U.S. patent application number 17/171846 was filed with the patent office on 2021-06-17 for activity interruption management.
The applicant listed for this patent is Quabbin Patent Holdings, Inc.. Invention is credited to Robert Plotkin.
Application Number | 20210182128 17/171846 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 1000005432572 |
Filed Date | 2021-06-17 |
United States Patent
Application |
20210182128 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Plotkin; Robert |
June 17, 2021 |
Activity Interruption Management
Abstract
In response to determining that an activity has been postponed
(e.g., interrupted or deferred), a computer system stores a record
indicating that the activity is postponed. In response to
determining that another activity has become active, the computer
system stores a record indicating that the other activity is
active. The computer system reminds a user to return to the
postponed activity in response to determining that a reminder
condition associated with the postponed activity has been
satisfied. For example, the computer system may remind the user to
return to the postponed activity in response to determining that
the other activity has been completed.
Inventors: |
Plotkin; Robert; (Amherst,
MA) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
Quabbin Patent Holdings, Inc. |
Amherst |
MA |
US |
|
|
Family ID: |
1000005432572 |
Appl. No.: |
17/171846 |
Filed: |
February 9, 2021 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
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16214816 |
Dec 10, 2018 |
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17171846 |
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15200771 |
Jul 1, 2016 |
10157088 |
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16214816 |
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14753558 |
Jun 29, 2015 |
9384038 |
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15200771 |
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14359048 |
May 16, 2014 |
9069604 |
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PCT/US2014/020195 |
Mar 4, 2014 |
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14753558 |
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61771968 |
Mar 4, 2013 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
1/1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G06F 9/542 20130101;
G06Q 10/1093 20130101; G06F 9/44 20130101; G06F 9/48 20130101 |
International
Class: |
G06F 9/54 20060101
G06F009/54; G06Q 10/10 20060101 G06Q010/10; G06F 9/44 20060101
G06F009/44; G06F 9/48 20060101 G06F009/48 |
Claims
1. A method performed by at least one computer processor of a
computing device executing computer program instructions stored on
at least one non-transitory computer-readable medium, the method
comprising: (A) receiving, from an activity sensor, activity output
representing an activity being performed by a user on the computing
device; (B) determining that the activity has been interrupted; (C)
in response to determining that the activity has been interrupted,
storing data representing an action, in the activity, currently
being performed by the user; (D) providing, to the user, output
indicating the action; (C) receiving input from the user; and (D)
in response to the input from the user, making the activity a
current activity of the user.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein the activity comprises writing a
document.
3. The method of claim 1, further comprising: (E) receiving, from a
time sensor, time output representing a current time; and wherein
(C) further comprises, in response to determining that the activity
of writing the document has been interrupted, storing data
representing the current time.
4. The method of claim 1, wherein the activity comprises writing
the document using a software application, and wherein the method
further comprises: (E) receiving, from an application sensor,
application output representing a state of the software
application; and wherein (C) further comprises, in response to
determining that the activity of writing the document has been
interrupted, storing data representing the state of the software
application.
5. The method of claim 1, wherein determining that the activity of
writing the document has been interrupted comprises receiving
manual interruption input from the user.
6. The method of claim 1, wherein (D) comprises: determining that a
reminder condition has been satisfied; and providing, to the user,
the output indicating the action in response to determining that
the reminder condition has been satisfied.
7. The method of claim 6, wherein determining that the reminder
condition has been satisfied comprises determining that a
particular event has occurred.
8. The method of claim 1, wherein providing, to the user, the
output indicating the action comprises displaying a message to the
user, the message indicating the action.
9. The method of claim 8, wherein the message further indicates a
description of the activity of writing the document.
10. The method of claim 1, wherein providing, to the user, the
output indicating the action, comprises prompting the user to
select whether to switch to the interrupted activity.
11. A system comprising at least one computer processor of a
computing device and at least one non-transitory computer-readable
medium containing computer program instructions, wherein the
computer program instructions are executable by the at least one
computer processor to perform a method, the method comprising: (A)
receiving, from an activity sensor, activity output representing an
activity being performed by a user on the computing device; (B)
determining that the activity has been interrupted; (C) in response
to determining that the activity has been interrupted, storing data
representing an action, in the activity, currently being performed
by the user; (D) providing, to the user, output indicating the
action; (C) receiving input from the user; and (D) in response to
the input from the user, making the activity a current activity of
the user.
12. The system of claim 11, wherein the activity comprises writing
a document.
13. The system of claim 11, wherein the method further comprises:
(E) receiving, from a time sensor, time output representing a
current time; and wherein (C) further comprises, in response to
determining that the activity of writing the document has been
interrupted, storing data representing the current time.
14. The system of claim 11, wherein the activity comprises writing
the document using a software application, and wherein the method
further comprises: (E) receiving, from an application sensor,
application output representing a state of the software
application; and wherein (C) further comprises, in response to
determining that the activity of writing the document has been
interrupted, storing data representing the state of the software
application.
15. The system of claim 11, wherein determining that the activity
of writing the document has been interrupted comprises receiving
manual interruption input from the user.
16. The system of claim 11, wherein (D) comprises: determining that
a reminder condition has been satisfied; and providing, to the
user, the output indicating the action in response to determining
that the reminder condition has been satisfied.
17. The system of claim 16, wherein determining that the reminder
condition has been satisfied comprises determining that a
particular event has occurred.
18. The system of claim 11, wherein providing, to the user, the
output indicating the action comprises displaying a message to the
user, the message indicating the action.
19. The method of claim 8, wherein the message further indicates a
description of the activity of writing the document.
20. The method of claim 1, wherein providing, to the user, the
output indicating the action, comprises prompting the user to
select whether to switch to the interrupted activity.
Description
BACKGROUND
[0001] Performing certain procedures, such as executing the steps
in a pre-flight takeoff checklist in an airplane cockpit, require
concentration to complete successfully. Interruptions, such as a
request from the tower to perform a task unrelated to the procedure
currently being performed, can result in errors, such as failure to
return to the interrupted procedure, skipping one or more steps in
the interrupted procedure, or performing one or more steps in the
interrupted procedure multiple times. Such problems, which can
cause significant harm, can occur even if those executing the
procedure are not operating under conditions of information
overload. Instead, in some circumstances even a single, simple
interruption can result in a significant error even if those
performing the procedure are not otherwise distracted or
overwhelmed.
SUMMARY
[0002] In response to determining that an activity has been
postponed (e.g., interrupted or deferred), a computer system stores
a record indicating that the activity is postponed. In response to
determining that another activity has become active, the computer
system stores a record indicating that the other activity is
active. The computer system reminds a user to return to the
postponed activity in response to determining that a reminder
condition associated with the postponed activity has been
satisfied. For example, the computer system may remind the user to
return to the postponed activity in response to determining that
the other activity has been completed.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0003] FIG. 1 is a diagram of a context controller for obtaining
and synthesizing context data according to one embodiment of the
present invention;
[0004] FIG. 2 is a dataflow diagram of a system for managing
interruptions of activities performed by users according to one
embodiment of the present invention;
[0005] FIG. 3 is a flowchart of a method performed by the system of
FIG. 2 according to one embodiment of the present invention;
[0006] FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a data structure for
storing data representing an activity according to one embodiment
of the present invention;
[0007] FIG. 5 is a flowchart of a method for marking an activity as
complete according to one embodiment of the present invention;
and
[0008] FIG. 6 is a flowchart of a method performed by the system of
FIG. 2 for facilitating the process of enabling a user to perform
tasks associated with the user that previously were interrupted or
deferred according to one embodiment of the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0009] Referring to FIG. 1, a dataflow diagram is shown of a system
100 for obtaining and storing context data 102. Context data 102 is
also referred to herein as "context." Context data 102 may, for
example, represent information about an activity currently engaged
in by one of the users 122a-b of the system 100, information about
appointments on a user's calendar, or information about messages
currently being transmitted by the system 100.
[0010] The system 200 includes a plurality of context sensors
106a-j. In general context sensors 106a-j obtain sensor inputs
114a-j, respectively, and generate outputs 108a-j, respectively.
