Virtual Meeting Alert System for Minimized GUI Awareness

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Solution Overview

Problem

Users may inadvertently participate in virtual meetings without realizing it, leading to unintended audio or video transmission, due to minimized graphical user interfaces and muted audio outputs, causing inefficiencies and potential privacy issues.

Innovation Solution

A computing device determines the initiation of a virtual meeting and changes the state of the graphical user interface and audio output to alert the user, such as by unmuting the audio or restoring the interface, to ensure user awareness and prevent unintended transmissions.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Productivity

If the graphical user interface is minimized to allow users to perform other tasks, then productivity is improved, but user awareness of the virtual meeting deteriorates

Engineering Contradiction:

ImproveproductivityVSAvoiduser awareness

Core Design Contradiction:

ProductivityVSLoss of information

Solution Approach 1:

The system provides continuous feedback to the user about the virtual meeting state through audio output. When the graphical interface is minimized, the audio feedback (such as hearing other participants' voices) informs the user that a meeting is ongoing, maintaining awareness without requiring visual attention.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #23Feedback

2Object-affected harmful factors

If audio output is muted to prevent unintended transmissions, then privacy is improved, but user awareness of the virtual meeting deteriorates

Engineering Contradiction:

ImproveprivacyVSAvoiduser awareness

Core Design Contradiction:

Object-affected harmful factorsVSLoss of information

Solution Approach 1:

The system uses audio output as a feedback mechanism to inform users about meeting status. Even when microphones are muted to prevent unintended transmissions, speakers remain active to provide auditory feedback about the meeting, allowing users to know when to unmute themselves.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #23Feedback

Solution Approach 2:

The system dynamically adjusts different audio channels independently - keeping speaker output active for feedback while muting microphone input for privacy. This dynamic differentiation allows simultaneous achievement of privacy protection and user awareness.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #15Dynamics

3Loss of information

If the graphical user interface remains visible to maintain user awareness, then user awareness is improved, but ease of operation deteriorates

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveuser awarenessVSAvoidease of operation

Core Design Contradiction:

Loss of informationVSEase of operation

Solution Approach 1:

The system replaces the mechanical/visual requirement (keeping the graphical interface visible) with an acoustic mechanism (audio output). This substitution allows users to maintain awareness of the meeting through sound without the operational constraint of having the visual interface constantly displayed.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #28Mechanics substitution (Replace mechanical system)

Data Source

PatentUS11630557B2Alerts for virtual meetings

Publication Date: 2023.04.18 HEWLETT PACKARD DEVELOPMENT COMPANY LP

AI summary

Example implementations relate to alerts for virtual meetings. In some examples, a computing device can include a processor, where the processor is to in response to a virtual meeting having been initiated, determine whether a graphical user interface of the virtual meeting is minimized in a desktop environment and whether communication has occurred in the virtual meeting, and in response to communication having occurred and the graphical user interface being minimized, cause an alert to be displayed on a display panel.