Providing rich preview of communication in communication summary

A rich preview of a communication in a communication summary is provided. A communication application analyzes a communication to identify relevant items within the communication. A communication summary of the communication is created with the relevant items. Next, the communication summary is presented with the relevant items. Interaction elements are also provided to manage a presentation of the relevant items.

BACKGROUND

People interact with computer applications through user interfaces. While audio, tactile, and similar forms of user interfaces are available, visual user interfaces through a display device are the most common form of a user interface. With the development of faster and smaller electronics for computing devices, smaller size devices such as handheld computers, smart phones, tablet devices, and comparable devices have become common. Such devices execute a wide variety of applications ranging from communication applications to complicated analysis tools. Many such applications facilitate communications.

In a communication application user interface, the messages (and other items such as calendar invites) may look the same in a user's inbox. Thus, it may be hard for the user to identify and search for messages that are important to him/her. The user may also need to open a reading pane to act on the listed messages.

SUMMARY

Embodiments are directed to a rich preview of a communication in a communication summary. In some examples, a communication application may analyze a communication to identify relevant items within the communication. A communication summary of the communication may be created with the relevant items. Next, the communication summary may be presented with the relevant items. Interaction elements may be provided to manage a presentation of the relevant items.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

As briefly described above, rich preview of a communication may be provided in a communication summary by a communication application. The communication application may initiate a process to provide the rich preview of a communication with an operation to analyze the communication. The communication may be analyzed to identify relevant items. The relevant items may include an image, a video, an audio, a document, a link, a task, and/or a meeting, among others. A communication summary of the communication may be created with the relevant items. The relevant items may be customized for a presentation based on a type of the relevant item.

The communication summary may be presented with the relevant items within a summary user interface (UI). The relevant items may be dynamically sized based on attributes of the relevant items and the size of the communication summary. Furthermore, interaction elements may be provided to manage the presentation of the relevant items. An interaction element may include operations to launch an application associated with a relevant item to present and manage the relevant item.

Throughout this specification, the term “platform” may be a combination of software and hardware components to provide a rich preview of a communication in a communication summary. Examples of platforms include, but are not limited to, a hosted service executed over a plurality of servers, an application executed on a single computing device, and comparable systems. The term “server” generally refers to a computing device executing one or more software programs typically in a networked environment. More detail on these technologies and example operations is provided below.

A computing device, as used herein, refers to a device comprising at least a memory and a processor that includes a desktop computer, a laptop computer, a tablet computer, a smart phone, a vehicle mount computer, or a wearable computer. A memory may be a removable or non-removable component of a computing device configured to store one or more instructions to be executed by one or more processors. A processor may be a component of a computing device coupled to a memory and configured to execute programs in conjunction with instructions stored by the memory. A file is any form of structured data that is associated with audio, video, or similar content. An operating system is a system configured to manage hardware and software components of a computing device that provides common services and applications. An integrated module is a component of an application or service that is integrated within the application or service such that the application or service is configured to execute the component. A computer-readable memory device is a physical computer-readable storage medium implemented via one or more of a volatile computer memory, a non-volatile memory, a hard drive, a flash drive, a floppy disk, or a compact disk, and comparable hardware media that includes instructions thereon to automatically save content to a location. A user experience—a visual display associated with an application or service through which a user interacts with the application or service. A user action refers to an interaction between a user and a user experience of an application or a user experience provided by a service that includes one of touch input, gesture input, voice command, eye tracking, gyroscopic input, pen input, mouse input, and keyboards input. An application programming interface (API) may be a set of routines, protocols, and tools for an application or service that enable the application or service to interact or communicate with one or more other applications and services managed by separate entities.

FIG. 1is a conceptual diagram illustrating an example of providing a rich preview of a communication in a communication summary, according to embodiments.

In a diagram100, a computing device104may execute a communication application102. Examples of the communication application102may include an email processing application, a messaging application, and/or a conferencing application, among others. The computing device104may include a tablet device, a laptop computer, a desktop computer, and a smart phone, among others. The computing device104may include a special purpose computing device configured to provide communications management through a display component configured to display communications, a communication component configured to transmit communications, and/or a storage component configured to store communications, among other components.

The computing device104may display the communication application102to a participant110. The participant (such as a person) may receive and transmit a communication109(and other communications) to communicate with other participants. The participant110may be allowed to interact with the communication application102through an input device or touch enabled display component of the computing device104. The computing device104may also include a display device such as the touch enabled display component, and a monitor, among others to provide the communication application102to the participant110.