The outputs 108a-j of context sensors 106a-j are provided to and
received by context controller 104, which generates and stores
context data 102 based on the received outputs 108a-j. Context data
102 may, for example, include a context data record 110a, which
includes fields 112a-j corresponding to and representing sensor
outputs 108a-j, respectively. More specifically, field 112a may
represent sensor output 108a, field 112b may represent sensor
output 108b, and so on.
[0011] Although not shown in FIG. 1, context controller 104 may be
used to read the context data 102. For example, context controller
104 may provide output representing some or all of context data
102, e.g., in response to a request from another component for such
data. Furthermore, context controller 104 may receive a request
from another component to modify some or all of context data 102
and, in response to such a request, may make the requested
modification to the context data 102.
[0012] Context controller 104 may sample the outputs 108a-j
repeatedly, e.g., periodically (e.g., every millisecond, every
second, or every minute), or in response to detecting a change in
one or more of the outputs 108a-j. The context controller 104 may
generate and store multiple context data records 110a-n, each of
which represents a distinct sample of some or all of the sensor
outputs 108a-j. Such repeated sampling and storage may, for
example, be used to store a record of the history of context data
generated by the context controller 104 within the context data 102
itself. Alternatively, for example, the context controller 104 may
store only a single context data record 112a within the context
data 102, and overwrite the values in the context data record 112a
based on the outputs 108a-j received most recently from the sensors
106a-j.
[0013] Each of the sensors 106a-j may provide, as its output, an
output that is identical to or a copy of the sensor's input, or an
output that is generated based on the sensor's input but which
differs from the sensor's input in any of a variety of ways, such
as in its format and/or value. Furthermore, inputs 114a-j are
optional; they may be omitted from the system 100 or integrated
into their corresponding sensors. Any one or more of the sensors
106a-j may receive multiple inputs and derive output from such
multiple inputs in any way.
[0014] Sensor 106a is a time sensor, which receives time sensor
input 114a, such as data generated by a clock representing a
current time. Time sensor 106a may, for example, generate output
108a representing a current time (e.g., the time at or around the
time at which the sensor output 108a is generated). Such a time may
be any kind of time, such as a real time (e.g., Jan. 1, 2011 at
11:00 AM) or a system time (e.g., a number of clock cycles since a
device was booted), represented to any degree of accuracy.
[0015] Storing a value that is equal to or based on the time sensor
output 108a in the context records 110a-n effectively marks such
records with timestamps that may later be used to associate any
particular record with the time stored in the record's time field
112a, which may represent the actual or approximate time at which
the record was created. The context controller 104 may sample all
of the sensor outputs 108a-j at or near the time represented by the
time sensor output 108a and generate a corresponding context record
based on such sampled outputs, so that each of the context records
110a-n generated by the context controller 104a contains data
representing context information that is valid for a single point
in time or a relatively short period of time overlapping with or
near the time represented by the record's time field 112a, and so
that the record's time field 112a may subsequently be used to
identify the actual or approximate time(s) for which the
information represented by the other fields 112b-i in the same
record is valid.
[0016] Any references below to the "current sample period" in
connection with the set of sensor outputs 108a-j therefore refers
to a point in time or period of time defined by reference to the
time represented by time sensor output 108a, such as the exact
point in time represented by time sensor output 108a or a time
period beginning with or otherwise including the point in time
represented by time sensor output 108a. Similarly, any use of the
terms "current" or "currently" below should be understood to refer
to a time or time period defined by reference to the time
represented by the time sensor output 108a. For example, in the
context of a particular set of sensor outputs 108a-j within the
current sample period, "the current user" should be understood to
refer to the user represented by output 108b of user sensor 106b at
or around the time represented by time sensor output 108a.
[0017] Sensor 106b is a user sensor, which receives user sensor
input 114b and generates, based on input 114b, output 108b
representing a user, such as a current user of one of the devices
124a-c or the system 100 as a whole. The sensor 106b may, for
example, obtain input 114b representing user login credentials
(e.g., username and/or password) or biometric information, and
provide user output 108b uniquely identifying the user specified by
the input to the sensor 106b. The user output 108b is not limited
to output representing the identity of the user, but more generally
may represent any data relating to the user.
[0018] Sensor 106c is a device sensor, which receives device input
114c and generates, based on input 114c, output 108c representing a
device, such as one of the devices 124a-c of the system 100. The
device output 108c during a particular sample period may, for
example, represent a device currently used by the user represented
by the output 108b of user identification sensor 106b during the
sample period. The device sensor 106c may, for example, obtain
input 114c representing a device serial number or other unique
identifier of the device, and provide device output 108c uniquely
identifying the device. The device output 108c is not limited to
output representing the identity of the device, but more generally
may represent any data relating to the device, such as data
representing any aspect of the device's current configuration, such
as audio volume, screen brightness, and whether any particular
input or output components of the device currently are enabled or
disabled.
[0019] Sensor 106d is an application sensor, which receives
application input 114d and generates, based on input 114d, output
108d representing the state of one or more software applications
(which includes any kind of software, such as operating systems,
application programs, and web-based applications). For example, the
application sensor output 108d during a particular sample period
may, for example, represent the state of one or more software
applications executing on a device. The application output 108d
during a particular sample period may, for example, represent the
state of one or more software applications executing on the device
represented by the output 108c of device sensor 106c, or the state
of one or more software applications being executed by or on behalf
of the user represented by the output 108b of the user sensor 106b,
during the same sample period. The application sensor output 108d
may, for example, indicate which applications currently are
executing, which application(s) is/are in the foreground, which
application has the input focus, which application(s) currently
is/are providing user output, and which application(s) currently
is/are receiving user input. The application sensor 106d may obtain
input 114d from any source, such as an operating system of the
device represented by device sensor output 108c, or from
applications by using application program interface (API) calls to
such applications.
[0020] Sensor 106e is a message sensor, which receives message
input 114e and, based on input 114e, generates output 108e
representing information relating to one or more messages. Output
108e may, for example, represent a communication mode of the
message (e.g., whether the message is an email message, a text
message, or a live voice call), data from the message (such as the
body of an email message, audio from a voice call, or text
transcribed from a voice message), metadata of the message (such as
a message header or metatag), the composition state of the message
(e.g., whether the message currently is being composed or has
already been composed), the manifestation state of the message
(e.g., whether the message currently is being manifested), the
transmission state of the message (e.g., whether the message
currently is queued for transmission, attempted to be transmitted,
or being transmitted), and the transmission direction of the
message (e.g., whether the message currently is being sent or
received by the user, device, or application represented by output
108b, 108c, or 108d, respectively). The message sensor 106e may
obtain input 114e from any source, such as an operating system of
the device represented by device sensor output 108c or by using
application program interface (API) calls to individual
applications.
[0021] Sensor 106f is a location sensor, which receives location
input 114f and, based on input 114f, generates output 108f
representing information relating to a current location of either
or both of the user represented by user output 108b and the device
represented by device output 108c. The location sensor 106f may
obtain input 114f from any source, such as a Global Positioning
System (GPS) device, a radio frequency identification (RFID) tag,
or manual user input. The location sensor output 108f may represent
the current location in any of a variety of forms, such as a
latitude-longitude combination, or by one or more labels
representing one or more categories of location (e.g., work, home,
theater, restaurant). The location sensor 106f may, alternatively
or additionally, obtain input 114f relating to and provide output
108f representing the proximity of the user and/or device to
another user and/or device. Proximity data may, for example, be
received directly from another device using infrared (IR) signals,
or by comparing locations of user or devices to each other.
Proximity output 108f may represent, for example, any one or more
of the following: the degree of proximity (e.g., distance) to
another device, the identity of the proximate device, and whether
the device represented by device output 108c is proximate to
another device of interest.
[0022] Sensor 106g is a velocity sensor, which generates output
108g representing information relating to a current velocity of
either or both of the user represented by user output 108b and the
device represented by device output 108c. The velocity sensor 106g
may obtain data from any source, such as any of the sources from
which the location sensor 106f may obtain data. The velocity sensor
106g may, alternatively or additionally, obtain data relating to
and provide output 108g representing the current acceleration of
the current user and/or the current device.
