interface to the user
interface 502 for display.
[0036] FIG. 6 is an interaction diagram illustrating a method 600,
in accordance with an example embodiment, of dynamically altering a
user interface. In this method 600, a user interface 602 is located
on a user device 604, along with a physical environment tracking
module 606. At operation 608, the physical environment tracking
module 606 detects information from sensors on the user device 604.
At operation 610, this information is passed to a web server 612.
At operation 614, the web server 612 requests a local temperature
from the weather server 616, using the sensor information. At
operation 618, the weather server 616 returns the local
temperature, which the web server 612 uses at operation 620 to
dynamically modify user interface 602. At operation 622, the web
server 612 passes the dynamically modified user interface to the
user interface 602 for display.
[0037] FIG. 7 is a flow diagram illustrating a method 700, in
accordance with an example embodiment, of dynamically altering a
user interface. At operation 702, a user interface is presented to
a user. At operation 704, a first aspect of a physical environment
of the electronic device is determined. An aspect of a physical
environment may be any feature of the physical environment, such as
temperature, rain patterns, snow conditions, allergy conditions,
sun position, etc. At operation 706, one or more of the elements of
the user interface are dynamically modified based on the first
aspect.
[0038] FIG. 8 is a flow diagram illustrating a method 800, in
accordance with another example embodiment, of dynamically altering
a user interface. At operation 802, physical environment
information is received from an electronic device. At operation
804, one or more of the elements of the user interface are
dynamically modified based on the physical environment information.
At operation 806, the dynamically modified user interface is passed
to the electronic device for display.
[0039] FIG. 9 shows a diagrammatic representation of a machine in
the example form of a computer system 900 within which a set of
instructions 924 for causing the machine to perform any one or more
of the methodologies discussed herein may be executed. In
alternative embodiments, the machine operates as a standalone
device or may be connected (e.g., networked) to other machines. In
a networked deployment, the machine may operate in the capacity of
a server or a client machine in server-client network environment,
or as a peer machine in a peer-to-peer (or distributed) network
environment. The machine may be a server computer, a client
computer, a personal computer (PC), a tablet PC, a set-top box
(STB), a personal digital assistant (PDA), a cellular telephone, a
web appliance, a network router, switch or bridge, or any machine
capable of executing a set of instructions (sequential or
otherwise) that specify actions to be taken by that machine.
Further, while only a single machine is illustrated, the term
"machine" shall also be taken to include any collection of machines
that individually or jointly execute a set (or multiple sets) of
instructions to perform any one or more of the methodologies
discussed herein.
[0040] The example computer system 900 includes a processor 902
(e.g., a central processing unit (CPU), a graphics processing unit
(GPU), or both), a main memory 904 and a static memory 906, which
communicate with each other via a bus 908. The computer system 900
may further include a video display unit 910 (e.g., a liquid
crystal display (LCD) or a cathode ray tube (CRT)). The computer
system 900 also includes an alphanumeric input device 912 (e.g., a
keyboard), a cursor control device 914 (e.g., a mouse), a disk
drive unit 916, a signal generation device 918 (e.g., a speaker),
and a network interface device 920.
[0041] The disk drive unit 916 includes a computer-readable medium
922 on which is stored one or more sets of instructions 924 (e.g.,
software) embodying any one or more of the methodologies or
functions described herein. The instructions 924 may also reside,
completely or at least partially, within the main memory 904 and/or
within the processor 902 during execution thereof by the computer
system 900, with the main memory 904 and the processor 902 also
constituting machine-readable media. The instructions 924 may
further be transmitted or received over a network 926 via the
network interface device 920.
[0042] While the machine-readable medium 922 is shown in an example
embodiment to be a single medium, the term "machine-readable
medium" should be taken to include a single medium or multiple
media (e.g., a centralized or distributed database, and/or
associated caches and servers) that store the one or more sets of
instructions 924. The term "machine-readable medium" shall also be
taken to include any medium that is capable of storing, encoding or
carrying a set of instructions for execution by the machine and
that cause the machine to perform any one or more of the
methodologies described herein. The term "machine-readable medium"
shall accordingly be taken to include, but not be limited to,
solid-state memories, optical and magnetic media, and carrier wave
signals.
[0043] Although the inventive concepts have been described with
reference to specific example embodiments, it will be evident that
various modifications and changes may be made to these embodiments
without departing from the broader spirit and scope of the
inventive concepts. Accordingly, the specification and drawings are
to be regarded in an illustrative rather than a restrictive
sense.
[0044] The Abstract of the Disclosure is provided to comply with 37
C.F.R. .sctn.1.72(b), requiring an abstract that will allow the
reader to quickly ascertain the nature of the technical disclosure.
It is submitted with the understanding that it will not be used to
interpret or limit the scope or meaning of the claims. In addition,
in the foregoing Detailed Description, it can be seen that various
features are grouped together in a single embodiment for the
purpose of streamlining the disclosure. This method of disclosure
is not to be interpreted as reflecting an intention that the
claimed embodiments require more features than are expressly
recited in each claim. Rather, as the following claims reflect,
inventive subject matter lies in less than all features of a single
disclosed embodiment. Thus the following claims are hereby
incorporated into the Detailed Description, with each claim
standing on its own as a separate embodiment.
* * * * *