Image Processing User Assistance for Heterogeneous Software
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Solution Overview
Problem
The heterogeneity of software landscapes, comprising various components with different user interfaces, makes system installation, maintenance, and upgrades time-consuming and expensive due to the need for specific knowledge and divergent front-ends across multiple systems and landscapes.
Innovation Solution
Software User Assistance (UA) is provided through captured User Interface (UI) screen images processed using rasterization, Optical Character Recognition (OCR), and Machine Learning (ML) models, enabling identification of software applications and their states, and generating relevant guidance for users, thereby offering a homogeneous UA experience across heterogeneous systems.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If heterogeneous software components with different user interfaces are used, then system functionality and versatility are improved, but user assistance complexity and operation difficulty increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a universal image processing pipeline that handles multiple heterogeneous software interfaces through a single unified system. The system captures screenshots from different software components, processes them through common image processing steps (rasterization, OCR, element detection), and provides consistent user assistance across diverse platforms, thereby achieving multi-functionality without increasing operational complexity
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an intermediary image processing layer between the heterogeneous software interfaces and the user assistance system. This intermediary layer standardizes different interface formats into a common representation through image processing, allowing the assistance system to operate uniformly across diverse software components without directly interfacing with each heterogeneous system
2Adaptability or versatility
If multiple different software tools and interfaces are integrated, then system capability is improved, but installation and maintenance time increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges multiple heterogeneous software tools and interfaces into a unified system that is managed through a single user assistance platform. By combining diverse components under one standardized interface and using image processing to handle them uniformly, the system reduces the time required for installation and maintenance compared to managing each tool separately
3Reliability
If comprehensive user assistance is provided across all software components, then user support quality is improved, but processing complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces complex manual analysis and processing of diverse software interfaces with automated image processing mechanisms. By using computational methods (rasterization, OCR, coordinate system establishment, element detection) to automatically analyze screenshots, the system provides comprehensive user assistance across all components while reducing the perceived processing complexity for users
Data Source
AI summary
Software User Assistance (UA) is afforded from captured User Interface (UI) screen images, with reference to persisted Machine Learning (ML) models. The captured screen images are processed—e.g., using rasterization, Optical Character Recognition (OCR), and/or establishment of a coordinate system—with individual UI elements being determined therefrom. Referencing the persisted ML models, the software application/application state for the captured image is identified. UA data relevant to that application/application state is generated from the model, and then provided to the user (e.g., in a text box overlying the UI screen). Through the capture and processing of UI screen images, embodiments afford a homogenous UA experience for installation, maintenance, and/or upgrade of heterogeneous members of a larger overall landscape, over software lifecycles. Embodiments may be deployed locally on a frontend computer, in order to avoid exporting UI images due to privacy and/or security concerns.