[0023] Sensor 106h is an activity sensor, which receives activity
input 106h and, based on input 106h, generates output 108h
representing information relating to a current activity in which
the current user and/or the current device is engaged. Examples of
activities are writing a message, reading a message, writing a
document, reading a document, engaging in a voice call, listening
to a voice message, and providing input of any kind to the current
device. The activity sensor 106h may obtain input 114h from any
source, such as from any user input device (e.g., keyboard, mouse,
touchpad, touchscreen, or microphone) or by making API calls to
software such as operating systems, application programs, and
device drivers.
[0024] Sensor 106i is a calendar sensor, which receives calendar
input 114i and, based on input 114i, generates output 108i
representing information relating to data stored in a calendar of
the current user and/or a calendar of the current device. Calendar
output 108i may represent, for example, the presence or absence of
an appointment at or near the current time, and any information
relating to any appointment at or near the current time, such as
the appointment's start time, end time, duration, location,
priority (e.g., high or low), category, and attendee list.
[0025] The calendar sensor 106i may obtain calendar input 114i from
any source, such as a calendar application external to the system
200 (e.g., Microsoft Outlook, Apple iCal, Google calendar), a
calendar internal to the system 200, or a combination of both. The
calendar sensor 106i may obtain calendar input 114i from external
calendar applications using application program interfaces (APIs)
provided by such external calendar applications. In some
embodiments, the calendar sensor 106i solely obtains calendar input
114i from one or more sources external to the system 200, in which
case the system 200 may not create or edit data within the
calendars maintained by such external sources.
[0026] In embodiments that use both a calendar internal to the
system and one or more external calendars, such internal and
external calendars may interact with each other in a variety of
ways. For example, the internal calendar may override the external
calendars in the case of a conflict between the two, or vice versa.
As another example, the internal calendar may be combined with the
external calendars, such as by aggregating the appointments on the
internal calendar and external calendar into a single combined
calendar.
[0027] As mentioned above, the time sensor 106a may implement
various functions related to timers. Such functions may be
implemented, either alternatively or additionally, by the calendar
sensor 106i. A condition of a logic module may define a particular
timer, and the condition may be satisfied when the particular timer
has expired, or when the particular timer has started running but
not yet expired. The condition may, for example, specify a time at
which the timer is to start running (such as by defining a
condition, upon satisfaction of which the timer is to start
running). Alternatively, for example, the timer may be started in
response to user input at a user-selected time.
[0028] A timer is associated with a start time and either a
duration or an end time. Although at least some timers may be
implemented in the same way as calendar appointments, timers need
not be implemented as calendar appointments. For example, a timer
may be started at any time without adding an entry representing the
timer to a calendar. Furthermore, a timer associated with a
duration may be started and stopped any number of times. When the
timer is first started (the timer's "initial start time"), the
timer's "running time" may be initialized to zero and begin to
accumulate in real time (i.e., to accumulate one second of running
time for each second of real time). The timer's running time may
stop accumulating if and in response to stopping the timer. If the
timer is started again, the timer's running time may resume its
real-time accumulation. The timer may only expire when its running
time equals or exceeds its associated duration. Some timers may not
be allowed to be stopped once they have started, in which case the
timer's running time may be equal to the amount of real time that
has elapsed since the timer's initial start time.
[0029] The total running time of a timer may be reset (e.g., to
zero or some other number) upon the satisfaction of a condition.
For example, the total running time of a timer may be reset after
some predetermined amount of real time has elapsed since the
timer's initial start time, since the timer was last reset (e.g.,
one minute, one hour, one day, or one week), or upon the occurrence
of a real time that satisfies a condition (e.g., the beginning of a
new calendar minute, hour, day, or week). Such timers may only
expire if their total running time equals or exceeds their
associated duration before they are reset.
[0030] Certain embodiments of the present invention include
techniques for managing interruptions of activities performed by
users. For example, referring to FIG. 2, a dataflow diagram is
shown of a system 200 for managing interruptions of activities
performed by users 204a-m according to one embodiment of the
present invention. Referring to FIG. 3, a flowchart is shown of a
method 300 performed by the system 200 of FIG. 2 according to one
embodiment of the present invention.
[0031] The system 200 includes an activity repository 202, which
includes activity data records 202a-n, where n may be any number
(e.g., 1, 2, 3, or more). Each of the activity data records 202a-n
represents an activity that has been performed, is being performed,
or will be performed by one or more of users 204a-m, where m may be
any number (e.g., 1, 2, 3,or more).
[0032] Each of the activity data records 202a-n may store any of a
variety of data associated with the corresponding activity. For
example, referring to FIG. 4, an example of data that may be stored
within activity data record 202a is shown. The particular data
elements shown in FIG. 4 are merely examples and do not constitute
limitations of the present invention. Furthermore, although
activity data record 202a is shown in FIG. 4 for purposes of
example, the other data records 202b-n may have the same or similar
data structures as that shown in FIG. 4. As a result, the
description herein of data stored in activity data record 202a is
equally applicable to the other activity data records 202b-n.
[0033] The activity data record 202a may include the following data
elements (e.g., fields in a database record): [0034] An activity
identifier (ID) field 402a, which may store an identifier of the
activity data record 202a that is unique among the activity
identifier fields of all of the activity data records 202a-n.
[0035] A type field 402b, which may store data representing a type
(e.g., class) of the activity represented by the activity data
record 202a. As one example, the type field 402b may store data
representing a communication mode associated with the activity
represented by the activity data record 202a (e.g., email message,
text message, or voice call), whereby the type field 402b of
different activity data records may have values representing
different communication modes. As another example, if the activity
represented by the activity data record 202a is a particular
procedure (such as a particular medical procedure or a particular
cockpit procedure), then the type field 402b may store data
representing the type (e.g., class) of procedure, whereby the type
field 402b of different activity data records may have values
representing difference types of procedures. [0036] A name field
402c, which may store data representing one or more names of the
activity represented by the activity data record 202a, such as a
text string representing a human-readable name of the activity
(e.g., "Pre-Flight Takeoff Checklist" or "IV Checklist").
Activities represented by different activity data records may have
the same or different names. [0037] A description field 402d, which
may store data representing a human-readable description of the
activity represented by the activity data record 202a, such as a
text string representing such a human-readable description.
Different activities of the same type and having the same name may
have different descriptions. [0038] A user field 402e, which may
store data representing one or more users associated with the
activity represented by the activity data record 202a, such as one
or more users who are assigned to perform the activity, who
currently are performing the activity, who were interrupted while
performing the activity, or who completed performing the activity.
Although not shown in FIGS. 2-4, the system 200 may include a data
record for each of one or more of the users 204a-m, in which case
the user record for a particular user may include data representing
the activity/activities associated with that user (such as any
activities assigned to the user, activities currently being
performed by the user, activities during the performance of which
the user was interrupted, and activities that the user has
completed performing). [0039] A state field 402f, which may store
any of a variety of data representing a state of the activity
represented by the activity data record 202a. Examples of contents
and uses of the state field 402f will be described in more detail
below. By default, the value of the state field 402f of the
activity data record 202a may be set to a value of "not started"
upon creation of the activity data record.
[0040] The system 200 includes an activity management module 206,
which receives activity input 208 and, based on the activity input
208, determines that a particular one or more users U are engaged
in a particular activity (FIG. 3, operation 302). For example, the
user(s) U may be any one or more of the users 204a-m in FIG. 2. For
ease of explanation, the user(s) U may be referred to herein as
"the" user U, but it should be appreciated that such references may
apply to any number of users. The activity A may, for example, be
any of the activities represented by the activity data records
202a-n. Furthermore, for purposes of illustration and not
limitation, assume that in operation 302, the method 300 determines
that user 204a is engaged in the activity represented by activity
data record 202a.
[0041] The activity management module 206 may determine that the
user U is engaged in activity A in any of a variety of ways. For
example, the activity input 208 may consist of or include the
context data 102 of FIG. 1, and the activity management module 206
may determine that user U is engaged in activity A based on the
context data 102.
