Conference Immersion Control via Proactive Monitoring

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Solution Overview

Problem

Users often miss important activities in conference sessions they cannot attend due to scheduling conflicts or lack of interest in the entire session, leading to missed notifications about relevant discussions or events.

Innovation Solution

A system that monitors conference sessions on behalf of users, providing notifications about activities of interest and allowing users to control their immersion level, including joining, observing, or sharing content without actively participating.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Loss of time

If a user does not attend a conference session, then the user can avoid scheduling conflicts and maintain current commitments, but the user misses important activities and information in the session

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvetime spent attending conference sessionsVSAvoidimportant activities and information missed

Core Design Contradiction:

Loss of timeVSLoss of information

Solution Approach 1:

The system performs preliminary actions by proactively monitoring conference sessions and sending notifications to users about upcoming or ongoing activities of interest before the user would otherwise know about them. This allows users to stay informed without having to actively attend every session.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

Solution Approach 2:

The conference monitoring system acts as an intermediary between the conference session and the user. It receives conference data, identifies relevant activities, and transmits notifications to the user, thereby bridging the gap between the user's absence and their need for information.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

2Ease of operation

If a user relies on colleagues to inform them of conference activities, then the user can remain absent from the session, but the added burden on colleagues often results in the user still missing notable activity

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveease of staying informed about conference activitiesVSAvoidreliability of being informed about conference activities

Core Design Contradiction:

Ease of operationVSReliability

Solution Approach 1:

The system enables self-service by automatically monitoring conference sessions and sending notifications to users without requiring any action from colleagues or other participants. Users simply configure their interests and receive proactive notifications.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #25Self-service

Solution Approach 2:

The system implements feedback by continuously monitoring conference session data and comparing it against user-defined interests, then providing feedback in the form of notifications when matching activities are detected. This closed-loop approach ensures reliable information delivery.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #23Feedback

3Adaptability or versatility

If a user wants to control their immersion level in a conference session, then the user can selectively join or observe specific activities, but the system complexity increases to manage multiple immersion modes

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveability to control immersion levelVSAvoidsystem complexity for managing immersion modes

Core Design Contradiction:

Adaptability or versatilityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The system applies dynamics by allowing users to adjust their immersion level dynamically based on their current needs and context. Users can switch between different immersion modes (e.g., fully attending, partially observing, or completely absent with notifications) as situations change.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #15Dynamics

Solution Approach 2:

The immersion level control is segmented into distinct modes or levels, allowing users to select specific degrees of participation. This segmentation simplifies the user interface by presenting discrete options rather than continuous adjustments.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #1Segmentation

Data Source

PatentUS10511643B2Managing user immersion levels and notifications of conference activities

Publication Date: 2019.12.17 MICROSOFT TECHNOLOGY LICENSING LLC

AI summary

Disclosed techniques provide for the management of immersion levels and notifications of conference activities that are of interest to a user. In some embodiments, a system can monitor a conference session, that a user is not attending, on the user's behalf to determine when activity that is of interest to the user occurs during the conference session. The system can then send a notification to the user to inform her of the identified activity. In some embodiments, the notification may enable the user to control her immersion level with respect to the conference session. For example, the notification may include user interface element(s) that the user may select to observe or even join the conference session. In some embodiments, the notification may enable the user to directly share content with attendees of the conference session without having to observe or join the conference session.