Unified Communication Controller for Multi-Modal Interface Integration
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional communication systems require users to switch between separate user interfaces for different modalities like email and chat, leading to awkward interactions and limitations in communicating across multiple modalities, with no seamless integration or flexibility in choosing preferred interfaces.
Innovation Solution
A communication controller that enables seamless communication between user interfaces operating under different modalities by converting communications from one modality to another, allowing users to communicate through their preferred interface without knowledge of the other user's modality, and providing flexibility in configuring modal conversions based on predefined conditions.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If separate user interfaces are provided for each communication modality (email, chat, SMS), then each interface can be optimized for its specific modality, but the user must alternate between multiple windows and interfaces, reducing ease of operation
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines multiple separate communication interfaces (email, chat, SMS) into a single unified user interface. The communication controller receives communications from different modalities and presents them through one integrated interface, eliminating the need for users to switch between multiple windows while preserving modality-specific communication capabilities.
Solution Approach 2:
The unified user interface is designed to handle multiple communication modalities simultaneously. The communication controller enables a single interface to perform the functions of multiple dedicated interfaces by converting and presenting communications from different modalities (email, chat, SMS, voicemail) in a consistent manner.
2Ease of operation
If dedicated interfaces are used for each modality, then communication within each modality is straightforward, but communications across different modalities are mutually exclusive and require user management, increasing device complexity
Solution Approach 1:
The communication controller acts as an intermediary between multiple communication modalities and the user interface. It receives communications from different modalities, converts them to a unified format, and presents them through the single user interface, thereby managing cross-modality communications automatically without requiring user intervention.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent extracts the complexity of multi-modality coordination from the user interface by introducing a separate communication controller. The controller handles the conversion and routing of communications between different modalities, allowing the user interface to remain simple while supporting multiple modalities.
3Adaptability or versatility
If users are responsible for maintaining communications across multiple modalities, then each user can control their preferred interface, but users must maintain knowledge of other users' modalities, reducing ease of operation
Solution Approach 1:
The communication controller automatically manages the conversion and routing of communications between different modalities without requiring user intervention. Each user can communicate through their preferred modality, and the controller handles the complexity of translating communications to the recipient's preferred modality, eliminating the need for users to track or manage others' interface preferences.
Data Source
AI summary
Technologies are described herein for providing multi-modal communication through modal-specific interfaces. In one method, a communication in a first modality is received from a first interface across a computer network. The communication is converted into a second modality. Upon converting the communication into the second modality, the communication is provided to a second interface across the computer network.