[0042] For example, the user U may provide some or all of the
activity input 208 manually to the activity management module 206
to indicate expressly that user U currently (i.e., at the present
time) is engaged in activity A. For example, user U may select an
identifier of activity A from a menu or drop-down list, tap or
click on a graphical representation of activity A, speak an
identifier of activity A, indicate that the state of activity A
should be changed to "active," or any combination thereof.
[0043] As another example, the activity management module 206 may
infer or otherwise conclude, based on the activity input 208 (which
may include some or all of the context data 102), that user U
currently is engaged in activity A. For example, if activity A
represents processing of a particular electronic checklist, and
user U provides input (in activity input 208) to the electronic
checklist (such as marking an element in the checklist as
complete), then the activity management module 206 may determine
that user U currently is engaged in activity A. As another example,
if activity A represents responding to a particular communication
(e.g., a particular email message, text message, or voice call),
and the activity input 208 includes data indicating that user U is
reading, listening to, or responding to the particular
communication, then the activity management module 206 may
determine that user U currently is engaged in activity A. More
generally, if the activity management module 206 determines, based
on the activity input 208, that user U is performing an action
within activity A, then the activity management module 206 may
determine that user U is engaged in activity A.
[0044] In response to determining that the user U (e.g., user 204a)
is engaged in activity A (e.g., the activity represented by
activity data record 202a), the method 300: [0045] modifies the
state field 402f of the activity data record 202a to indicate that
the state of the corresponding activity A is "active" (FIG. 3,
operation 304); [0046] modifies the user field 402e of the activity
data record 202a to indicate that the user U (e.g., user 204a) is
associated with (e.g., currently performing) the corresponding
activity A (FIG. 3, operation 306).
[0047] If the activity data record 202a does not exist at the
commencement of operation 304, then operation 304 may include
creating activity data record 202a. If the state of activity A is
already "active" at the commencement of operation 304, then
operation 304 may leave the state of activity A as "active." If
user U is already associated with activity A at the commencement of
operation 306, then the operation 306 may leave user U as
associated with activity A.
[0048] The system 200 and method 300 may enforce a rule which
prohibits any of the users 204a-m from being associated with more
than one active activity simultaneously. Therefore, operation 306
may include: (1) determining whether user U is associated with any
active activity (e.g., any activity whose state field 402f has a
value of "active"); (2) if user U is associated with any active
activity, changing the state of that active activity to
"interrupted"; and (3) associating user U with activity A.
[0049] The active activities with which a user is associated at the
current time are referred to as the user's "current activities." If
the user is restricted to only being associated with one active
activity at any particular time, then at any particular time the
user has at most one current activity. As this implies, a user may
not have a current activity (i.e., the user may be associated with
zero active activities) at any particular time.
[0050] The activity management module 206 receives interruption
input 210 (FIG. 3, operation 308). The activity management module
206 may receive the activity input 208 at a first time and receive
the interruption input 210 at a second time that is later than the
first time. Additionally or alternatively, each of the activity
input 208 and the interruption input 210 may contain timing data
(e.g., timestamps), in which case the timing data of the
interruption input 210 may represent a later time than the timing
data of the activity input 208.
[0051] The interruption input 210 may take any of a variety of
forms. For example, the interruption input 210 may take any of the
forms described herein for the activity input 208. The interruption
input 210 may be any data that represents an opportunity for user U
to engage in an "interrupting activity" B when activity B is not
user U's current activity. The term "interrupting activity" is used
herein in connection with a particular user U to refer to an
activity in which user U is not currently engaged, and which
presents an opportunity to be engaged in by user U. For example,
user U may have no current activity, and the interruption input 210
may represent an opportunity for user U to engage in interrupting
activity B. As another example, user U's current activity may be
activity A, and the interruption input 210 may represent an
opportunity for user U to engage in interrupting activity B (i.e.,
to change user U's current activity to activity B). For example,
the activity management module 206 may determine, based on the
activity input 208 and/or the interruption input 210, that an
opportunity exists for the user U to engage in activity B.
[0052] The interruption input 210 may take any of a variety of
forms, and the activity management module 206 may interpret the
interruption input 210 in any of a variety of ways. For example,
the interruption input 210 may represent: [0053] an incoming
message (e.g., email message, text message, or voice call)
addressed to user U; [0054] a request by another user for user U to
engage in activity B (such as a request by the other user for user
U to engage in a process associated with a particular checklist);
[0055] manual input received from user U representing a desire to
engage in activity B (such as any input selecting activity B);
[0056] any data indicating that user U is engaged in activity
B.
[0057] In response to receiving the interruption input 210 or
otherwise concluding that the interruption input 210 represents an
opportunity for user U to engage in activity B or that the
interruption input 210 indicates that the user is engaged in
activity B, the activity management module 206 may provide a prompt
212 to the user U (e.g., user 204a) for an activity selection (FIG.
3, operation 310). Note that operation 310 is optional and may be
omitted from method 300. The prompt 212, when provided, may take
any of a variety of forms. For example, the prompt 212 may provide
the user 204a with two options: (1) continue performing the current
activity A; or (2) switch to performing activity B. The prompt may,
for example, be graphical (e.g., include buttons or other graphical
user interface elements with labels such as "Continue with Activity
A" and "Switch to Activity B") or auditory (e.g., the spoken words
"Say `A` to continue with Activity A; say `B` to switch to activity
B"). The prompt 212 may include data associated with each of the
activities, such as any one or more of its type 402b, name 402c,
and description 402d, to assist the user 204a in selecting an
activity to perform.
[0058] The user 204a provides activity selection input 214 to the
activity management module 206 (FIG. 3, operation 312). In general,
the activity selection input 214 indicates the user's selection of
an activity to perform, e.g., activity A or activity B. The
activity selection input 214 may take any of a variety of forms,
such as tapping or clicking on the graphical user interface
elements in the prompt 212, speaking a voice command, or performing
an action that is part of the selected activity.
[0059] The activity management module 206 determines whether the
activity selection input 214 selects the current activity A or the
interrupting activity B (FIG. 3, operation 314). If user U opts to
continue performing activity A, then the state of activity A
remains "active" and the activity management module 206 changes the
value of the state field 402f of interrupting activity B to
"deferred" (FIG. 3, operation 316). If user U opts to perform
interrupting activity B, then the activity management module 206:
(1) changes the value of the state field 402f of current activity A
to "interrupted" (FIG. 3, operation 318); (2) changes the value of
the state field 402f of interrupting activity B to "active" (FIG.
3, operation 320); and (3) changes the value of the user field 402e
of interrupting activity B to include a reference to user U (e.g.,
user 204a) (FIG. 3, operation 322). The result is to make the
interrupting activity B into user U's current activity. Note that
if user U does not have any current activity upon commencement of
operation 318, then operation 318 need not be performed.
[0060] Although the state field 402f values of "interrupted" and
"deferred" are disclosed herein as two distinct values, this is
merely an example and does not constitute a limitation of the
present invention. Both such values may, for example, be
implemented as a single value, such as "interrupted," "deferred,"
or "postponed," if it is not desired or necessary to draw a
distinction between interruption and deferral.
[0061] Referring to FIG. 5, a flowchart is shown of a method 500
performed by the system 200 to mark an activity as complete
according to one embodiment of the present invention. The activity
management module 206 received completion input 216 (FIG. 5,
operation 502). In general, the completion input 216 indicates that
a particular activity A is complete. For example, the activity
management module 206 may determine, based on the completion input
216, that activity A is complete. The completion input 216 may take
any of a variety of forms. For example, the completion input 216
may take any of the forms described herein for the activity input
208.
[0062] As a particular example, if the current activity A of user U
is processing of a checklist, then completion input 216 may
indicate that all required elements (e.g., all elements) of the
checklist have been marked as complete. As another example, if the
current activity A of user A is responding to a message, then
completion input 216 may indicate that user U has responded to the
message. In the previous two examples of completion input 216, the
activity management module 206 may, for example, determine
automatically that activity A is complete, e.g., by determining
based on input received from a checklist program that a checklist
has been completed or based on input received from a messaging
program that a message has been sent. As another example completion
input 216 may consist of or include manual input from user U
indicating that activity A is complete.
