Patent Application
20140052792
The present disclosure generally relates to communications from electronic devices.
A user of a mobile device may receive many different types of alerts associated with events, such as phone calls, social network updates, emails, text messages, etc. Typically, the user is notified of an event by an alert (e.g., a sound and/or vibration emitted by the mobile device). These alerts may be provided based on default settings of the device and/or may be preconfigured by the user to identify the type of event. For example, a user may select one type of alert for an incoming text message and another type for incoming email.
Systems for providing emotional tone-based notifications for communications and related methods are provided. Briefly described, one embodiment, among others, is a system comprising: an electronic device having a network/communication interface operative to facilitate communication over a networked environment; the electronic device being operative to automatically associate information corresponding to an emotional tone of the communication with the communication such that a recipient of the communication is informed of the emotional tone.
Another embodiment is a computer-readable medium having stored thereon computer-executable instructions for performing method steps comprising: receiving information at an electronic device corresponding to a communication; and automatically associating information corresponding to an emotional tone of the communication with the communication such that a recipient of the communication is informed of the emotional tone.
Another embodiment is a method for providing emotional tone-based notifications for communications comprising: receiving information at an electronic device corresponding to a communication; and automatically associating, via the electronic device, information corresponding to an emotional tone of the communication with the communication such that a recipient of the communication is informed of the emotional tone.
Other systems, methods, features, and advantages of the present disclosure will be or may become apparent to one with skill in the art upon examination of the following drawings and detailed description. It is intended that all such additional systems, methods, features, and advantages be included within this description, be within the scope of the present disclosure, and be protected by the accompanying claims.
Many aspects of the disclosure may be better understood with reference to the following drawings. The components in the drawings are not necessarily to scale, emphasis instead being placed upon clearly illustrating the principles of the present disclosure. Moreover, in the drawings, like reference numerals designate corresponding parts throughout the several views.
Having summarized various aspects of the present disclosure, reference will now be made in detail to that which is illustrated in the drawings. While the disclosure will be described in connection with these drawings, there is no intent to limit the scope of legal protection to the embodiment or embodiments disclosed herein. Rather, the intent is to cover all alternatives, modifications and equivalents included within the spirit and scope of the disclosure as defined by the appended claims.
In this regard, systems for providing emotional tone-based notifications for communications and related methods are provided. In some embodiments, the emotional tone of a communication (e.g., a text message, video clip, photograph, an instant message or an email message) received at an electronic device is determined, and a notification is provided to the user of the electronic device (e.g., a smartphone). By way of example, the notification may be a visual notification that is displayed to the user, haptic/vibration based and/or an audible notification. Visual examples might include LED or other lighting effects, or other visual indications (e.g. “!!!”).
Such a notification is in contrast to a preconfigured alert (such as an importance indicator) that a sender may associate with a communication, in that the determination of the emotional tone of the communication is not selected by the sender. Additionally, such a notification is in contrast to an identification indicator that a user of the electronic device may designate based on the type of communication, in that the emotional tone provides information that is distinct from the type of communication.
In some embodiments, the determination of the emotional tone is performed by the electronic device receiving the communication, whereas in other embodiments the determination may be made remotely. It should also be noted that the emotional tone may be derived from the communication itself and/or from an analysis of the sender of the communication. By way of example, as a user is composing a communication with an electronic device, a camera of the electronic device may be used capture one or more images of the user. The images may then be evaluated to determine the emotional state of the user, such as by using facial recognition techniques. This information may be correlated with an emotional tone that may be associated with the communication.
Electronic device 102 (e.g., a mobile device) incorporates a network/communication interface 108 and a notification system 110. Interface 108 facilitates communication over communications network 106. Notification system 110 receives information corresponding to a communication (e.g., a text-based communication) from another electronic device via the network/communication interface and provides a notification of an emotional tone of the communication to a user of electronic device 102.