A rendering module of the communication application102may present a summary UI107of communications between the participant110and other participants. The rendering module may also display a communication109associated with one of the communication summaries. The communication109may include an email, a message, a video conference, and/or an audio conference, among others.

A content module of the communication application102may analyze the communication109to identify a relevant item114within the communication. The relevant item may include an image, a video, an audio, a document, a link, a task, and/or a meeting, among others. A communication summary112of the communication109may be created with the relevant item114. Next, the communication summary112may be presented with the relevant item114within the summary UT107. The relevant item114may be dynamically sized based on attributes of the relevant item114and the size of the communication summary112. Interaction elements may be also provided to manage the presentation of the relevant item114.

The communication109may be stored and managed locally within the computing device104. Alternatively, the communication10) may be retrieved from a server108such as a content server, and/or a communication server, among others that manages communications. Another example of the server108may include an email server that provides communications to be presented by the communication application102. Furthermore, the computing device104may communicate with the server108through a network. The network may provide wired or wireless communications between nodes such as the computing device104, or the server108, among others.

Alternatively, the server108may provide the communication application102. The server108may also provide a client interface of the communication application102for presentation by the computing device104. The server108may execute operations to provide a rich preview of a communication in a communication summary through the communication application102.

The participant110may interact with the communication application102with a keyboard based input, a mouse based input, a voice based input, a pen based input, and/or a gesture based input, among others. The gesture based input may include one or more touch based actions such as a touch action, a swipe action, and a combination of each, among others.

While the example system inFIG. 1has been described with specific components including the computing device104, the communication application102, embodiments are not limited to these components or system configurations and can be implemented with other system configuration employing fewer or additional components.

FIG. 2is a display diagram illustrating an example of providing image based content within a communication summary, according to embodiments.

In a diagram200, a communication application202may provide UI elements to present communication summaries and communications. A rendering module of the communication application202may provide a navigation UI204that includes navigation elements to display groupings of communication summaries in summaries UI212. For example, a navigation element206may include operations to display communication summaries of communications within an inbox. The rendering module may also present other navigation elements grouping the communications based on criteria selected by a participant or other entities within the navigation UI204.

The rendering module of the communication application202may provide the summaries UI212to present communication summaries. A communication summary214may include a description of a sender, a subject, and/or a presentation of a communication216. In response to an action on the communication summary214, the rendering module may display the communication216. A subject, a sender, and/or a receiver of the communication216may be displayed along with content of the communication216.

The content of the communication216may include items such as an image, a video, an audio, a document, a link, a task, and/or a meeting, among other relevant items to a participant. As such, a content module of the communication application202may analyze the communication216to identify relevant items. Images (222,224) may be identified as the relevant items. An image222may be detected as inserted into the communication216as an attachment. An image224may be detected as embedded into the communication216.

The content module of the communication application202may create the communication summary214with a relevant item218. The relevant item218may be created from the image222. In an example scenario, a read status associated with the image222may be identified as unread. The relevant item218may be rescaled to draw a participant's attention to the image222within the communication216. The relevant item218may be rescaled dynamically to maximize a size of the image222presented within the communication summary214. The size of the image222may be rescaled for the relevant item218based on available width or available height in the communication summary214. A zoom control element219may be provided to manually manage rescaling of the relevant item218or another relevant item.

Other relevant items such the image224may also be presented within the communication summary214. The relevant item220be created from the image224. The relevant item220may be presented with an interaction element that indicates availability of additional relevant items associated with the communication216. For example, the rendering module may be unable to display multiple images as relevant items in the communication summary214due to insufficient size, width, and/or height of the communication summary214. In such a scenario, the relevant item220may be actionable and may include operations to display the other relevant items in response to an action on the relevant item220.

Alternatively, the images (222and224) and other images may be sorted based on importance criteria. The importance criteria may be a ranking provided by a participant to the images (222and224) and other images. The images (222and224) and the other images may be sorted based on a range from a high importance value to a low importance value.

The images (222and224) and other images may also be presented as the relevant items (218and220) and other relevant items, as sorted, within the communication summary214. A navigation element may also be provided to access the other relevant items when a size of the communication summary214is insufficient to display the other relevant items.

The rendering module of the communication application202may also provide the relevant items (218and220) with operations to launch an application associated with the images (222and224). The application may be launched in response to a detected action on the relevant items (218and220). The application may be launched to provide further functionality to manage the images (222and224), such as editing functionality, among others.

FIG. 3is a display diagram illustrating an example of providing video and document based content within a communication, according to embodiments.