[0063] In response to receiving the completion input 216 or
otherwise determining that activity A is complete, the activity
management module 206 sets the value of the state field 402f of the
activity data record representing activity A to a value of
"complete" (FIG. 5, operation 504). As a result, activity A is no
longer a current activity of user U. If activity A was user U's
only current activity before the performance of operation 504, then
upon completion of operation 504 user U has no current
activity.
[0064] As previously indicated, a current activity A of user U may
become interrupted (e.g., the value of the state field 402f of the
current activity may change from "active" to "interrupted"), and
the user U may then switch from engaging in current activity A to
engaging in interrupting activity B, which may cause interrupting
activity B to become a current activity of user U. Similarly, if
the user U opts not to engage in the interrupting activity B
immediately, then the interrupting activity B may be deferred
(e.g., the value of the state field 402f of the interrupting
activity B may change to "deferred"). At any given time, the user U
may have zero, one, or more interrupted activities (i.e.,
activities that are associated with the user U and that have a
state of "interrupted") and zero, one, or more deferred activities
(i.e., activities that are associated with the user U and that have
a state of "deferred"). It may be desirable for the user U to
perform such interrupted and/or deferred activities at a later
time. There is a risk, however, that the user U will not remember
to perform such interrupted and/or deferred activities. Embodiments
of the present invention may address this problem in a variety of
ways and thereby decrease the likelihood that the user U will fail
to perform interrupted and/or deferred activities. Such embodiments
are particularly useful in situations in which it is desirable or
necessary for the user U to perform interrupted and/or deferred
activities at some point in time, even if not immediately upon the
occurrence of the first opportunity for the user U to perform such
activities.
[0065] Referring to FIG. 6, a flowchart is shown of a method 600
performed by the system 200 for facilitating the process of
enabling the user U to perform tasks associated with user U that
previously were interrupted or deferred according to one embodiment
of the present invention. The activity management module 206
identifies a current activity A of user U (operation 602), such as
by identifying an activity (e.g., the only activity) in the
activity repository 202 that is associated with user U (e.g., whose
user field 402e specifies user U) and whose state field 402f has a
value of "active."
[0066] The term "postponed" will be used herein to mean
"interrupted and/or deferred." The activity management module 206
identifies an activity B that previously was postponed by current
activity A (FIG. 6, operation 604). The activity management module
206 may perform operation 604 in any of a variety of ways. For
example, the activity repository 202 may contain data that
identifies, for any particular activity A: (1) for any particular
postponed activity, whether that activity was postponed by activity
A (i.e., whether the particular postponed activity was marked as
postponed in response to marking activity A as active); and/or (2)
which activities activity A has postponed (i.e., which postponed
activities were marked as postponed in response to marking activity
A as active). Such data may be stored, for example, in the state
field 402f of activity A and/or the state field 402f of the
activities postponed by activity A. The activity management module
206 may store such data during method 300 of FIG. 3. For example,
if the user U chooses (in operation 314) not to continue engaging
in the current activity A, then the activity management module 206
may (in addition to operations 318-322): [0067] store, in the state
field 402f of current activity A, an identifier of interrupting
activity B and optionally one or more of the following: (1) an
indication that interruption (rather than deferral) was the reason
for postponement of activity A; (2) the current time; and (3) a
reminder condition associated with activity A; and/or [0068] store,
in the state field 402f of interrupting activity B, an identifier
of current (interrupted) activity A and optionally one or more of
the following: (1) an indication that interruption (rather than
deferral) was the reason for postponement of activity A; (2) the
current time; and (3) a reminder condition associated with activity
A.
[0069] Similarly, if the user U chooses (in operation 314) to
continue engaging in the current activity A, then the activity
management module 206 may (in addition to operation 316): [0070]
store, in the state field 402f of current activity A, an identifier
of interrupting activity B and optionally one or more of the
following: (1) an indication that deferral (rather than
interruption) was the reason for postponement of activity B; (2)
the current time; and (3) a reminder condition associated with
activity B; and/or [0071] store, in the state field 402f of
interrupting activity B, an identifier of current activity A and
optionally one or more of the following: (1) an indication that
deferral (rather than interruption) was the reason for postponement
of activity B; (2) the current time; and (3) a reminder condition
associated with activity B.
[0072] A "reminder condition" for a particular activity is a
condition, the satisfaction of which causes the activity management
module 206 either to: (1) generate a reminder to a user to engage
in the particular activity (e.g., as described below in connection
with operation 606); or (2) automatically make the activity a
current activity of a user. A reminder condition is an example of a
"condition," as that term is used herein and may, therefore, be a
simple condition (i.e., a condition which does not contain any
sub-conditions) or a complex condition (e.g., a condition which
contains two or more simple or complex conditions conjoined by
Boolean operators). The activity management module 206 may select
the reminder condition to store in association with a particular
postponed activity in any of a variety of ways, such as by: (1)
receiving input from a user specifying the reminder condition and
selecting the reminder condition based on the user input; (2)
selecting the reminder condition as a predetermined reminder
condition associated with the type 402b of the postponed activity,
where different types may be associated with different reminder
conditions; or (3) selecting the reminder condition as a function
of the contexts 102 of one or more users.
[0073] The activity management module 206 may perform operation 604
in response to any of a variety of inputs. For example, the
activity management module 206 may perform operation 604 in
response to: [0074] input provided by the user U (e.g., user 204a)
requesting that the activity management module 206 inform the user
U of one or more postponed a1tivities associated with user U;
[0075] a determination by the activity management module 206 that a
current activity A (e.g., the only current activity) of user U has
been completed (e.g., that the value of the state field 402f of
activity A has been changed to "complete") or postponed; [0076] a
determination by the activity management module 206 that an
activity which is not a current activity of user U has been
completed or postponed; [0077] a determination by the activity
management module 206 that user U has no current activity; [0078] a
determination that the current time (e.g., as indicated by time
sensor 106a) satisfies a particular condition, e.g.: [0079] the
current time is equal to a particular predetermined time of day
(e.g., 9 am or 5 pm); [0080] the current time is equal to a
particular predetermined time of day on a particular calendar date
(e.g., 9:00 am on Mar. 1, 2013); [0081] the current time satisfies
a particular periodic condition, such as a condition that is
satisfied every minute, every ten minutes, every hour, every day,
or every week; [0082] the current time satisfies a reminder
condition associated with activity B; [0083] a determination that
the current activity A postponed another activity (e.g., activity
B) at least some predetermined amount of time earlier than the
current time (e.g., one minute, ten minutes, one hour, one day, or
one week); [0084] a determination that activity B was postponed by
activity A at least some predetermined amount of time earlier than
the current time (e.g., one minute, ten minutes, one hour, one day,
or one week); [0085] a determination that a particular event (such
as the commencement of an airplane takeoff or the commencement of a
surgery) has occurred, is about to occur, or has been detected;
[0086] a determination that the state of an activity (e.g., a
current activity of user U) has changed in any way or in some
predetermined way (e.g., that the state of a particular specified
checkbox has changed to "complete" from some other state); [0087] a
determination that a reminder condition associated with activity B
has been satisfied; [0088] a determination that any other condition
disclosed herein is satisfied by the context 102 of user U and/or
the contexts 102 of other users.
[0089] Any of the determined conditions described in the above list
may be used as reminder conditions associated with postponed
activities.
[0090] The activity management module 206 may identify activities
in addition to activity B in operation 604. For example, in
operation 604, the activity management module 206 may identify: (1)
some or all interrupted activities that were interrupted by
activity A; and/or (2) some or all deferred activities that were
deferred by activity A. Therefore, any reference in FIG. 6 and the
description thereof to activity B should be understood to refer
equally to any and all activities identified by the activity
management module 206 in operation 604.
