Patent Publication Number: US-2022230082-A1

Title: System and method for evaluating interview response quality

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     The present application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 63/138,934 filed Jan. 19, 2021, entitled “SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR EVALUATING INTERVIEW RESPONSE QUALITY,” which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety. 
    
    
     TECHNICAL FIELD 
     The embodiments generally relate to computerized systems for evaluating the content, structure, and presentation of an interview interaction. 
     BACKGROUND 
     Job seekers often practice their interview responses ahead of an anticipated interview. Applications directed towards interview preparation are available and provide the job seeker with a list of popular questions, which they may encounter during the interview process. These systems give the job seeker the opportunity to consider the content of their responses and a strategy for effectively answering the interview questions; however, these systems lack the ability to evaluate the content, structure, and presentation (i.e., the delivery) of the responses and provide adequate feedback to help the applicant improve their responses. 
     The STAR (situation, task, action, and result) interview structure has been widely practiced by candidates to prepare quality answers to many interview questions; however, the STAR structure is only a guideline for a potential response structure and does not evaluate the quality of or provide feedback on the responses themselves. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     This summary is provided to introduce a variety of concepts in a simplified form that is further disclosed in the detailed description of the embodiments. This summary is not intended to identify key or essential inventive concepts of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended for determining the scope of the claimed subject matter. 
     The embodiments provided herein relate to a system and method for analyzing a response to an interview question, including a speech recognition engine to receive audio information corresponding to a response to create a transcription of the response. A segmentation engine segments the transcription into one or more segments. A segment classification engine classifies the one or more segments into one or more functional units and group the functional units by at least one structure. A presentation skill key performance indicator (KPI) engine, a structure sequence KPI engine, and a content KPI engine are included to analyze the response and apply the analysis to a composite model in order to provide an overall rating of the response. 
     The embodiments provide a useful evaluation of the interview response quality by analyzing the content, structure, and presentation of the user&#39;s response. The system may utilize the audio components of a computing device to capture the interview response presented by the user. The response is then transcribed by the system and analyzed using machine learning techniques to group and categorize segments of the transcription into a plurality of structures. Structured content is defined by a key performance index (KPI) such as the length of response, presence of specific duties, specific tasks, multiple actions, time spent in a segment of a structure, usage of specific words (e.g., “I” versus “we) when referring to actions, measurable results, sequence of segments within the structure, etc. The access to the analysis of the structure of the response significantly improves the accuracy of the content analysis. 
     Structures of the response may include known interview response structures, such as the STAR system, or other response structures which may aid in generating and delivering responses to questions as would not be feasible using only the STAR system. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       A complete understanding of the present embodiments and the advantages and features thereof will be more readily understood by reference to the following detailed description when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings wherein: 
         FIG. 1  illustrates a block diagram of a computing system, according to some embodiments; 
         FIG. 2  illustrates a flowchart of the method for evaluating an interview response, according to some embodiments; and 
         FIG. 3  illustrates a block diagram of a computing system and an application program, according to some embodiments. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     The specific details of the single embodiment or variety of embodiments described herein are to the described system and methods of use. Any specific details of the embodiments are used for demonstration purposes only, and no unnecessary limitations or inferences are to be understood thereon. 
     Before describing in detail exemplary embodiments, it is noted that the embodiments reside primarily in combinations of components and procedures related to the system. Accordingly, the system components have been represented, where appropriate, by conventional symbols in the drawings, showing only those specific details that are pertinent to understanding the embodiments of the present disclosure so as not to obscure the disclosure with details that will be readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art having the benefit of the description herein. 
     In this disclosure, the various embodiments may be a system, method, and/or computer program product at any possible technical detail level of integration. A computer program product can include, among other things, a computer-readable storage medium having computer-readable program instructions thereon for causing a processor to carry out aspects of the present disclosure. 
     As used herein, the term “user(s)” is used to describe a job seeker who is utilizing the functionalities of the system(s) and methods described herein; however, the user may not necessarily be a job seeker but may also be any individual preparing for an interview. 
