Active transport based notifications

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10057736-B2
Application number	US-201213729597-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 28, 2012
Priority date	Jun 3, 2011
Publication date	Aug 21, 2018
Grant date	Aug 21, 2018

Abstract

Techniques for triggering an action associated with a task items are provided. A task item associated with a triggering criterion is provided. The triggering criterion requires an occurrence of any of a plurality of communication events. The plurality of communication events includes a telephone call. In some implementations, at least two of the plurality of communication events are of different communication types. In some implementations, the different types are telephone calls, emails, and text messages. The occurrence of a first communication event of the plurality of communication events is detected. It is determined the triggering criterion is satisfied. In response to the determining, a notification associated with the task item is caused to be presented to a user of the electronic device.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method for triggering an action associated with a task, comprising:
at an electronic device having one or more processors and memory storing one or more programs for execution by the one or more processors:
receiving, from a user, natural language input describing a task to be performed by the user and a condition for perforating the action associated with the task;
processing the natural language input to determine the task and the condition from the natural language input, the processing including determining, based on the natural language input, one or more candidate types of communication events for the condition, the one or more candidate types of communication events not explicitly specified in the natural language input;
providing output listing the one or more candidate types of communication events for user selection;
receiving a second natural language input responsive to the provided output;
based on the natural language input and the second natural language input, determining a triggering criterion corresponding to the condition, wherein the triggering criterion requires an occurrence of any of a plurality of communication events, and wherein the plurality of communication events includes the one or more candidate types of communication events;
generating a task item defining the task and the triggering criterion;
detecting the occurrence of a first incoming communication event of the plurality of communication events;
determining, based on the detected occurrence of the first incoming communication event, whether the triggering criterion is satisfied; and
upon determining that the triggering criterion is satisfied, causing a notification associated with the task item to be presented to the user.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first incoming communication event is an incoming telephone call.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein at least two of the plurality of communication events are of different communication types.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein the different communication types include a telephone call and an email.

5. The method of claim 3 , wherein the different communication types include a telephone call and a text message.

6. The method of claim 3 , wherein the different communication types include a telephone call and a video chat.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first incoming communication event includes content, and wherein the triggering criterion requires that the content relate to a predefined subject, the method further comprising:
determining that the triggering criterion is satisfied based at least in part on a determination that the content relates to the predefined subject.

8. The method of claim 7 , wherein the content is text from an email or a text message.

9. The method of claim 7 , wherein the first incoming communication event is an incoming telephone call, the method further comprising:
obtaining a text string corresponding to one or more utterances spoken during the incoming telephone call by at least one participant in the incoming telephone call;
wherein the determination that the content relates to the predefined subject includes determining that one or more words in the text string relate to the predefined subject.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the triggering criterion further requires that the first incoming communication event be a communication with a specified person.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first incoming communication event is an incoming text message, and causing the notification to be presented comprises causing an affordance relating to the task item to be displayed on the electronic device with a representation of the text message.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein the affordance is a button that, when selected by the user, causes an action associated with the task item to be performed.

13. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first incoming communication event is an incoming email, and causing the notification to be presented comprises causing an affordance relating to the task item to be displayed on the electronic device with a representation of the email.

14. The method of claim 13 , wherein the affordance is a button that, when selected by the user, causes an action associated with the task item to be performed.

15. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first incoming communication event is an incoming telephone call, and causing the notification to be presented comprises causing an audio output relating to the task item to be produced by the electronic device.

16. The method of claim 15 , wherein the electronic device is a telephone, and the audio output is produced while the telephone is ringing.

17. The method of claim 15 , wherein the audio output is produced during a telephone conversation between a user of the electronic device and a participant of the telephone call.

18. The method of claim 17 , wherein the audio output is produced at a lower volume than a voice of the participant of the telephone call.

19. The method of claim 1 , wherein:
the natural language input represents a request to remind the user to communicate a subject matter to a specified person;
processing the natural language input further includes determining that the task comprises the user communicating the subject matter to the specified person;
determining the triggering criterion corresponding to the condition includes determining that the triggering criterion includes a criterion that the occurrence of any of the plurality of communication events is with the specified person; and
the notification includes a reminder for the user to communicate the subject matter to the specified person.

20. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining, based on the natural language input, the one or more candidate types of communication events for the condition includes identifying one or more predetermined words or phrases in the natural language input that respectively correspond to the one or more candidate types of communication events.

21. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining, based on the natural language input, the one or more candidate types of communication events for the condition includes determining that one or more words in the natural language input is ambiguous with respect to what communication event is required to satisfy the triggering criterion.

22. The method of claim 1 , wherein processing the natural language input includes determining the action, wherein the action is separate from presenting the notification and is required to complete the task, and further comprising:
in response to determining that the triggering criterion is satisfied, executing the action at the electronic device.

23. The method of claim 21 , wherein providing the output listing the one or more candidate types of communication events for user selection comprises providing the output listing the one or more candidate types of communication events for user selection in accordance with the determination that one or more words in the natural language input is ambiguous with respect to what communication event is required to satisfy the triggering criterion.

24. The method of claim 1 , wherein processing the natural language input to determine the task and the condition comprises determining the task from a first portion of the natural language input, and wherein the triggering criterion is determined from a second portion of the natural lan

Assignees

• Apple Inc

Inventors

• Gruber Thomas Robert
• Sabatelli Alessandro F
• Aybes Alexandre A
• Pitschel Donald W
• Voas Edward D
• Anzures Freddy A
• Marcos Paul D

Classifications

• H04W4/16 Primary

  Communication-related supplementary services, e.g. call-transfer or call-hold · CPC title

• H04W4/02

  Services making use of location information · CPC title

• G06Q10/109

  Time management, e.g. calendars, reminders, meetings or time accounting · CPC title

• H04M2242/12

  Language recognition, selection or translation arrangements · CPC title

• G06F40/56

  Natural language generation · CPC title