Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC

Marc A Smith

Steven Mark Drucker

Duncan L Davenport

Rebecca Xiong

Andrew W Jacobs

Eric David Brill

Brian R Meyers

Alice Jane Bernheim Brush

Danyel Aharon Fisher

Jesper B Lind

Scott Joseph Counts

Alice Jane B Brush

Wensi Xi

Carman G Neustaedter

Methods and systems for using a foot-based interface to interact with a computer are described. An application program from a plurality of application programs is executed on an operating system of a personal computer. The application program is configured to receive user input via a foot-based interface. Further, user input is received from the foot-based interface and mapped into a command. Moreover, the command controls an application program function. Also, the command is executed and an output corresponding to the execution of the command is generated. Additionally, the output is displayed to the user.

Foot-based interface for interacting with a computer

The present invention provides systems and methods that rank search results. Such ranking typically includes determining a relevance of individual search results via one or more feature-based relevance functions. These functions can be tailored to users and/or applications, and typically are based on scoped information (e.g., lexical), digital artifact author related attributes, digital artifact source repository attributes, and/or relationships between features, for example. In addition, relevance functions can be generated via training sets (e.g., machine learning) or initial guesses that are iteratively refined over time. Upon determining relevance, search results can be ordered with respect to one another, based on respective relevances. Additionally, thresholding can be utilized to mitigate returning results likely to be non-relevant to the query, user and/or application.

Systems and methods that rank search results

A unique system, method, and user interface that facilitate ordering personal items based on past personal interaction between a user and the user's correspondents are provided. In particular, the system provides alternative views of information, such as messages, that is organized around people using an ordering based on the history of communication between the recipient and sender. Social metrics can be calculated based on social metadata associated with the messages, for example. Metrics can be used to configure how or which messages are viewed and their order in one or more pane views. Each pane view can present different orderings of messages&#x2014;which are displayed by the recipient or sender of the message. So for instance, instead of viewing messages in chronological receipt date, they can be viewed by the message's sender and ordered by the number of messages previously sent to the user.

Ordering personal information using social metadata

Systems and methods that infer and classify user activity based in part on routing data. A storage medium can store raw data collected, and such acquired data can be subsequently be analyzed or distilled to generate abstract qualities about the raw data (e.g., velocity of user during route, level of difficulty, and the like). Various machine learning techniques, artificial intelligence methodologies, decision trees, and/or statistical methods can be employed to supply inference regarding the acquired raw data and/or the abstract qualities.

Activity classification from route and sensor-based metadata

High-density computer display visualization formats provide improved visualization of large amounts of threaded information. These visualization formats are suitable for a wide variety of threaded information environments including newsgroups, threaded Web discussions, chats, e-mail inboxes, etc. In one implementation, the threaded message visualization represents each post with a generally one-dimensional or narrow entry line. The entry lines are horizontal and arranged vertically in substantially the same indented threading arrangement as the text of a conventional prior art visualization. In other implementations, the appearance (e.g., color), length, and position of entry lines can represent additional selected information while maintaining the generally one-dimensional character of the entry lines.

High density visualizations for threaded information

A wireless programmable user interaction system allows a user to interact with networked services relating to physical objects that have associated machine-readable tags. The system includes a portable interaction device in wireless communication with a local computer network. The portable interaction device includes a portable computing device, such as a hand-held computer, and an associated machine-readable tag reader (e.g., a bar code reader). An interaction system catalog in the portable computing device stores tag format information that correlates the tag identity information with an identity information category and related information. The interaction system catalog can indicate the types of information, interactions, or other computer network services that are available and relevant to the physical object. Upon selection of a desired network service by a user, a functional payload is delivered to the portable computing device over the wireless network connection to be executed. The functional payload may originate from the local network with which the wireless communication takes place or from any payload server located anywhere on the public global computer network.

Wireless programmable user interaction system with machine-readable tags for physical objects

A real-time computer chat or discussion system includes a social accounting system that persistently maintains summary information regarding user participation in the chat system and displays the information at user computers as a social accounting pane. In one implementation, the social accounting pane is rendered simultaneously adjacent a discussion message pane in which discussion messages are rendered. The social accounting pane displays identifying information about each member of a discussion such as, for example, a user name and an email address. Members currently involved in or logged into the discussion are indicated with an attendance field. An entered field and an exit field indicate when each member last entered the discussion and, if not present, when the member last exited the discussion. The social accounting pane may also list a session field indicating the number of sessions or times each member has entered the discussion. Thread, question, answer and comment fields may indicate the numbers of thread, question, answer and comment messages the member has posted.

Social accounting system in text discussion system

Information is provided about the histories of authors in a computer mediated persistent conversation such as a newsgroup. The information may include any or all of how long an author has been active in the group, in what other newsgroups the author participates, to what other threads of conversation the author contributes, and which other participants the author most often engages in discussion. This information may be obtained as an aggregation of data obtained from the groups or communities automatically. The information about any selected user or group is then made available or otherwise provided to any other users so that they can decide whether the selected user or group is likely to provide helpful or useful information. Also, particular message type indicators may be applied to messages when they are posted by users. The message type indicators may also be obtained as an aggregation of data obtained from the groups or communities automatically.

Automatic participant evaluation in computer mediated persistent conversations

A threaded text discussion or chat system includes a client graphical user interface that is rendered on display screens of user computers. In one implementation, the user interface includes a threaded discussion message pane and a social accounting pane that are rendered simultaneously adjacent each other on the display screen. Within the threaded discussion message pane, messages or turns are rendered or listed in a threaded or tree structure. The social accounting pane displays identifying information about each past and current member of a discussion.

Threaded text discussion system

An interactive collaborative information visualization system provides improved visualizations of relationships or connections in collaborative information relating to network interaction media such as email and email lists, conferencing systems and bulletin boards, chats, multi-user dungeons (MUDs), multi-user games and graphical virtual worlds, etc. In one implementation, network graphs in various display or visualization formats represent the collaborative information as nodes that are connected together by links. With reference to collaborative information about Usenet newsgroups, one visualization format provides an inter-group visualization in which newsgroup nodes are linked together by links representing messages that are cross-posted between the newsgroups. Other visualization format can be provided. In one implementation, a graphical user interface allows a user to control the database filter to select the selected portion of the collaborative information to be obtained and measured.

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Redmond, WA, United States of America

Marc A Smith