     In general, the embodiments described herein relate to systems and methods for evaluating interview response quality by analyzing the content, structure, and presentation of the user&#39;s response. The system may utilize the audio components of a computing device to capture the interview response presented by the user. The response is then transcribed by the system and analyzed using machine learning techniques to group and categorize segments of the transcription into a plurality of structures. Structured content is defined by a key performance index (KPI) such as the length of response, presence of specific duties, specific tasks, multiple actions, time spent in a segment of a structure, usage of specific words (e.g., “I” versus “we) when referring to actions, measurable results, sequence of segments within the structure, etc. The access to the analysis of the structure of the response significantly improves the accuracy of the content analysis. 
     In some embodiments, the presentation skill KPI&#39;s may be analyzed, such as the speaking rate, use of filler words and the detection thereof, intonation, emotions, etc. Analyzing various KPI&#39;s provides a broad set of modeling features for the machine learning engine to accurately estimate the overall quality of the response. Further, the analysis and implementation of the machine learning models allows for the feedback of the response to be explained to the user and provides a means for indicating specific segments within a structure which need improvement. 
       FIG. 1  illustrates an example of a computer system  100  that may be utilized to execute various procedures, including the processes described herein. The computer system  100  comprises a standalone computer or mobile computing device, a mainframe computer system, a workstation, a network computer, a desktop computer, a laptop, or the like. The computing device  100  can be embedded in another device, e.g., a mobile telephone, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a mobile audio or video player, a game console, a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver, or a portable storage device (e.g., a universal serial bus (USB) flash drive). 
     In some embodiments, the computer system  100  includes one or more processors  110  coupled to a memory  120  through a system bus  180  that couples various system components, such as an input/output (I/O) devices  130 , to the processors  110 . The bus  180  may be any of several types of bus structures including a memory bus or memory controller, a peripheral bus, and a local bus using any of a variety of bus architectures. For example, such architectures include Industry Standard Architecture (ISA) bus, Micro Channel Architecture (MCA) bus, Enhanced ISA (EISA) bus, Video Electronics Standards Association (VESA) local bus, and Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) bus, also known as Mezzanine bus. 
     In some embodiments, the computer system  100  includes one or more input/output (I/O) devices  130 , such as video device(s) (e.g., a camera), audio device(s), and display(s) are in operable communication with the computer system  100 . In some embodiments, similar I/O devices  130  may be separate from the computer system  100  and may interact with one or more nodes of the computer system  100  through a wired or wireless connection, such as over a network interface. 
     Processors  110  suitable for the execution of computer readable program instructions include both general and special purpose microprocessors and any one or more processors of any digital computing device. For example, each processor  110  may be a single processing unit or a number of processing units and may include single or multiple computing units or multiple processing cores. The processor(s)  110  can be implemented as one or more microprocessors, microcomputers, microcontrollers, digital signal processors, central processing units, state machines, logic circuitries, and/or any devices that manipulate signals based on operational instructions. For example, the processor(s)  110  may be one or more hardware processors and/or logic circuits of any suitable type specifically programmed or configured to execute the algorithms and processes described herein. The processor(s)  110  can be configured to fetch and execute computer readable program instructions stored in the computer-readable media, which can program the processor(s)  110  to perform the functions described herein. 
     In this disclosure, the term “processor” can refer to substantially any computing processing unit or device, including single-core processors, single-processors with software multithreading execution capability, multi-core processors, multi-core processors with software multithreading execution capability, multi-core processors with hardware multithread technology, parallel platforms, and parallel platforms with distributed shared memory. Additionally, a processor can refer to an integrated circuit, an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a digital signal processor (DSP), a field programmable gate array (FPGA), a programmable logic controller (PLC), a complex programmable logic device (CPLD), a discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof designed to perform the functions described herein. Further, processors can exploit nano-scale architectures, such as molecular and quantum-dot based transistors, switches, and gates, to optimize space usage or enhance performance of user equipment. A processor can also be implemented as a combination of computing processing units. 