In a diagram300, a communication application302may provide a communication summary314of a communication316within a communication UI312. The communication316may be analyzed by a content module of the communication application302to identify relevant items. A document322attached to the communication316may be identified as a relevant item. The content module may create the relevant item318from the document322. The relevant item318may include attributes of the document322such as a document type, a document name, and/or recent activities associated with the document322, among others. The recent activities may include a recent access to the document322by a participant of the communication or by other entities.

The relevant item318may be presented by a rendering module of the communication application302within the communication summary314. The relevant item318may include a document type, a document name, and/or one or more recent activities associated with the document322. The relevant item318may also be presented with an interaction element. In response to an action on the relevant item318, operations to launch an application associated with the document may be executed. The application may provide further functionality to manage the document322.

A video324may also be identified as a relevant item. The content module of the communication application302may analyze the communication316to identify the video324. The content module may create the relevant item320from the video324. The relevant item320may include attributes of the video324such as a title, a source, and/or a description of the video324, among others.

The relevant item320may be presented by a rendering module of the communication application within the communication summary314. The relevant item320may include a title, a source, and/or a description of the video324. The relevant item320may also be presented with an interaction element321. Operations to play the relevant item320in the communication summary314may be executed in response to a detected action on the interaction element321.

Another interaction element may also provide operations to launch an application associated with the video324in response to an action on the relevant item320. The application may provide further functionality to display and manage the video324. The video324may also be provided with an interaction element325to display and manage the video within the communication316.

FIG. 4is a display diagram illustrating an example of providing a task based content within a communication, according to embodiments.

In a diagram400, a content module of a communication application402may parse a content418of a communication416to identify a link428. The link428may be used to create a relevant item424. Attributes426of the link428may also be identified and inserted into the relevant item424. The attributes426may include a title, a source, and/or a description, among others.

A rendering module of the communication application402may display the relevant item424within the communication summary414. The attributes426of the relevant item may also be displayed. Furthermore, the relevant item424may also be provided with an interaction element. In response to an action on the relevant item424, operations to access a source associated with the link428may be executed.

In another scenario, a content418of the communication416may be parsed by the content module of the communication application402to identify a task420(or a meeting) associated with the communication416. Attributes of the task420(or the meeting) may also be identified. The attributes may include a subject, and/or a time, among others. A relevant item422may be created with the attributes such as the subject and/or time of the task420(or meeting). The relevant item422may be presented within the communication summary414. The relevant item422may also include a reminder associated with the task420(or the meeting).

As discussed above, the application may be employed to perform operations to provide a rich preview of a communication in a communication summary. An increased user efficiency with the communication application102may occur as a result of presenting relevant items of a communication in a communication summary. Additionally, automating content promotion and presentation within a communication summary may reduce processor load, increase processing speed, conserve memory, and reduce network bandwidth usage.

Embodiments, as described herein, address a need that arises from a lack of efficiency between the participants interacting through communication applications executed on various computing devices. The actions/operations described herein are not a mere use of a computer, but address results that are a direct consequence of software used as a service offered to large numbers of users and applications.

The example scenarios and schemas inFIG. 1 through 4are shown with specific components, data types, and configurations. Embodiments are not limited to systems according to these example configurations. Rich preview of a communication in a communication summary may be implemented in configurations employing fewer or additional components in applications and user interfaces. Furthermore, the example schema and components shown inFIG. 1 through 4and their subcomponents may be implemented in a similar manner with other values using the principles described herein.

FIG. 5is an example networked environment, where embodiments may be implemented. A communication application configured to provide a rich preview of a communication in a communication summary may be implemented via software executed over one or more servers514such as a hosted service. The platform may communicate with client applications on individual computing devices such as a smart phone513, a mobile computer512, or desktop computer511(‘client devices’) through network(s)510.

Client applications executed on any of the client devices511-513may facilitate communications via application(s) executed by servers514, or on individual server516. A communication application may analyze a communication to identify relevant items (such as an image, and/or a video, among others) within the communication. A communication summary of the communication may be created with the relevant items. Next, the communication summary may be presented with the relevant items. Interaction elements to manage a presentation of the relevant items may also be provided. The communication application may store data associated with the communication in data store(s)519directly or through database server518.

Network(s)510may comprise any topology of servers, clients, Internet service providers, and communication media. A system according to embodiments may have a static or dynamic topology. Network(s)510may include secure networks such as an enterprise network, an unsecure network such as a wireless open network, or the Internet. Network(s)510may also coordinate communication over other networks such as Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) or cellular networks. Furthermore, network(s)510may include short range wireless networks such as Bluetooth or similar ones. Network(s)510provide communication between the nodes described herein. By way of example, and not limitation, network(s)510may include wireless media such as acoustic, RF, infrared and other wireless media.

