US 6,021,403 AGranted

Intelligent user assistance facility

AssigneeMicrosoft Corporation

InventorsEric Horvitz, John S. Breese, David E. Heckerman, Samuel D. Hobson, David O. Hovel, Adrian C. Klein, Jacobus A. Rommelse, Gregory L. Shaw

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Abstract

An event composing and monitoring system that allows high-level events to be created from combinations of low-level events. An event specification tool, contained in the system, allows for rapidly developing a general event processor that creates high-level events from combinations of user actions. An event system, in combination with an inference system, monitors and infers, for various purposes, about several classes of events including: current program context; state of key data structures; user input sequences, including actions with a mouse-controlled cursor while interacting with a graphical user interface; words typed in free-text help queries; visual user information, such as gaze and gesture information; and user speech information. Additionally, an intelligent user interface is provided by constructing a reasoning model that computes probability of alternative user intentions, goals or information needs through analyzing information regarding program state, and that user's actions and free-text query words. Specifically, the interface monitors user interaction with a program and probabilistically reasons to sense that a user may need assistance in using a particular feature or to accomplish a specific task. This interface accepts a free-text help query from the user and combines the inference analysis of user actions and the program state with an inference analysis of the query. The inference system, using an updateable user profile, continually checks for user competencies and, based on such competencies, changes assistance that is offered.

Claims119

Dependent claims

In a computer having a processor, and a memory, connected to the processor, having computer-executable instructions stored therein, a method for providing a user help facility for use in conjunction with a program then executing in the computer, the computer also having an output device for providing a user interface through which a user can interact with the program, the method comprising the steps of:

during execution of the program, performing a probabilistic assessment of a current user interaction with the interface so as to yield a numeric probability distribution across a plurality of different available help topics such that a separate probability measure is generated for each of said help topics, the interaction evincing an intention by the user to accomplish a specific task through the program, hence defining a plurality of separate probability measures wherein each measure represents a probability of whether the user, given the interaction, then needs information about a specific corresponding one of the topics for accomplishing the task, wherein the interaction has both textual and non-textual components, the textual component constituting at least one word which the user has entered through the interface, as a free-text query, and the non-textual component constituting either an affirmative user action with the interface or an absence of said affirmative action during a predefined interval of time that has occurred since an immediately prior user interaction with the interface, wherein the affirmative action comprises a manipulation of a portion of the interface by the user or a verbal, visual or gestural response by the user to the interface;
selecting, based on the plurality of probability measures in the distribution, a particular one of the help topics as being most relevant to the user interaction;
and
providing a predefined help message, associated with the one help topic, to the user through the output device.

1 more element

In a computer, apparatus for providing a user help facility for use in conjunction with a program then executing in the computer, the computer having an output device for providing a user interface through which a user can interact with the program, the apparatus comprising:

a processor;
and
a memory, connected to the processor, having computer-executable instructions stored therein;
and
wherein the processor, in response to the stored instructions:
during execution of the program, performs a probabilistic assessment of a current user interaction with the interface so as to yield a numeric probability distribution across a plurality of different available help topics such that a separate probability measure is generated for each of said help topics, the interaction evincing an intention by the user to accomplish a specific task through the program, hence defining a plurality of separate probability measures wherein each measure represents a probability of whether the user, given the interaction, then needs information about a specific corresponding one of the topics for accomplishing the task, wherein the interaction has both textual and non-textual components, the textual component constituting at least one word which the user has entered through the interface, as a free-text query, and the non-textual component constituting either an affirmative user action with the interface or an absence of said affirmative action during a predefined interval of time that has occurred since an immediately prior user interaction with the interface, wherein the affirmative action comprises a manipulation of a portion of the interface by the user or a verbal, visual or gestural response by the user to the interface;
selects, based on the plurality of probability measures in the distribution, a particular one of the help topics as being most relevant to the user interaction;
and
provides a predefined help message, associated with the one help topic, to the user through the output device.

6 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.