User Input Classification for Multi-User Control Conflicts
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional natural user interface systems fail to distinguish between controlling inputs from different users, leading to conflicts and repetitive commands, and lack feedback to users regarding recognized commands and control authorization.
Innovation Solution
An information handling device with an input component and processor that identifies and classifies user inputs based on control factors such as user priority, content category, and authentication, allowing for intelligent filtering of inputs and providing feedback to users, enabling permissible actions and passing control between users.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If natural user interface systems accept multiple input modalities (voice, gesture, touch) to enable diverse controlling inputs, then user interaction versatility is improved, but the system cannot distinguish between controlling inputs from different users, leading to conflicts and repetitive commands
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments control inputs by associating each input with a specific user identifier. The system divides the control input stream into user-specific segments, allowing it to process and evaluate inputs from different users separately. This enables the system to maintain versatile input modalities while reliably distinguishing between inputs from different users, thereby resolving the contradiction between input versatility and control accuracy.
2Speed
If the system accepts all user inputs without filtering to maintain responsiveness, then system responsiveness is improved, but conflicting and repetitive commands from multiple users cause control chaos
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements preliminary action by evaluating control inputs against predetermined criteria before execution. The system pre-establishes rules for assessing input validity (such as user authorization, input timing, and conflict resolution policies) and applies these criteria before executing any command. This allows the system to remain responsive to all inputs while filtering out conflicting or invalid commands, thus maintaining both responsiveness and control reliability.
3Loss of information
If the system provides comprehensive feedback to all users about recognized commands to improve user awareness, then user feedback completeness is improved, but the complexity of feedback management increases in multi-user scenarios
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by providing feedback specifically tailored to each user's context and authorization level. Rather than providing uniform feedback to all users, the system adjusts feedback content, timing, and delivery based on the specific user's relationship to the command (e.g., authorized vs. unauthorized, initiating user vs. affected user). This targeted approach maintains comprehensive feedback coverage while reducing overall system complexity by avoiding unnecessary feedback to all users in all situations.
4Ease of operation
If the system allows any user to execute commands to maintain ease of operation, then operational accessibility is improved, but unauthorized or impermissible actions can be executed
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements self-service by enabling the system to automatically evaluate and enforce authorization criteria without requiring manual intervention. The system autonomously assesses each control input against stored authorization data and predetermined policies, automatically permitting or blocking command execution based on user credentials and context. This maintains ease of operation for authorized users while reliably preventing unauthorized actions, without requiring complex manual authorization workflows.
Data Source
AI summary
An aspect provides a method, including: accepting, at an input component of an information handling device, input of a user; identifying, using a processor, the input of the user as controlling input; determining, using a processor, one or more control factors associated with the controlling input; classifying, using a processor, the controlling input as one of a permissible control action and an impermissible control action for an application running on the information handling device based on the one or more control factors; and performing an action selected from the group consisting of: accepting, at the input component, confirming input; and providing feedback to one or more users. Other aspects are described and claimed.