[0091] The activity management module 206 manifests activity B to
user U, thereby providing a manifestation 218 of activity B to user
U (FIG. 6, operation 606). For example, the activity management
module 206 may display a message (e.g., in a pop-up window) to the
user U, indicating that activity B previously was postponed by
activity A, and optionally indicating additional information, such
as the type, name, and/or description of activity B, the reason for
postponement (e.g., interruption or deferral) and the time of
postponement. Such a message may also prompt user U to select
whether to continue engaging in activity A or to switch to activity
B, and include means for enabling the user to make such a selection
(such as a button labeled "Continue with Activity A" and a button
labeled "Switch to Activity B").
[0092] In response to the manifestation 218, the user U may provide
input to the activity management module 206 indicating either that
the user U wishes to continue engaging in activity A or that the
user U wishes to switch to activity B. For purposes of example and
ease of illustration, in the method 600 the user U provides input
to the activity management module 206 selecting activity B (i.e.,
indicating that the user U wishes to engage in activity B) (FIG. 6,
operation 608). Such input may take any of a variety of forms, such
as tapping or clicking on a graphical user interface element (e.g.,
the button mentioned above labeled "Switch to Activity B" or a
manifestation of activity B in a manifestation of a plurality of
activities postponed by activity A, such as a table or list of such
postponed activities).
[0093] In response, the activity management module 206 makes
activity B a current activity of user U (FIG. 6, operation 610),
such as by performing operations 318-322 of FIG. 3. The method 600
may infer that user U wishes to continuing engaging in activity A
if, for example, the user U fails to provide any input in response
to the manifestation 218 within some predetermined amount of time
after manifesting the manifestation 218 (e.g., 10 seconds, 30
seconds, 1 minute, 5 minutes, or 10 minutes).
[0094] The method 600 need not perform operation 606 (generating
the manifestation 218) or operation 608 (receiving input from the
user U). For example, the activity management module 206 may
automatically cause activity B to become a current activity of user
U (e.g., perform operation 610), without receiving a selection or
other confirmation of such a switch from the user U.
[0095] When an activity is interrupted, the activity management
module 206 may store (e.g., in the state field 402f of the
interrupted activity) additional data relating to the state of the
interrupted activity to make it easier for the user to return to
engaging in the interrupted activity later. For example, the
activity management module 206 (e.g., in operations 318 and 610)
may store, in the state field 402f of the activity data record
representing the interrupted activity A, data representing any one
or more of the following: (1) the action in the activity currently
being performed by the user U (e.g., the checkbox in an electronic
checklist currently being processed by the user U but not yet
marked as completed by the user U); (2) the actions in the activity
that have already been performed by the user U (e.g., the
checkboxes in an electronic checklist that the user U has already
marked as completed).
[0096] When the user U subsequently returns to engaging in the
interrupted activity A, the activity management module 206 may
provide output to the user U to assist the user U in completing the
interrupted activity A (now current activity A). For example, the
activity management module 206 may provide output to the user U
indicating either or both of: (1) the action that the user U was in
the act of performing in activity A when the user U was
interrupted; (2) the actions in activity A that were already
performed by the user U. The activity management module 206 may
generate such output based on the information previously saved in
the state field 402f of the activity A. Such output may take any of
a variety of forms, such as a message reminding the user to
"Continue performing the procedure beginning at step 7" (where step
7 is the step during which the user U previously was interrupted),
or by circling or otherwise emphasizing the checkbox in a checklist
that the user was processing when the user U previously was
interrupted.
[0097] When any particular activity A is a current activity of the
user U, the activity repository 202 may contain data that indicates
which of the postponed activities (i.e., activities having a state
of "interrupted" or "deferred") represented by the activity data
records 202a-n were postponed by activity A, whether each such
activity was interrupted by activity A or deferred by activity A,
and the times at which such activities were interrupted or deferred
by activity A. The activity management module 206 may use such data
to identify an order of such interrupted/deferred activities
relative to activity A, such as an ascending order of the times at
which the postponed activities were postponed by activity A, or a
descending order of the times at which the postponed activities
were postponed by activity A. The activity management module 206
may manifest such postponed activities to the user U (e.g., in
operation 606) in the identified order, such as by manifesting the
postponed activities in a spatial order (e.g., top to bottom or
left to right) or a temporal order (e.g., one at a time)
corresponding to the order identified by the activity management
module 206. The activity management module 206 may enable the user
U to provide manual input specifying modifications to this order,
in response to which the activity management module 206 may change
the order based on user U's manual input.
[0098] When ordering postponed activities, the activity management
module 206 may, for example, give priority to interrupted
activities over deferred activities. For example, the activity
management module 206 may sort all of the interrupted activities
that were interrupted by a particular activity A to create a sorted
list of such activities, and sort all of the deferred activities
that were deferred by a particular activity A to create a sorted
list of such activities. The activity management module 206 may
combine such lists together to create a unified list of postponed
activities that were postponed by activity A by concatenating the
sorted list of interrupted activities with the sorted list of
deferred activities, so that the resulting concatenated list
contains the sorted list of interrupted activities followed by the
sorted list of deferred activities. Alternatively, for example, the
activity management module 206 may give priority to deferred
activities over interrupted activities, and apply the techniques
just described accordingly.
[0099] When a current activity A of a user U is marked as complete,
embodiments of the present invention may detect such completion
and, in response to such detection, either automatically make a
postponed activity that previously was postponed by activity A into
a current activity (e.g., the only current activity) of user A, or
prompt the user U to select one such postponed activity to become a
current activity (e.g., the only current activity) of user U. For
example, the activity management module 206 may perform operation
604 (and subsequent operations 606-610) in response to determining
that current activity A of user U has been marked as complete
(e.g., that the state field 402f of current activity A has changed
from some value to "complete"). For example, in operation 604, the
activity management module 206 may identify the activity that was
postponed most recently by activity A. If only one postponed
activity was postponed by activity A, then in operation 604 the
activity management module 206 may identify the sole postponed
activity that was postponed by activity A. Such embodiments enable
the user U to postpone a first activity to perform a second
activity, to perform and complete the second activity, and then to
return to the first (postponed) activity quickly and easily.
[0100] Another advantage of embodiments of the present invention is
that they may be used to track and respond to changes in the
activities performed by users in real-time. For example, any one or
more of the activity input 208, the interruption input 210, and the
completion input 216 may be provided to the activity management
module 206 in any of the manners disclosed herein in connection
with the context data 102. In fact, one or more of the activity
input 208, the interruption input 210, and the completion input 216
may be contained within or constitute the context data 102. Such
inputs 208, 210, and 216 may, therefore, be provided to the
activity management module 206 periodically at any period (e.g.,
every second, every 5 seconds, every 10 seconds, every minute,
every 10 minutes, or every hour) and/or in response to sensor
output that causes a change in one or more of such inputs 208, 210,
and 216. As a result, the inputs 208, 210, and 216 may provide data
to the activity management module 206 that indicates one or both
of: (1) changes in the current activity or activities of users
(e.g., a switch from one current activity to another current
activity); and (2) changes in the states of activities (e.g.,
current and/or postponed activities).
[0101] The activity management module 206 may, therefore,
determine, based on one or more of the inputs 208, 210, and 216
that a user U is now engaged in a particular activity A or that an
opportunity exists for user U to engage in activity A, in real-time
or after only a nominal amount of time has passed since the user U
began to engage in activity A or after the opportunity to engage in
activity A arose (e.g., after 1 second, 5 seconds, 10 seconds, 1
minute, or 10 minutes). In response to such a detection, the
activity management module 206 may store (e.g., in the state field
402f of the activity data record representing activity A) data
indicating one or more of the following: (1) the nature of the
detected event (e.g., actual engagement by user U in an activity or
potential engagement by user U in the activity); (2) an identifier
of activity A; and (3) a time of the detection (or the time of the
event, if available).
