Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC

John Carroll Gordon

Cem Keskin

Mehmet Iyigun

Hari R Pulapaka

Benjamin M Schultz

Frederick Justus Smith

Lev Cherkashin

Kyle Thomas Brady

Morakinyo Korede Olugbade

Paul Bozzay

Ali Hajy

Peter Gregory Davis

Raju Jain

Khuram Shahid

Samuel David Adams

Corey Joseph Loman

Michael Abraham Betser

Steven Mathew Ilami

Nabil Fates

Kyle T Kral

Mark Rodger Rideout

Carson J Hicks

Llewyn Elise Paine

Rowen Wu

Steven M Ilami

A communal computing device, like an interactive digital whiteboard, can detect the start and end of user sessions with the device. When a communal computing device detects the end of a user session, the it can determine if a personal device that was connected at the start of the user session or during the user session was also connected at the end of the user session. If so, the device can initiate actions based on the session start or end signals such as, but not limited to, transmitting a message to an organizer of a meeting scheduled during the time of the user session, transmitting a message to a participant of a meeting scheduled during the time of the user session, transmitting a message to an administrator, or generating a notification, such as a user interface reminding a user to take their personal device.

Scoping the lifetime of personal devices connected to communal computing devices

A system for contextual loading of operating system is described. A context module forms a dynamic context of a user log in at a host. The context mapper identifies a container corresponding to the dynamic context and determines whether the container is present in a local container cache of the host. In response to the container being present in the local container cache, the container is presented at the host. In response to the container being absent from the local container cache, the container is retrieved from a container store and presented at the host.

Contextual loading based on dynamic context

A technique is described herein for using personal digital assistant (PDA) functionality to assist a user in retrieving a content item from a source component, such as a remote user computing device. In one manner of operation, the technique involves: receiving at least one input message from the user, in which the user expresses an intent to obtain a desired content item; interpreting the input message(s) using a language understanding component of a dialog system, to provide an interpreted request; identifying zero, one or more source components, each of which provides a copy of the desired content item; retrieving the desired content item from at least one identified source component; and sending the desired content item over a computer network to a target component. The identifying operation involves identifying the source component(s) with reference to a hierarchically-arranged set of retrieval options.

Using a personal digital assistant to retrieve an item from a remote source

A computer-implemented technique is described for verifying the identity of a user using two components of face analysis. In a first part, the technique determines whether captured face information matches a previously stored structural face signature pertaining to the user. The structural face signature describes, at least in part, gross structural characteristics of the face that are largely invariant from pose to pose. In the second part, the technique determines whether the captured face information matches a dynamic face signature associated with the user. The dynamic face signature describes movement of parts of the face over a span of time as the user performs a gesture, and the correlation of different parts of the face during the movement. The technique reduces the risk that a malicious actor can successfully artificially duplicate the appearance of an authorized user.

Verifying identity based on facial dynamics

Emotional/cognitive state presentation is described. When two or more users, each using a device configured to present emotional/cognitive state data, are in proximity to one another, each device communicates an emotional/cognitive state of the user of the device to another device. Upon receiving data indicating an emotional/cognitive state of another user, an indication of the emotional/cognitive state of the user is presented.

Emotional/cognitive state presentation

In various embodiments, methods and systems, of an ionic varistor system is provided. The ionic varistor system includes an electrolyte-membrane assembly having a liquid electrolyte that is enclosed in a solid electrolyte membrane. The ionic varistor system further includes conductive contacts operably coupled to the electrolyte-membrane assembly. The electrolytic-membrane assembly is operably coupled to an electrical potential surface. As the ionic concentration in the electrical potential surface is increased or decreased, some ions diffuse through the solid electrolyte membrane, causing the ions to mix with the liquid electrolyte to achieve an electrostatic equilibrium state that is thermally and mechanically stable. The liquid electrolyte and the diffused ions create an encapsulated ion channel in the electrolyte-membrane assembly. The electrical conductivity of the encapsulated ion channel increases as the ion concentration increases such that the complete electrolyte-membrane assembly produces electrical resistance. The ion concentration is measured as indicator of electrical potential of the electrical potential surface.