Many other configurations of computing devices, applications, data sources, and data distribution systems may be employed to provide a rich preview of a communication in a communication summary. Furthermore, the networked environments discussed inFIG. 5are for illustration purposes only. Embodiments are not limited to the example applications, modules, or processes.

FIG. 6is a block diagram of an example computing device, which may be used to provide a rich preview of a communication in a communication summary, according to embodiments.

For example, computing device600may be used as a server, desktop computer, portable computer, smart phone, special purpose computer, or similar device. In an example basic configuration602, the computing device600may include one or more processors604and a system memory606. A memory bus608may be used for comnununication between the processor604and the system memory606. The basic configuration602may be illustrated inFIG. 6by those components within the inner dashed line.

Depending on the desired configuration, the processor604may be of any type, including but not limited to a microprocessor (μP), a microcontroller (μC), a digital signal processor (DSP), or any combination thereof. The processor604may include one more levels of caching, such as a level cache memory612, one or more processor cores614, and registers616. The example processor cores614may (each) include an arithmetic logic unit (ALU), a floating point unit (FPU), a digital signal processing core (DSP Core), or any combination thereof. An example memory controller618may also be used with the processor604, or in some implementations, the memory controller618may be an internal part of the processor604.

Depending on the desired configuration, the system memory606may be of any type including but not limited to volatile memory (such as RAM), non-volatile memory (such as ROM, flash memory, etc.), or any combination thereof. The system memory606may include an operating system620, a communication application622, and a program data624. The communication application622may include components such as a content module626and a rendering module627. The content module626and the rendering module627may execute the processes associated with the communication application622. The content module626may analyze a communication to identify relevant items (such as an image, and/or a video, among others) within the communication. A communication summary of the communication may be created with the relevant items. Next, the rendering module627may present the communication summary with the relevant items. Interaction elements to manage a presentation of the relevant items may also be provided.

Components of the communication application622(such as a user interface) may also be displayed on a display device associated with the computing device600. An example of the display device may include a hardware screen that may be communicatively coupled to the computing device600. The display device may include a touch based device that detects gestures such as a touch action. The display device may also provide feedback in response to detected gestures (or any other form of input) by transforming a user interface of the communication application622, displayed by the touch based device. The program data624may also include, among other data, communication data628, or the like, as described herein. The communication data628may include a relevant item, and/or a communication, among others.

The computing device600may have additional features or functionality, and additional interfaces to facilitate communications between the basic configuration602and any desired devices and interfaces. For example, a bus/interface controller630may be used to facilitate communications between the basic configuration602and one or more data storage devices632via a storage interface bus634. The data storage devices632may be one or more removable storage devices636, one or more non-removable storage devices638, or a combination thereof. Examples of the removable storage and the non-removable storage devices may include magnetic disk devices, such as flexible disk drives and hard-disk drives (HDD), optical disk drives such as compact disk (CD) drives or digital versatile disk (DVD) drives, solid state drives (SSD), and tape drives, to name a few. Example computer storage media may include volatile and nonvolatile, removable, and non-removable media implemented in any method or technology for storage of information, such as computer-readable instructions, data structures, program modules, or other data.

The computing device600may also include an interface bus640for facilitating communication from various interface devices (for example, one or more output devices642, one or more peripheral interfaces644, and one or more communication devices646) to the basic configuration602via the bus/interface controller630. Some of the example output devices642include a graphics processing unit648and an audio processing unit650, which may be configured to communicate to various external devices such as a display or speakers via one or more A/V ports652. One or more example peripheral interfaces644may include a serial interface controller654or a parallel interface controller656, which may be configured to communicate with external devices such as input devices (for example, keyboard, mouse, pen, voice input device, touch input device, etc.) or other peripheral devices (for example, printer, scanner, etc.) via one or more I/O ports658. An example communication device666includes a network controller660, which may be arranged to facilitate communications with one or more other computing devices662over a network communication link via one or more communication ports664. The one or more other computing devices662may include servers, computing devices, and comparable devices.

The computing device600may be implemented as a part of a general purpose or specialized server, mainframe, or similar computer, which includes any of the above functions. The computing device600may also be implemented as a personal computer including both laptop computer and non-laptop computer configurations.

