Context-Aware Output Response Adjustment for Digital Assistants
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional digital assistants provide default output responses that may be inappropriate or disruptive in certain user surroundings, such as loud feedback in a bedroom or redundant notifications in a room where the action is visually apparent, lacking context-aware adjustments.
Innovation Solution
An information handling device receives an audible command, detects data about the user's surroundings using sensors, and determines if the default output response is appropriate; if not, it provides an alternative response tailored to the context, adjusting volume or type of feedback without user intervention.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If default output responses are provided for all audible commands, then user feedback is consistent and reliable, but user experience deteriorates due to obtrusive and redundant feedback in certain surroundings
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements dynamic adjustment of output response characteristics based on detected environmental context. The system transitions from static default responses to adaptive responses that change according to surrounding conditions such as ambient noise levels, location, and situation type, thereby maintaining reliability while eliminating obtrusiveness
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes parameters of the output response (volume, type, modality) based on detected environmental parameters. Sensors detect contextual data and the system adjusts response parameters accordingly - for example, reducing volume in quiet environments or switching from audible to visual feedback when appropriate, thus resolving the contradiction between consistency and obtrusiveness
2Adaptability or versatility
If context detection and analysis are added to determine appropriate output responses, then feedback appropriateness is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the context detection function into separate sensor modules that independently detect specific environmental parameters (noise level, location, light conditions). Each sensor handles a specific aspect of context, and the results are integrated to determine the appropriate response. This modular segmentation reduces overall system complexity while maintaining high adaptability
Solution Approach 2:
The system employs multi-functional sensors and processing units that serve both traditional functions and new context-aware functions. For example, the microphone array serves both audio command recognition and ambient noise level detection for context determination. This universality allows context awareness to be added without proportionally increasing device complexity
Data Source
AI summary
One embodiment provides a method in which an audible command is first received from a user. Subsequent to receipt of the audible command, one or more sensors may detect certain contextual data associated with the user's physical surroundings. An embodiment may then determine, using the data, whether a default output response associated with the audible command is appropriate with respect to the user's physical surroundings. If the default output response is determined not to be appropriate, an embodiment may thereafter provide an alternative output response that is appropriate with respect to the user's surroundings. Other aspects are described and claimed.