     In some embodiments, the memory  120  includes computer-readable application instructions  150 , configured to implement certain embodiments described herein, and a database  150 , comprising various data accessible by the application instructions  140 . In some embodiments, the application instructions  140  include software elements corresponding to one or more of the various embodiments described herein. For example, application instructions  140  may be implemented in various embodiments using any desired programming language, scripting language, or combination of programming and/or scripting languages (e.g., C, C++, C#, JAVA, JAVASCRIPT, PERL, etc.). 
     In this disclosure, terms “store,” “storage,” “data store,” data storage,” “database,” and substantially any other information storage component relevant to operation and functionality of a component are utilized to refer to “memory components,” which are entities embodied in a “memory,” or components comprising a memory. Those skilled in the art would appreciate that the memory and/or memory components described herein can be volatile memory, nonvolatile memory, or both volatile and nonvolatile memory. Nonvolatile memory can include, for example, read only memory (ROM), programmable ROM (PROM), electrically programmable ROM (EPROM), electrically erasable ROM (EEPROM), flash memory, or nonvolatile random access memory (RAM) (e.g., ferroelectric RAM (FeRAM). Volatile memory can include, for example, RAM, which can act as external cache memory. The memory and/or memory components of the systems or computer-implemented methods can include the foregoing or other suitable types of memory. 
     Generally, a computing device will also include, or be operatively coupled to receive data from or transfer data to, or both, one or more mass data storage devices; however, a computing device need not have such devices. The computer readable storage medium (or media) can be a tangible device that can retain and store instructions for use by an instruction execution device. The computer readable storage medium can be, for example, an electronic storage device, a magnetic storage device, an optical storage device, an electromagnetic storage device, a semiconductor storage device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. A non-exhaustive list of more specific examples of the computer readable storage medium can include: a portable computer diskette, a hard disk, a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or Flash memory), a static random access memory (SRAM), a portable compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), a digital versatile disk (DVD), a memory stick, a floppy disk, a mechanically encoded device such as punch-cards or raised structures in a groove having instructions recorded thereon, and any suitable combination of the foregoing. In this disclosure, a computer readable storage medium is not to be construed as being transitory signals per se, such as radio waves or other freely propagating electromagnetic waves, electromagnetic waves propagating through a waveguide or other transmission media (e.g., light pulses passing through a fiber-optic cable), or electrical signals transmitted through a wire. 
     In some embodiments, the steps and actions of the application instructions  140  described herein are embodied directly in hardware, in a software module executed by a processor, or in a combination of the two. A software module may reside in RAM, flash memory, ROM memory, EPROM memory, EEPROM memory, registers, a hard disk, a removable disk, a CD-ROM, or any other form of storage medium known in the art. An exemplary storage medium may be coupled to the processor  110  such that the processor  110  can read information from, and write information to, the storage medium. In the alternative, the storage medium may be integrated into the processor  110 . Further, in some embodiments, the processor  110  and the storage medium may reside in an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC). In the alternative, the processor and the storage medium may reside as discrete components in a computing device. Additionally, in some embodiments, the events or actions of a method or algorithm may reside as one or any combination or set of codes and instructions on a machine-readable medium or computer-readable medium, which may be incorporated into a computer program product. 
     In some embodiments, the application instructions  140  for carrying out operations of the present disclosure can be assembler instructions, instruction-set-architecture (ISA) instructions, machine instructions, machine dependent instructions, microcode, firmware instructions, state-setting data, configuration data for integrated circuitry, or either source code or object code written in any combination of one or more programming languages, including an object oriented programming language such as Smalltalk, C++, or the like, and procedural programming languages, such as the “C” programming language or similar programming languages. The application instructions  140  can execute entirely on the user&#39;s computer, partly on the user&#39;s computer, as a stand-alone software package, partly on the user&#39;s computer and partly on a remote computer, or entirely on the remote computer or server. In the latter scenario, the remote computer can be connected to the user&#39;s computer through any type of network, including a local area network (LAN) or a wide area network (WAN), or the connection can be made to an external computer (for example, through the Internet using an Internet Service Provider). In some embodiments, electronic circuitry including, for example, programmable logic circuitry, field-programmable gate arrays (FPGA), or programmable logic arrays (PLA) can execute the computer readable program instructions by utilizing state information of the computer readable program instructions to personalize the electronic circuitry, in order to perform aspects of the present disclosure. 
