Context-Sensitive Interruption Handling in Digital Assistants
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Digital assistants face challenges in intelligently handling user-initiated and system-initiated interruptions during ongoing tasks, as existing systems lack context-aware prioritization and timing adjustments for delivering outputs, leading to suboptimal user experience.
Innovation Solution
A digital assistant system that evaluates relative urgency between ongoing and interrupting tasks based on context parameters, such as user location, speed, and mode of operation, to dynamically prioritize and adjust delivery times of outputs, ensuring timely and relevant information delivery.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of information
If the digital assistant provides multiple responses sequentially without interruption handling, then the completeness of information delivery is improved, but the responsiveness to urgent interruptions deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The system dynamically adjusts the delivery timing of responses based on contextual factors such as user activity state, urgency level of interruptions, and importance of information. The delivery mechanism transitions from static sequential delivery to dynamic context-aware delivery, allowing the assistant to pause, delay, or prioritize responses based on real-time conditions.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the parameter of delivery time for different responses based on contextual evaluation. By assigning different urgency levels and importance weights to various responses, the system optimizes delivery timing parameters to balance information completeness with responsiveness to interruptions.
2Speed
If the digital assistant handles interruptions immediately, then the responsiveness to user needs is improved, but the continuity of ongoing tasks deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The system dynamically evaluates the state of ongoing tasks and the nature of interruptions to determine the optimal handling strategy. Rather than immediately interrupting or completely ignoring interruptions, the system adjusts its behavior based on contextual factors such as task progress, user state, and interruption urgency, maintaining a balance between continuity and responsiveness.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary evaluation of both ongoing tasks and incoming interruptions before determining handling priorities. By assessing task completion stages, user context, and interruption characteristics in advance, the system can make informed decisions about whether to maintain task continuity or prioritize interruption handling.
3Device complexity
If the digital assistant delivers all responses at default times, then the simplicity of delivery scheduling is improved, but the adaptability to contextual urgency deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The system changes delivery time parameters based on contextual evaluation of urgency and importance. By introducing contextual parameters such as user activity state, interruption priority, and information criticality, the system adapts delivery scheduling from fixed default times to dynamic context-aware timing without requiring complex manual configuration.
Solution Approach 2:
The system automatically evaluates contextual factors and adjusts delivery scheduling without external intervention. The digital assistant autonomously determines optimal delivery times by assessing its own state, the nature of responses, and contextual conditions, eliminating the need for complex external scheduling mechanisms.
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3A
AI summary
Methods and systems related to intelligent interruption handling by digital assistants are disclosed. In some embodiments, a first information provision process is initiated in response to a first speech input. The first information provision process comprises preparing a first response and a second response to the first speech input. After or concurrent with the provision of the first response to the user, but before provision of the second response to the user, an event operable to initiate a second information provision process is detected. The second information provision process is initiated in response to detecting the event. The second information provision process comprises preparing a third response to the event. A relative urgency between the second response and the third response is determined. One of the second response and the third response is provided to the user in an order based on the determined relative urgency.