Context-Aware Notification Rendering for Assistant Systems

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Solution Overview

Problem

Existing systems face challenges in determining the appropriate delivery and rendering of media content and notifications to users, particularly in balancing relevance and priority while minimizing distraction, as they often overwhelm users with irrelevant information.

Innovation Solution

The assistant system employs a hybrid architecture that uses client-side and server-side processes to analyze user input and context, applying filters based on user distraction levels and attitudes to determine the most suitable modality and intensity for content delivery, ensuring notifications are contextually sensitive and non-intrusive.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Loss of information

If the assistant system delivers all media content and notifications to users, then users receive complete information, but users become overwhelmed and distracted

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveinformation completenessVSAvoiduser distraction

Core Design Contradiction:

Loss of informationVSObject-affected harmful factors

Solution Approach 1:

The system dynamically changes the delivery parameters of notifications based on user context. It monitors user activities, device usage patterns, and environmental factors to adjust notification timing, modality, and priority levels. This resolves the contradiction by delivering complete information when appropriate while filtering out distracting notifications during focused activities.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #35Parameter changes

Solution Approach 2:

The assistant system acts as an intermediary between media content sources and the user. It filters, prioritizes, and schedules notifications before delivery, using context-aware algorithms to determine optimal delivery moments. This intermediary layer prevents information overload while maintaining completeness, resolving the contradiction between delivering all information and avoiding user distraction.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

2Object-affected harmful factors

If the assistant system filters notifications to reduce distraction, then user engagement with the real world is maintained, but relevant information may be missed

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveuser distractionVSAvoidinformation relevance

Core Design Contradiction:

Object-affected harmful factorsVSLoss of information

Solution Approach 1:

The system implements feedback loops where user responses to notifications and manual adjustments to notification settings are continuously monitored. This feedback refines the filtering algorithms, improving accuracy over time in distinguishing relevant from irrelevant information. The system learns from user behavior patterns to reduce false positives in filtering, ensuring relevant information is not missed while maintaining distraction reduction.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #23Feedback

Solution Approach 2:

The notification filtering system is dynamic and adaptive rather than static. It continuously adjusts filtering criteria based on changing user contexts, time of day, device usage patterns, and inferred user preferences. This dynamic approach ensures that the balance between reducing distraction and preserving relevant information is optimized in real-time, resolving the contradiction adaptively.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #15Dynamics

3Loss of time

If the assistant system delivers notifications immediately, then information is delivered timely, but user productivity is reduced due to interruptions

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveinformation delivery timeVSAvoiduser productivity

Core Design Contradiction:

Loss of timeVSProductivity

Solution Approach 1:

The system performs preliminary actions by pre-processing and prioritizing notifications before they reach the user. It categorizes notifications by urgency and relevance, preparing them for optimal delivery timing. This preliminary organization allows the system to batch non-urgent notifications and deliver them during appropriate intervals, reducing interruptions while maintaining timely delivery of critical information.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

Solution Approach 2:

The notification system implements periodic delivery patterns rather than continuous immediate delivery. It schedules notifications at optimal intervals based on user productivity patterns, task types, and context. This periodic approach reduces fragmentation of user attention while ensuring information is delivered within appropriate time windows, resolving the contradiction between timeliness and productivity.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #19Periodic action

Data Source

PatentUS11563706B2Generating context-aware rendering of media contents for assistant systems

Publication Date: 2023.01.24 META PLATFORMS INC

AI summary

In one embodiment, a method includes receiving a media content for delivery to a first user, wherein the media content is associated with a priority level, accessing context information associated with the first user, wherein the context information is determined based on one or more multimodal signals from a client device associated with the first user, determining a delivery level for the media content based on the priority level of the media content and the context information, and instructing the client device to present a notification associated with the media content to the first user, wherein the notification is rendered in one or more modalities determined based on the delivery level for the media content.