Smart automatic composition of short messaging responses

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9699298-B2
Application number	US-201514822506-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Aug 10, 2015
Priority date	Aug 10, 2015
Publication date	Jul 4, 2017
Grant date	Jul 4, 2017

Abstract

An electronic communication device and method for communication including automatically selecting, composing, and/or presenting a number of proposed responses to a message is disclosed. The device can present the incoming message content to the user together with an alert to the user that one or more proposed responses are available for review and selection. The device can calculate a confidence metric for each proposed response. The user alert and/or presentation of the messages can be made to vary in intensity in accordance with the confidence metric of the one or more proposed responses. The presentation of the proposed responses can be alternated and/or combined with a method for the device to receive user input to the content of the proposed response. The user can edit a proposed response rather than composing a complete response.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method for facilitating personal communication using an electronic communication device including a digital assistant, the method comprising:
receiving an electronic communication message;
using a digital assistant, preparing one or more proposed responses to the received electronic communication message;
determining a level of confidence for each of the one or more proposed responses;
alerting a user to an availability of the one or more proposed responses to the received electronic communication message, the alert including at least one of a visual or aural representation of the digital assistant in which the visual representation includes animation that varies according to the confidence level, and wherein the visual or aural representation of the alert is suppressed when the determined confidence level is below a predetermined threshold;
presenting the one or more proposed responses to the received electronic communication message to the user responsive to a user input related to the alert;
receiving a user selection of a response from among the one or more proposed responses; and
sending a response to the electronic communication message including at least some portion of the user-selected response.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
preparing one or more proposed responses to the received electronic communication message including selecting a proposed response from a predetermined set of proposed responses.

3. The method of claim 2 , further comprising:
selecting a proposed response from a predetermined set of proposed responses that are generically responsive to a variety of messages.

4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
preparing one or more proposed responses to the received electronic communication message including contextually analyzing contents of the received electronic communication message, and selecting a proposed response that is responsive to the contents of the received electronic communication message.

5. The method of claim 4 , further comprising:
selecting a proposed response that is responsive to the contents of the received electronic communication message with reference to user-stored data made available to the electronic device.

6. The method of claim 5 , further comprising:
selecting a proposed response that is responsive to the contents of the received electronic communication message with reference to user-stored data made available to the electronic device, user-stored data including one or more of contact data, calendar data, message contents data, and location data.

7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
calculating a confidence metric reflecting the confidence that each of the one or more proposed responses is responsive to the electronic communication message.

8. The method of claim 7 , further comprising:
presenting the one or more proposed responses to the received electronic communication message in rank order of their respective confidence metric.

9. The method of claim 7 , further comprising:
displaying an indicia to a user representing the availability of the one or more proposed responses to the received electronic communication message including varying an intensity of the indicia display in a manner related to the confidence metric of one or more of the proposed responses.

10. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
presenting alternately the one or more proposed responses to the received electronic communication message to the user and a display for receiving text input from the user, responsive to a repeated user input related to displayed indicia.

11. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
receiving edits to the user-selected response before sending the response.

12. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
sending a response to the electronic communication message including at least some portion of the user-selected response without further user input.

13. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
alerting a user to the availability of the one or more proposed responses to the received electronic communication message, including at least one of a visual alert, an aural alert, and a haptic alert.

14. An electronic communication device configured to facilitate personal communication, the device comprising:
one or more processors;
an input device;
an output device; and
a computer readable storage medium, storing thereon a program of instructions which, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the electronic communication device to:
implement a digital assistant functionality;
receive an electronic communication message;
prepare one or more proposed responses to the received electronic communication message;
determine a level of confidence for each of the one or more proposed responses;
alert a user to an availability of the one or more proposed responses to the received electronic communication message, substance of the alert including at least one of a visual or aural representation of the digital assistant, in which the visual representation includes animation that varies according to the confidence level, and wherein the visual or aural representation of the alert is suppressed when the determined confidence level is below a predetermined threshold;
present the one or more proposed responses to the received electronic communication message to the user responsive to a user input related to the alert;
receive a user selection of a response from among the one or more proposed responses; and
send a response to the electronic communication message including at least some portion of the user-selected response.

15. The device of claim 14 , further comprising:
an output device including at least one of an aural output device, a visual output device, and a haptic output device; and
the program of instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, further cause the electronic communication device to alert a user to the availability of the one or more proposed responses to the received electronic communication message with at least one of a visual alert, an aural alert, and a haptic alert.

16. The device of claim 14 , further comprising:
an output device including a display; and
an input device including a touchscreen integral with the display.

17. The device of claim 16 , further comprising:
the program of instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, further cause the electronic communication device to:
selectively display a virtual keyboard on the touchscreen; and
selectively receive text input from the user to edit a proposed response before sending.

18. A method for facilitating personal communication using an electronic communication device, the method comprising:
using an output device of the electronic communication device, presenting the contents of an incoming electronic communication message;
using an output device of the electronic communication device, providing an animated alert to a user to an availability of one or more proposed responses to the incoming electronic communication message;
determining a level of confidence for each of the one or more proposed responses;
varying the animation of the alert according to the level of confidence, and wherein the animation of the alert is suppressed when the determined confidence level is below a predetermined threshold;
using an input device of the electronic communication device, receiving a user response to the alert;
using an output device of the electronic communication device, present

Assignees

• Microsoft Technology Licensing Llc

Inventors

• Rubinstein Mark
• Nelson Jason

Classifications

• H04L51/02 Primary

  using automatic reactions or user delegation, e.g. automatic replies or chatbot-generated messages · CPC title

• G06F3/0482

  Interaction with lists of selectable items, e.g. menus · CPC title

• H04W4/14

  Short messaging services, e.g. short message services [SMS] or unstructured supplementary service data [USSD] · CPC title

• H04M1/72583

  Electricity · mapped topic

• H04M1/72552 Primary

  Electricity · mapped topic