[0102] Similarly, the activity management module 206 may determine,
based on one or more of the inputs 208, 210, and 216 that the state
of a current activity of user U has changed (e.g., that the user U
has checked off a box in an electronic checklist or performed such
other action that is part of or otherwise associated with an
activity) in real-time or after only a nominal amount of time has
passed since the state changed (e.g., after 1 second, 5 seconds, 10
seconds, 1 minute, or 10 minutes). In response to such a detection,
the activity management module 206 may store (e.g., in the state
field 402f of the activity data record representing activity A)
data indicating one or more of the following: (1) an identifier of
the state that has changed (e.g., an identifier of the checkbox
that was checked); (2) the current value of the changed state
(e.g., "complete"); and (3) a time of the detection (or the time of
the state change, if available).
[0103] Although certain portions of the description herein may
refer to the context data 102 as being associated with a particular
user, it should be understood that each of any of number of users
(e.g., 1, 2, 3 or more users) may have its own associated context
data 102. Therefore, any reference herein to context data 102
should be understood to include the context data 102 of a single
user and the context data 102 of multiple users. Furthermore,
context data 102 may include data obtained from any number of
devices (e.g., 1, 2, 3 or more devices). For example, context data
102 may include data obtained from a plurality of devices used by
one or more users in connection with a particular activity, such as
a plurality of devices in an airplane cockpit that are used in
connection with a preflight checklist procedure or a plurality of
devices in an operating room that are used in connection with a
surgical procedure. In general context data 102 may be any data,
obtained from any device, which provides evidence that a particular
user is or is not engaged in a particular activity at a particular
time. Context data 102 may include additional data representing,
for example, a particular action in the particular activity that
the particular user is engaged in at the particular time.
[0104] The ability of embodiments of the present invention to
detect changes in current activities of users and in the states of
such activities provides a variety of benefits. For example, one
deficiency in conventional task management software, such as
software which enables users to store data records often referred
to as "tasks" or "reminders" (such as Microsoft Outlook and Apple
Reminders) is that such software cannot determine whether a user is
engaged in performing an activity associated with a particular data
record at any particular time, and also cannot determine whether
the state of any such activity has changed. As a result, such
software is incapable of determining whether an activity has been
interrupted or whether an opportunity to interrupt an activity has
been presented. Such software, therefore, is not capable of
assisting in reminding the user to engage in interrupted
activities. In contrast, embodiments of the present invention may
be used to detect whether a user is performing a particular
activity at a particular time and/or whether the state of a
particular activity has changed. As a result, embodiments of the
present invention are particularly useful for reducing the
likelihood that an interrupted activity will not be completed, and
for returning the user to the point of interruption.
[0105] Another advantage of embodiments of the present invention is
that they provide an improvement over, and may be used in
conjunction with, checklists and other forms of workflow process
management. The value of checklists in improving processes, such as
those performed by aircraft cockpit crews and surgical teams, has
been well-documented, especially in connection with reducing the
likelihood that critical steps are not performed. Checklists alone,
however, are insufficient to protect against the full range of
problems that can arise due to deficiencies in prospective memory
(remembering to perform an action in the future). For example, in
many real-world situations, individuals and teams must perform
multiple procedures, each of which may be governed by a distinct
corresponding checklist. Although such checklists may prove
adequate in cases in which each checklist procedure is performed in
sequence and without interruption, in many real-world scenarios a
first procedure governed by a first checklist is interrupted,
sometimes causing (and possibly requiring) the person or people
performing the procedure to switch to performing a second procedure
governed by a second checklist. In such a situation, the individual
team members must remember to return to performing the first
procedure. The checklists themselves are insufficient to provide
the team members with a reminder to do so. Checklists, in other
words, fail to address problems that can arise from the
interactions among multiple checklists, especially those that arise
from interruptions. Embodiments of the present invention address
such problems by tracking the progress of each procedure as it is
performed (e.g., by tracking which checkboxes are checked off in a
checklist procedure), by providing reminders to return to
interrupted procedures, and by assisting users in returning to the
point of interruption when returning to an interrupted
procedure.
[0106] One advantage of embodiments of the present invention is
that they may be used to decrease the likelihood that a user who is
interrupted while performing a particular activity, or who chooses
to stop performing the particular activity midway to perform
another activity, will forget to return to and complete the first
(postponed) activity. In particular, embodiments of the present
invention decrease this likelihood by enabling the user to obtain
information about the user's postponed activities, and even to
affirmatively and automatically remind the user of such postponed
activities whether or not the user seeks out such information.
Embodiments of the present invention are useful because all
opportunities for a user to switch from one activity to another
present a risk that the user will fail to return to an activity.
For example, if the user is performing a current activity A and is
presented with an opportunity to engage instead in current activity
B, the user may either decline or accept the opportunity. In either
case, however, the user's attention is diverted from performing
current activity A to the activity of deciding whether to switch to
engaging in activity B. In such a case, there are three risks: (1)
that the user will continue to engage in activity A but will forget
to engage later in activity B; (2) that the user will switch to
engaging in activity B but will forget to return to engaging later
in activity A; and (3) the user, distracted by the decision to
engage in activity A or activity B, will fail to: (a) return from
the decision to engaging in activity A; and/or (b) remember to
engage later in activity B.
[0107] Embodiments of the present invention may be used to decrease
the likelihood of all three such types of failure of prospective
memory. Such embodiments are particularly useful when either or
both of activity A and activity B are critical to perform,
especially when either or both of activity A and B are critical to
perform in a timely manner and/or when the harm potentially caused
by failing to perform either or both of activity A and activity B
is particularly great. Examples of environments in which
embodiments of the present invention may be particularly useful are
aviation, healthcare, and manufacturing.
[0108] Embodiments of the present invention may be used to protect
against the risk of type (3) listed above in a variety of ways,
such as the following. The activity management module 206 may, for
example, treat the process of obtaining the user's activity
selection input (e.g., inputs 214 and/or 220 in FIG. 2) itself as
an activity, as that term is used herein. In particular, whenever
the activity management module 206 prompts the user U to receive
activity selection input or otherwise receives such input from the
user U, the activity management module 206 may create and store, in
the activity repository, an activity data record representing the
activity of deciding whether to engage in an activity B (e.g., to
switch to engaging in activity B from a current activity A). Such
an activity is referred to herein as an "activity engagement"
activity. The activity management module 206 may, for example,
create such an activity data record: [0109] after and in response
to receiving the interruption input 308 (e.g., after operation 308
in the method 300 of FIG. 3); [0110] before manifesting the
notification 218 of activity B to user U (e.g., before operation
606 in the method 600 of FIG. 6).
[0111] Upon creating such an activity data record, the activity
management module 206 may set the value of the state field 402f to
"active" and change the value of the state field 402f of any of
user U's current activities to "interrupted" to indicate that such
current activities have been interrupted, even temporarily, by the
activity of deciding whether to continue engaging in those current
activities or to switch to activity B.
[0112] The activity management module 206 may store, in the type
field 402b of an activity engagement activity data record, a value
such as "activity engagement" that indicates that the activity data
record represents an activity of deciding whether to engage in a
new activity. The activity management module 206 may store, in the
state field 402f of an activity engagement activity data record,
data representing the current activity or activities (if any) of
user U and the activity B.
[0113] Once the user U has decided whether to switch to activity B
(and, therefore, if applicable, whether to continue engaging in
user A's current activities) the activity management module may
perform a variety of actions. For example, if the user U chooses to
continue engaging in the current activity or activities, then the
activity management module 206 may (in addition to any other
actions disclosed herein): (1) store a value of "completed" in the
state field 402f of the activity engagement activity data record;
and (2) store a value of "active" in the state field 402f of the
activity data records of the user U's current activities.
[0114] As another example, if the user U chooses to engage in
activity B, then the activity management module 206 may (in
addition to any other actions disclosed herein) store a value of
"completed" in the state field 402f of the activity engagement
activity data record.
[0115] Any description herein that relates to activities and their
corresponding activity data records in the activity repository 202
relates equally to activity engagement activities and their
corresponding activity data records in the activity repository 202.
For example, activity engagement activities may be interrupted
and/or deferred, the activity management module 206 may prompt
users to return to engagement in activity engagement activities,
and users may choose to return to engagement in activity engagement
activities after such activities have been postponed.
[0116] As described above, embodiments of the present invention may
automatically remind a user to engage in a postponed activity.