     In some embodiments, the application instructions  140  can be downloaded to a computing/processing device from a computer readable storage medium, or to an external computer or external storage device via a network  190 . A network adapter card or network interface in each computing/processing device receives computer readable program instructions from the network and forwards the computer readable application instructions  140  for storage in a computer readable storage medium within the respective computing/processing device. 
     In some embodiments, the computer system  100  includes one or more interfaces  160  that allow the computer system  100  to interact with other systems, devices, or computing environments. In some embodiments, the computer system  100  comprises a network interface  165  to communicate with a network  190 . In some embodiments, the network interface  165  is configured to allow data to be exchanged between the computer system  100  and other devices attached to the network  190 , such as other computer systems, or between nodes of the computer system  100 . In various embodiments, the network interface  165  may support communication via wired or wireless general data networks, such as any suitable type of Ethernet network, for example, via telecommunications/telephony networks such as analog voice networks or digital fiber communications networks, via storage area networks such as Fiber Channel SANs, or via any other suitable type of network and/or protocol. Other interfaces include the user interface  170  and the peripheral device interface  175 . 
     In some embodiments, the network  190  corresponds to a local area network (LAN), wide area network (WAN), the Internet, a direct peer-to-peer network (e.g., device to device Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, etc.), and/or an indirect peer-to-peer network (e.g., devices communicating through a server, router, or other network device). The network  190  can comprise copper transmission cables, optical transmission fibers, wireless transmission, routers, firewalls, switches, gateway computers and/or edge servers. The network  190  can represent a single network or multiple networks. In some embodiments, the network  190  used by the various devices of the computer system  100  is selected based on the proximity of the devices to one another or some other factor. For example, when a first user device and second user device are near each other (e.g., within a threshold distance, within direct communication range, etc.), the first user device may exchange data using a direct peer-to-peer network. But when the first user device and the second user device are not near each other, the first user device and the second user device may exchange data using a peer-to-peer network (e.g., the Internet). The Internet refers to the specific collection of networks and routers communicating using an Internet Protocol (“IP”) including higher level protocols, such as Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (“TCP/IP”) or the Uniform Datagram Packet/Internet Protocol (“UDP/IP”). 
     Any connection between the components of the system may be associated with a computer-readable medium. For example, if software is transmitted from a website, server, or other remote source using a coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, digital subscriber line (DSL), or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio, and microwave, then the coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, DSL, or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio, and microwave are included in the definition of medium. As used herein, the terms “disk” and “disc” include compact disc (CD), laser disc, optical disc, digital versatile disc (DVD), floppy disk, and Blu-ray disc; in which “disks” usually reproduce data magnetically, and “discs” usually reproduce data optically with lasers. Combinations of the above should also be included within the scope of computer-readable media. In some embodiments, the computer-readable media includes volatile and nonvolatile memory and/or removable and non-removable media implemented in any type of technology for storage of information, such as computer-readable instructions, data structures, program modules, or other data. Such computer-readable media may include RAM, ROM, EEPROM, flash memory or other memory technology, optical storage, solid state storage, magnetic tape, magnetic disk storage, RAID storage systems, storage arrays, network attached storage, storage area networks, cloud storage, or any other medium that can be used to store the desired information and that can be accessed by a computing device. Depending on the configuration of the computing device, the computer-readable media may be a type of computer-readable storage media and/or a tangible non-transitory media to the extent that when mentioned, non-transitory computer-readable media exclude media such as energy, carrier signals, electromagnetic waves, and signals per se. 