Tone evaluation system 104, which may be remote from electronic device 102 (such as when hosted by a server), determines the emotional tone of the communication. Determining the emotional tone of a communication may involve analysis of one or more aspects of a communication, such as the presence of a key word or phrase, punctuation usage and use of capital letters, among possible others. In some embodiments, a tone evaluation system may incorporate a database for mapping various identified aspects to emotional tones. Additionally, the database may be correlated with senders of communications so that understandings of emotional tone may evolve. For instance, a default understanding of the use of all capital letters may be that the sender is angry. However, if it is noted that a sender often sends happy messages in all capital letters, the tone evaluation system may look to other aspects of the communication in order to determine an appropriate emotional tone.
It should be noted that, in some embodiments, information corresponding to the emotional tone of a communication may be associated with the communication prior to the communication being received. In such an embodiment, the electronic device receiving the communication and the associated information may interpret the information in order to provide the notification of the emotional tone. Such an embodiment will be described with respect to
As shown in
The processing device 150 may include a custom made or commercially available processor, a central processing unit (CPU) or an auxiliary processor among several processors, a semiconductor based microprocessor (in the form of a microchip), one or more application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), a plurality of suitably configured digital logic gates, and other electrical configurations comprising discrete elements both individually and in various combinations to coordinate the overall operation of the system.
The memory 160 may include any or a combination of volatile memory elements (e.g., random-access memory (RAM, such as DRAM, and SRAM, etc.)) and nonvolatile memory elements. The memory typically comprises native operating system 152, one or more native applications, emulation systems, or emulated applications for any of a variety of operating systems and/or emulated hardware platforms, emulated operating systems, etc. For example, the applications may include application specific software which may comprise some or all the components of the system. In accordance with such embodiments, the components are stored in memory and executed by the processing device.
Touchscreen interface 156 is configured to detect contact within the display area of the display 154 and provides such functionality as on-screen buttons, menus, keyboards, soft keys, etc. that allows users to navigate user interfaces by touch.
One of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the memory may, and typically will, comprise other components which have been omitted for purposes of brevity. Note that in the context of this disclosure, a non-transitory computer-readable medium stores one or more programs for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device.
With further reference to
Tone evaluation system 168 receives information corresponding to a communication (such as via the notification system 170) and, responsive thereto, determines the emotional tone of the communication. In determining the emotional tone, one or more aspects of the communication are analyzed. In some embodiments, this may involve analyzing word/phrase content, punctuation usage and/or use of capital letters, among possible others.
Responsive to the determination of emotional tone of a communication, notification system 170 provides a notification of the emotional tone to the user of the electronic device. In particular, the notification system interacts with one or more output components of the device, such as the display device and/or speaker 166 to provide a notification. The form of notification may be used to identify the determined emotional tone such as in a manner similar to that in which a user selects a ringtone for identifying a caller.
In
If, in block 204, an emotional tone is determined, the process may proceed to lock 208, in which a notification corresponding to the determined tone is provided. Specifically, by way of example, the notification may be provided visually, via haptic/vibration output and/or aurally to the user of the device. Thereafter, such as depicted in block 210, an associated database of tone-based determinations may be updated.
Electronic device 222 incorporates a network/communication interface 228 that enables the device to communicate via a communications network 230. Electronic device 222 also incorporates a tone evaluation system 232, which determines the emotional tone of a communication such as communication 226. Responsive to determining the emotional tone, information 234 corresponding to the emotional tone is associated with the communication. As such, the communication 226 and information 234 may be transmitted together, for example, for receipt by device 224.
In determining the emotional tone of a communication, one or more aspects may be analyzed. For instance, aspects of the communication itself, such as the presence of a key word or phrase, punctuation usage and use of capital letters, among possible others, may be analyzed. Additionally, or alternatively, a sensor (e.g., an accelerometer) may be used to measure how hard a user is typing, with significant accelerations being indicative of excitement or anger, for example. As another example, the device may measure how fast a user is typing and correlate the speed with an emotional tone.
By way of further example, facial recognition techniques may be used. Note that in the embodiment of
If embodied in software, it should be noted that each block depicted in the flowchart of
It should be emphasized that the above-described embodiments are merely examples of possible implementations. Many variations and modifications may be made to the above-described embodiments without departing from the principles of the present disclosure. By way of example, the systems described may be implemented in hardware, software or combinations thereof. All such modifications and variations are intended to be included herein within the scope of this disclosure and protected by the following claims.