Providing such reminders to the user, however, poses a risk that
such reminders will exacerbate the very problem that they are
intended to solve, namely that of limiting the ability of
interruptions to cause the user to fail to remember to engage in a
task, because the reminders themselves are interruptions that may
cause the user to forget to engage in the task that the user was
performing when the reminder was generated, the task that is the
subject of the reminder, or both. Embodiments of the present
invention address this problem in a variety of ways. For example,
as described above, embodiments of the present invention may treat
reminders as activities, and thereby track and remind the user of
the activity that was interrupted by the reminder if the user
subsequently fails to engage in the interrupted activity after
attending to the reminder. As another example, embodiments of the
present invention may limit the conditions under which reminders
are provided to the user, in ways that are designed to balance the
impact of such reminders on the ability of the user to complete
other activities against the harm that could result from the user's
failure to attend to postponed activities. For example, embodiments
of the present invention may generate certain reminders upon the
user's completion of another activity, thereby eliminating the
possibility that such reminders will interrupt that activity. As
another example, embodiments of the present invention may generate
certain reminders upon the detection of a certain event (e.g., a
critical event such as the takeoff of an airplane or the
commencement of a surgical procedure), based on the premise that
the benefits of interrupting the user with a reminder at such a
critical time outweighs the potential harm that could result from
interrupting the user at that time. In both such examples,
embodiments of the present invention limit the extent to which
reminders are provided to the user when the benefits outweigh the
harms of doing so.
[0117] As described herein, in some circumstances the activity
management module 206 may determine automatically that a user U has
switched from performing a current activity A to performing some
other activity B. In some circumstances, however, the activity
management module 206 may not make such a determination. For
example, if the current activity A is processing of an electronic
checklist using a laptop computer, and the user leaves the laptop
computer to engage in another activity that does not involve use of
the laptop computer, the activity management module 206 may not be
capable of determining that user U is now engaged in activity B.
Embodiments of the present invention may, however, still provide
various benefits in such situations.
[0118] For example, if the activity data record of a particular
activity A indicates that user U currently is engaged in activity
A, and the context data 102 of user U satisfies some predetermined
condition, the activity management module 206 may determine that
the context data 102 satisfies the predetermined condition and, in
response, the activity management module 206 may take any of a
variety of actions. An example of such a condition is at least some
predetermined minimum amount of time (e.g., 10 seconds, 30 seconds,
1 minute, 5 minutes, 10 minutes, or 1 hour) lapsing without user U
providing any input in connection with activity A (e.g., checking
any checkbox in a checklist), or without any change in the state of
activity A (e.g., any change in the state of any checkbox in a
checklist). Examples of actions that the activity management module
206 may take in response to determining that such a predetermined
condition is satisfied are: (1) prompting the user U to provide
input verifying that the user U is still engaged in activity A, and
marking activity A as interrupted if the user fails to provide such
input; and (2) automatically marking activity A as interrupted. As
these examples illustrate, the activity management module 206 may
use any of a variety of techniques to determine, based on the
context data 102, that the user U is no longer engaged in a current
activity A of user U and, in response to the determination, the
activity management module 206 may mark activity A as interrupted
or otherwise postponed, whether or not the activity management
module 206 marks another activity of user U as active. One possible
outcome in such a scenario, therefore, is for the activity
management module 206 to mark the activity A as postponed and for
user U to have no current activity as a result.
[0119] Another benefit of embodiments of the present invention is
that they may be used to assist the user in focusing on engaging in
one activity at a time. For example, in response to determining
that a particular user U is associated with a particular active
activity A (i.e., that activity A is a current activity of user U),
the activity management module 206 may manifest to the user U a
notification of activity A, such as any one or more of the type
402b, name 402c, and description 402d of activity A (such as a
message stating that "Currently you are completing the pre-flight
takeoff checklist for flight #4720M"). Furthermore, by keeping
track automatically of user U's postponed tasks, embodiments of the
present invention may provide user U with confidence that he or she
will be able to return to such tasks later, and thereby decrease
the likelihood that user U will feel the need to perform such tasks
immediately in an effort to avoid forgetting to engage in them
later.
[0120] Another advantage of embodiments of the present invention is
that they may be used in connection with activities that are not
limited to activities solely involving a single user or the use of
a single computing device, software application, or communication
mode. For example, embodiments of the present invention may be used
in connection with activities having one or more of the following
features: [0121] activities that involve the use, by one or more
users, of a single computing device; [0122] activities that involve
the use, by one or more users, of multiple computing devices;
[0123] activities that involve the use, by one or more users, of a
single software application; [0124] activities that involve the
use, by one or more users, of multiple software applications;
[0125] activities that involve the use, by one or more users, of a
single communication mode; [0126] activities that involve the use,
by one or more users, of multiple communication modes; and [0127]
activities that involve actions performed, by one or more users,
without the use of any computing device.
[0128] Any particular activity represented by one of the activity
data records 202a-n may have any individual feature or combination
of features listed above. Different ones of the activity data
records 202a-n may represent activities having different features
or combinations of features listed above. For example, one such
activity may solely involve the use of a first computing device,
while another such activity may solely involve the use of a second
computing device that differs from the first computing device. As
another example, one such activity may solely involve the use of a
first software application, while another such activity may solely
involve the use of a second software application that differs from
the first software application. As another example, one such
activity may solely involve the use of a first communication mode,
while another such activity may solely involve the use of a second
communication mode that differs from the first communication
mode.
[0129] It is to be understood that although the invention has been
described above in terms of particular embodiments, the foregoing
embodiments are provided as illustrative only, and do not limit or
define the scope of the invention. Various other embodiments,
including but not limited to the following, are also within the
scope of the claims. For example, elements and components described
herein may be further divided into additional components or joined
together to form fewer components for performing the same
functions.
[0130] Any of the functions disclosed herein may be implemented
using means for performing those functions. Such means include, but
are not limited to, any of the components disclosed herein, such as
the computer-related components described below.
[0131] The techniques described above may be implemented, for
example, in hardware, one or more computer programs tangibly stored
on one or more non-transitory computer-readable media, firmware, or
any combination thereof. The techniques described above may be
implemented in one or more computer programs executing on a
programmable computer including a processor, a storage medium
readable by the processor (including, for example, volatile and
non-volatile memory and/or storage elements), at least one input
device, and at least one output device. Program code may be applied
to input entered using the input device to perform the functions
described and to generate output. The output may be provided to one
or more output devices.
[0132] Terms such as "computer," "computing device," and
"communication device," as used herein refer, for example, to
desktop computers, laptop computers, cellular telephones and
smartphones, personal digital assistants (PDAs), and tablet
computers.
[0133] Each computer program within the scope of the claims below
may be implemented in any programming language, such as assembly
language, machine language, a high-level procedural programming
language, or an object-oriented programming language. The
programming language may, for example, be a compiled or interpreted
programming language.
[0134] Each such computer program may be implemented in a computer
program product tangibly embodied in a machine-readable storage
device for execution by a computer processor. Method steps of the
invention may be performed by a computer processor executing a
program tangibly embodied on a computer-readable medium to perform
functions of the invention by operating on input and generating
output. Suitable processors include, by way of example, both
general and special purpose microprocessors. Generally, the
processor receives instructions and data from a read-only memory
and/or a random access memory. Storage devices suitable for
tangibly embodying computer program instructions include, for
example, all forms of non-volatile memory, such as semiconductor
memory devices, including EPROM, EEPROM, and flash memory devices;
magnetic disks such as internal hard disks and removable disks;
magneto-optical disks; and CD-ROMs. Any of the foregoing may be
supplemented by, or incorporated in, specially-designed ASICs
(application-specific integrated circuits) or FPGAs
(Field-Programmable Gate Arrays). A computer can generally also
receive programs and data from a storage medium such as an internal
disk (not shown) or a removable disk. These elements will also be
found in a conventional desktop or workstation computer as well as
other computers suitable for executing computer programs
implementing the methods described herein, which may be used in
conjunction with any digital print engine or marking engine,
display monitor, or other raster output device capable of producing
color or gray scale pixels on paper, film, display screen, or other
output medium.
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