     In some embodiments, the system is world-wide-web (www) based, and the network server is a web server delivering HTML, XML, etc., web pages to the computing devices. In other embodiments, a client-server architecture may be implemented, in which a network server executes enterprise and custom software, exchanging data with custom client applications running on the computing device. 
     In some embodiments, the system can also be implemented in cloud computing environments. In this context, “cloud computing” refers to a model for enabling ubiquitous, convenient, on-demand network access to a shared pool of configurable computing resources (e.g., networks, servers, storage, applications, and services) that can be rapidly provisioned via virtualization and released with minimal management effort or service provider interaction, and then scaled accordingly. A cloud model can be composed of various characteristics (e.g., on-demand self-service, broad network access, resource pooling, rapid elasticity, measured service, etc.), service models (e.g., Software as a Service (“SaaS”), Platform as a Service (“PaaS”), Infrastructure as a Service (“IaaS”), and deployment models (e.g., private cloud, community cloud, public cloud, hybrid cloud, etc.). 
     As used herein, the term “add-on” (or “plug-in”) refers to computing instructions configured to extend the functionality of a computer program, where the add-on is developed specifically for the computer program. The term “add-on data” refers to data included with, generated by, or organized by an add-on. Computer programs can include computing instructions, or an application programming interface (API) configured for communication between the computer program and an add-on. For example, a computer program can be configured to look in a specific directory for add-ons developed for the specific computer program. To add an add-on to a computer program, for example, a user can download the add-on from a website and install the add-on in an appropriate directory on the user&#39;s computer. 
     In some embodiments, the computer system  100  may include a user (i.e., a patient, caretaker, etc.) computing device  145 , an administrator computing device  185  and a third-party computing device  195  each in communication via the network  190 . The user computing device  145  may be utilized by a patient or a caretaker to interact with the various functionalities of the system. The administrator computing device  185  is utilized by an administrative user to moderate content and to perform other administrative functions. The third-party computing device  195  may be in communication with third-party users who are permitted to receive and/or transmit patient information. 
       FIG. 2  illustrates a flowchart for a method of evaluating an interview response provided by the user. After the user is prompted with an interview question, in step  200  the system receives the raw response as audio data, which is captured from the user&#39;s spoken response. The response is captured by the audio components, and the audio information is provided to a speech recognition engine to be transcribed in step  210 . The speech recognition engine both transcribes the audio information and provides timing information. In step  215 , the transcription is transmitted to a presentation skills KPI engine wherein the speaking rate, intonation, emotion, and other presentation parameters are analyzed. A segmentation engine segments phrases and/or sentences within the transcription in step  220 . A segment classification engine may then classify each of the segments into functional units in step  230 . A structural sequence KPI engine may then analyze the sequence of structures (such as by determining if the STAR response strategy is presented in order) in step  240 . In step  250 , a structure analysis engine may then verify the structures, separate the structures, and transmit the structures to the content KPI engine in step  260 . In step  270 , an overall rating for the response is determined by the machine learning engine using the results of the presentation skills KPI engine, structural sequence KPI engine, and content KPI engine. 
     In some embodiments, and in further reference to  FIG. 2 , the system utilizes machine learning techniques to leverage and generalize actual data to determine the overall rating. The composite model functions as a classifier which uses all of the information from the raw response in step  200  above to produce the overall rating in step  270 . In order to make the model useful to the user (i.e., to provide useful feedback and suggestions to the user submitting the response), the response is partitioned into two phases. The outputs of a first phase (steps  215 , 240 , and  260 ) serve both the input to the composite model classifier and the human readable constructive feedback and explanations. 
     In some embodiments, a composite model is created and applied on top of the analysis from each of the presentation skills KPI engine, structural sequence KPI engine, and content KPI engine to assess an overall rating. 
