Method and device for adjusting television notification display durations and television
Patent No. US10015558 (titled "Method and device for adjusting television notification display durations and television") on Dec 29, 2016. The application was issued on Jul 3, 2018.
What is this patent about?
’558 is related to the field of smart television interfaces and user experience management. Specifically, it addresses the problem of static notification timers that fail to account for varying levels of user interest across different categories of information, such as system updates, advertisements, or external signal alerts.
The underlying idea behind ’558 is to transform the display duration of a notification from a fixed preset into a dynamic variable that evolves based on user behavior. By monitoring whether a user actively engages with or dismisses a specific category of alert, the system learns to prioritize content, automatically extending the visibility of high-interest alerts while phasing out those the user finds intrusive.
The claims of ’558 focus on a feedback loop mechanism that modifies the display duration for future notifications based on interactions with a current one. When a user performs an action—such as opening a notification to view details or manually dismissing it—the system calculates a new duration for subsequent messages of that same type, ensuring that the interface adapts to the user's demonstrated preferences over time.
In practice, the invention utilizes a display duration adjustment amount that is added to or subtracted from the baseline timer. This adjustment is not arbitrary; it is weighted by the degree of association between the notification and the application currently running on the screen. For instance, a program reminder might be granted a larger time adjustment if the user is currently watching live TV compared to when they are using a system tool.
This approach differs from prior solutions by moving away from universal empirical values that treat all users and contexts identically. By implementing dynamic priority layering, the system can also ensure that notifications with longer, user-validated durations are displayed on the uppermost layer of the UI stack, effectively surfacing the most relevant information during simultaneous alert events.
How does this patent fit in bigger picture?
Technical Landscape
In the mid-2010s when ’558 was filed, smart television architectures were typically implemented using static notification management systems where display intervals were governed by fixed empirical values. At a time when systems commonly relied on uniform timeout parameters for all notifications within a specific category, the user interface logic was generally decoupled from real-time engagement metrics. Hardware and software constraints of the era made the dynamic recalibration of interface persistence non-trivial, as display durations were hard-coded into the application layer or system firmware, requiring manual user intervention to either dismiss unwanted alerts or rush to interact with relevant ones before they automatically expired.
Prosecution Position
The disclosed invention addresses the technical problem of rigid interface persistence that fails to account for individual user interest or behavior. By implementing an architectural shift from static timers to a feedback-driven adjustment mechanism, the system enables the dynamic modification of a notification's display duration based on specific user operation instructions. This integration of real-time interaction monitoring with the notification lifecycle allows the system to transition from a baseline duration to a refined second duration, effectively overcoming the constraint of fixed-length visual interruptions. The resulting technical effect is a more responsive user interface that optimizes screen real estate and information accessibility by automatically aligning display persistence with demonstrated user intent.
Claims
This patent contains a total of 17 claims, with claims 1 and 9 serving as the independent claims. These independent claims focus on a method and a hardware device for dynamically adjusting the display time of television notifications by tracking user interactions with a specific notification type and automatically modifying the duration for subsequent notifications of that same type. The dependent claims serve to elaborate on the specific logic for calculating time adjustments, such as using the degree of association between the notification and the active application, applying preset minimum and maximum duration thresholds, and determining initial display times based on the current application environment.
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US10015558
- Application Number
- US15394723A
- Filing Date
- Dec 29, 2016
- Publication Date
- Jul 3, 2018
- External Links
- Slate, USPTO , Google Patents