Detecting bipotential with an ionic varistor

Different containers are used for different usage sessions, a container referring to a virtualization layer for a computing device and used for isolation as well as hardware resource partitioning. A usage session refers to the time span beginning when one or more users begin to use the computing device, and ending when the one or more users cease using the computing device. During a particular usage session that uses a container, all interaction with the computing device is maintained in the container. The container is deleted when the usage session ends, leaving no data from the usage session behind after the usage session ends. Additionally, some usage sessions need not be run in containers, so data generated during such usage sessions is maintained after usage session ends. The host operating system automatically determines which usage sessions to run in containers and which usage sessions to run separate from any containers.

Selective container use for device usage sessions

A technique is described herein by which a user may gain access to a target resource via one or more particular peripheral devices that have been associated with the user. The technique performs this task by detecting when a user communicatively couples an identity-bearing component to a hub device. The user may thereafter use any input and/or output peripheral device that is also coupled to hub device to interact with the target resource, in a manner specified by authentication information associated with the user. In another use scenario, two or more users may interact with the same target resource via respective collections of user-associated peripheral devices.

Interacting with a computing device via identity-bearing peripheral devices

Computer systems, methods, and storage media for tailoring a user interface to a user according to a determined user state and a determined interface context corresponding to the determined user state. The user interface is tailored by modifying the format of at least a portion of the interface, including modifying the content, layout of the content, presentation sequence, or visual display of the interface. A user interface includes a selectable formatting object for controlling the formatting of the user interface and for generating feedback data for training an ensemble learning component to enable more effective predictive formatting changes.

Tailoring user interface presentations based on user state

Techniques and apparatuses for a dynamic face and voice signature authentication for enhanced authentication techniques are described herein. In one or more implementations, an authentication system is configured to authenticate a user using a combination of voice and facial recognition techniques. The authentication system supports multiple phrases per user, such that the user can use different phrases to gain different types of access to a device or resources. Doing so provides enhanced customized access to the device or resources.

Dynamic face and voice signature authentication for enhanced security

Emotional/cognitive state-triggered recording is described. A buffer is used to store captured video content until a change in an emotional or cognitive state of a user is detected. Sensor data indicating a change in an emotional or cognitive state of a user triggers the creation of a video segment based on the current contents of the buffer.

Emotional/cognative state-triggered recording

A container for one or more scheduled meeting is pre-built for the meeting prior to the meeting occurring. The container can be built in a variety of manners, including using both static and dynamic techniques. Dynamic techniques for building a container allows a pre-build system to include more pertinent data in the container whereas static techniques reduce computing workload and allow for pre-building containers for unscheduled meetings. A combination of static and dynamic building techniques can be applied using a layer repository. Alternately, a static base layer can be used and customized for scheduled meetings.

Pre-building containers

Examples are disclosed that relate to attributing touch events on a touch-sensitive computing device to a user who performed the touch event. One example provides a computing system, comprising a touch sensor, a communication subsystem comprising a first communication mechanism integrated with the touch sensor, the first communication mechanism configured to communicate with a portable device over a first communication channel via a body-transmissible signal upon detection of a touch input, and also comprising a second communication mechanism configured to communicate with the portable device via a second communication channel. The computing device further comprises instructions executable to detect a touch input via the touch sensor, communicate information to the portable device via the body-transmissible signal using the first communication mechanism, and connect with the portable device via the second communication mechanism based upon the information communicated to the portable device via the body-transmissible signal.

Identifying users from screen touch events

A computing device includes a logic machine and a storage machine holding instructions. The instructions are executable by the logic machine to, receive a machine-understandable representation of voice input, determine a pronoun associated with the voice input, map the pronoun to an object of user focus, generate one or more focus-specific search queries for the object of user focus, execute the one or more focus-specific search queries, and present the results of the one or more focus-specific search queries.

Growing community of inventors

Newcastle, WA, United States of America

John Carroll Gordon