Method and Apparatus for Context-Aware Delivery of Informational Content on Ambient Displays

Abstract

A method and apparatus is disclosed whereby the context of user activity can be used to tailor the ambient information system. The method and apparatus use both short-term context such as recent activity and long-term context such as historical patterns to highlight specific content on channels or widgets that are likely to be of most immediate interest to the user. This contextual information provided by the framework can also be used to make intelligent decisions about how to tailor the user experience after a user has interacted with the item in question. Additionally, context information accumulated on one device such as a mobile phone can be broadcasted to other devices to influence the ambient information display application on a second device such as a desktop based on enabling remote access to the local context repository.

We claim: 
     
         1 . A method of creating context-aware ambient display systems comprising:
 selecting at least one of a multiplicity of ambient display systems given a current user context; and   highlighting at least one of a multiplicity of content items for display on the selected ambient display systems, given the current user context and a device capability.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , the method further comprising:
 enabling at least one of a multiplicity of user actionable tasks that can be supported on each of the highlighted content items given the current user context and device capability   
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the user context information is at least one of recent activity by the user on at least one device, historical patterns of the user, and user defined preferences. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein ambient display system is on a device in the user's proximity that can be at least one or more mobile device, a set top box, a desktop PC and a digital picture frame. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the ambient display system can support at least one of serial consumption model, and parallel consumption model. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 5 , wherein the parallel consumption model involves the concurrent display of multiple widgets on a device;
 wherein the serial consumption model involves a “carousel” display with multiple channels or content items, with only some subset of channels or content items visible at a given time;   wherein the highlighting of specific content in a parallel consumption model is to automate the hide reveal transition for specific widgets that are most relevant to the user context;   wherein the highlighting of specific content in a serial consumption model is to position the current carousel “pointer” to content channel or item that is most relevant to the user context.   
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , the method further comprising:
 creating custom menus of user-actionable tasks for a given content item based on the contextual information and content type   
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the ambient display system dynamically generates or fetches the highlighted specific content according to a required further user input and contextual information 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , the method further comprising:
 launching an application based on the user input and the contextual information.   
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 9 , the method further comprising:
 broadcasting the contextual information to other devices so to influence the ambient information systems on the other devices.   
     
     
         11 . An electronic device comprising:
 an ambient display;   a processor coupled to the ambient display;   a storage device coupled to the processor;   software means operative on the processor for:   selecting at least one of a multiplicity of ambient display systems given a current user context; and   highlighting at least one of a multiplicity of content items for display on the selected ambient display systems, given the current user context and a device capability.   
     
     
         12 . The electronic device of  claim 11 , the electronic device further comprising:
 software means operative on the processor for enabling at least one of a multiplicity of user actionable tasks that can be supported on each of the highlighted content items given the current user context and device capability   
     
     
         13 . The electronic device of  claim 12 , wherein the user context information is at least one of recent activity by the user on at least one device, historical patterns of the user, and user defined preferences;
 wherein ambient display system is on a device in the user's proximity that can be at least one or more mobile device, a set top box, a desktop PC and a digital picture frame;   wherein the ambient display system can support at least one of serial consumption model, and parallel consumption model;   wherein the parallel consumption model involves the concurrent display of multiple widgets on a device;   wherein the serial consumption model involves a “carousel” display with multiple channels or content items, with only some subset of channels or content items visible at a given time;   wherein the highlighting of specific content in a parallel consumption model is to automate the hide reveal transition for specific widgets that are most relevant to the user context.   
     
     
         14 . The electronic device of  claim 13 , wherein the highlighting of specific content in a serial consumption model is to position the current carousel “pointer” to content channel or item that is most relevant to the user context. 
     
     
         15 . The electronic device of  claim 11 , the electronic device further comprising:
 software means operative on the processor for creating custom menus of user-actionable tasks for a given content item based on the contextual information and content type;   wherein the ambient display system dynamically generates or fetches the highlighted specific content according to a required further user input and contextual information.   
     
     
         16 . The electronic device of  claim 11 , the electronic device further comprising:
 launching an application based on the user input and the contextual information.   
     
     
         17 . The electronic device of  claim 16 , the electronic device further comprising:
 broadcasting the contextual information to other devices so to influence the ambient information systems on the other devices.   
     
     
         18 . A computer-accessible medium having executable instructions to create context-aware ambient display systems, the executable instructions capable of directing a processor to perform:
 selecting at least one of a multiplicity of ambient display systems given a current user context; and   highlighting at least one of a multiplicity of content items for display on the selected ambient display systems, given the current user context and a device capability.   
     
     
         19 . The computer-accessible medium of  claim 18 , wherein the executable instructions capable of directing the processor to create context-aware ambient display systems further comprise executable instructions capable of directing the processor to perform:
 enabling at least one of a multiplicity of user actionable tasks that can be supported on each of the highlighted content items given the current user context and device capability;   creating custom menus of user-actionable tasks for a given content item based on the contextual information and content type; and   broadcasting the contextual information to other devices so to influence the ambient information systems on the other devices.   
     
     
         20 . The computer-accessible medium of  claim 18 , wherein the user context information is at least one of recent activity by the user on at least one device, historical patterns of the user and user defined preferences;
 wherein ambient display system is on a device in the user's proximity that can be at least one or more mobile device, a set top box, a desktop PC and a digital picture frame;   wherein the ambient display system can support at least one of serial consumption model, and parallel consumption model;   wherein the parallel consumption model involves the concurrent display of multiple widgets on a device;   wherein the serial consumption model involves a “carousel” display with multiple channels or content items, with only some subset of channels or content items visible at a given time;   wherein the highlighting of specific content in a parallel consumption model is to automate, the hide reveal transition for specific widgets that are most relevant to the user context;   wherein the highlighting of specific content in a serial consumption model is to position the current carousel “pointer” to content channel or item that is most relevant to the user context;   wherein the ambient display system dynamically generates or fetches the highlighted specific content according to a required further user input and contextual information.