Example embodiments may also include methods to provide a rich preview of a communication in a communication summary. These methods can be implemented in any number of ways, including the structures described herein. One such way may be by machine operations, of devices of the type described in the present disclosure. Another optional way may be for one or more of the individual operations of the methods to be performed in conjunction with one or more human operators performing some of the operations while other operations may be performed by machines. These human operators need not be collocated with each other, but each can be only with a machine that performs a portion of the program. In other embodiments, the human interaction can be automated such as by pre-selected criteria that may be machine automated.

FIG. 7is a logic flow diagram illustrating a process for providing a rich preview of a communication in a communication summary, according to embodiments. Process700may be implemented on a computing device, such as the computing device600or another system.

Process700begins with operation710, where a communication application may analyze the communication to identify relevant items within the communication. The items may include an image, a video, an audio, a document, a link, a task, and/or a meeting, among others. At operation720, a communication summary of the communication may be created with the relevant items. The relevant items may be processed for a presentation based on a type of the relevant item.

At operation730, the communication summary may be presented with the relevant items within a summary user interface (UI). The relevant items may be dynamically sized based on attributes of the relevant items and the size of the communication summary. At operation740, interaction elements may be provided to manage the presentation of the relevant items. An interaction element may include operations to launch an application associated with a relevant item to present and manage the relevant item.

The operations included in process700are for illustration purposes. Providing relevance based dynamic hashtag navigation may be implemented by similar processes with fewer or additional steps, as well as in different order of operations using the principles described herein. The operations described herein may be executed by one or more processors operated on one or more computing devices, one or more processor cores, specialized processing devices, and/or general purpose processors, among other examples.

In some examples, a computing device for providing a rich preview of a communication in a communication summary is described. The computing device includes a display device, a memory configured to store instructions associated with a communication application, and one or more processors coupled to the memory and the display device. The one or more processors execute the communication application in conjunction with the instructions stored in the memory. The communication application includes a content module and a rendering module. The content module is configured to analyze the communication to identify one or more relevant items within the communication and create the communication summary of the communication with the one or more relevant items. The rendering module is configured to present, on the display device, the communication summary with the one or more relevant items and provide, on the display device, one or more interaction elements to manage a presentation of the one or more relevant items.

In other examples, the one or more relevant items includes one or more of: an image, a video, an audio, a document, a link, a task, and a meeting. The content module is further configured to identify an image as one of the one or more relevant items, detect a reading status of the image as unread. The rendering module is further configured to rescale, on the display device, the image to maximize a size of the image within the communication summary. The content module is further configured to identify two or more images as the one or more relevant items and sort the two or more images based on an importance criteria, where the two or more images are sorted based on a range from a high importance value to a low importance value. The rendering module is further configured to present, on the display device, the two or more images, as sorted, within the communication summary, where a navigation element is provided to access a subset of the two or more images when a size of the communication summary is insufficient to display the subset of the two or more images.

In further examples, the content module is further configured to identify a document as the one or more relevant items and detect attributes of the document, where the attributes include a document type, a document name, and one or more recent activities associated with the document. The rendering module is further configured to present, on the display device, the document type, the document name, and the one or more recent activities associated with the document within the communication summary. The content module is further configured to identify a video as one of the one or more relevant items and detect attributes of the video, where the attributes include a title, a source, and a description of the video. The rendering module is further configured to present, on the display device, the title, the source, and the description of the video within the communication summary. The content module is further configured to identify a link as one of the one or more relevant items and detect attributes of the link, where the attributes include a title, a source and a description of the link. The rendering module is further configured to present, on the display device, the title, the source, and the description of the link within the communication summary.

In some examples, a method executed on a computing device for providing a rich preview of a communication in a communication summary is described. The method includes analyzing the communication to identify one or more relevant items within the communication, where the one or more relevant items include one or more of an embedded item and an attached item, creating the communication summary of the communication with the one or more relevant items, presenting the communication summary with the one or more relevant items, and providing one or more interaction elements to allow for an interaction with the one or more relevant items.

In other examples, the method further includes detecting a meeting associated with the communication as one or the one or more relevant items, displaying a topic, a time, and a location of the meeting within the communication summary, detecting a conflict between the meeting and another meeting, and displaying the conflict within the communication summary, where the conflict includes one or more of the topic, the time, and the location associated with the meeting and the other meeting. The method further includes analyzing a content of the communication to identify a task as one of the one or more relevant items, parsing a subject and a time of the task, and presenting the subject and the time of the task within the communication summary.

In some examples a computer-readable memory device with instructions stored thereon for providing a rich preview of a communication in a communication summary is described. The instructions include actions that are similar to the actions of the method.