     In some embodiments, the segmentation classification engine utilizes deep learning models such that a plurality of separate models for each difference structure analysis may be trained with labeled responses. As input is provided into the deep learning model to retrieve the structure label (e.g., “situation” in STAR), and the structure labels are used to augment the phrases and/or sentences into functional units. 
     In some embodiments, the structure sequence KPI&#39;s may confirm whether the response follows the structure sequence requirements (e.g., is the response in the correct sequence of structures according to STAR or another response strategy). For example, the “situation” and “task” statements should be ahead of the “action” and “results” statements. 
     In some embodiments, content KPI&#39;s may be simple rules, such as a word count ratio threshold for the “situation” and “task” segment. 
     One skilled in the arts will readily understand that although the response structure and strategy STAR is used in the examples provided herein, other response strategies may be implemented. Notably, IDRPIM (introduction, duties, results, personality, interests and motivation) is another contemplated response strategy used to answer certain popular interview questions related to personal interview questions. In another example CPGI (culture, product, growth, and industry) may be utilized to assess the response of popular interview questions related to company research. 
       FIG. 3  illustrates an example computer architecture for the application program  300  operated via the computing system  100 . The computer system  100  comprises several modules and engines configured to execute the functionalities of the application program  300 , and a database engine  304  configured to facilitate how data is stored and managed in one or more databases. In particular,  FIG. 3  is a block diagram showing the modules and engines needed to perform specific tasks within the application program  200 . 
     Referring to  FIG. 3 , the computing system  100  operating the application program  300  comprises one or more modules having the necessary routines and data structures for performing specific tasks, and one or more engines configured to determine how the platform manages and manipulates data. In some embodiments, the application program  300  comprises one or more of a speech recognition engine  302 , a database engine  304 , a presentation skills KPI engine  310 , a user module  312 , a segmentation classification engine  314 , a display module  316 , a structure analysis engine  318 , a content KPI engine  320 , a structural sequence KPI engine  322  and a communication module  324 . 
     In some embodiments, a speech recognition engine  302  engine to receive audio information corresponding to a response to create a transcription of the response. 
     In some embodiments, a database engine  304  is configured to facilitate the storage, management, and retrieval of data to and from one or more storage mediums, such as the one or more internal databases described herein. In some embodiments, the database engine  304  is coupled to an external storage system. In some embodiments, the database engine  304  is configured to apply changes to one or more databases. In some embodiments, the database engine  304  comprises a search engine component for searching through thousands of data sources stored in different locations. 
     In some embodiments, the presentation skills KPI engine  310  analyzes the speaking rate, intonation, emotion, and other presentation parameters. 
     In some embodiments, the user module  312  facilitates the creation of a user account for the application system. The user module  312  may allow the user to create a user profile which includes user information, user preferences, establish user credentials, and the like. 
     In some embodiments, the segmentation classification engine  314  is in operable communication with the computing system to utilize deep learning models such that a plurality of separate models for each difference structure analysis may be trained with labeled responses. 
     In some embodiments, the display module  316  is configured to display one or more graphic user interfaces, including, e.g., one or more user interfaces, one or more consumer interfaces, one or more video presenter interfaces, etc. In some embodiments, the display module  316  is configured to temporarily generate and display various pieces of information in response to one or more commands or operations. The various pieces of information or data generated and displayed may be transiently generated and displayed, and the displayed content in the display module  316  may be refreshed and replaced with different content upon the receipt of different commands or operations in some embodiments. In such embodiments, the various pieces of information generated and displayed in a display module  316  may not be persistently stored. 
     In some embodiments, the structure analysis engine  318  verifies the structures, separate the structures, and transmit the structures to the content KPI engine  320 . 
     In some embodiments, the content KPI engine  320  a composite model is created and applied on top of the analysis from each of the presentation skills KPI engine  310 , structural sequence KPI engine  322 , and content KPI engine  320  to assess an overall rating. 
     In some embodiments, a sequence KPI engine  322  analyzes the sequence of structures (such as by determining if the STAR response strategy is presented in order). 
     In some embodiments, the communication module  324  is configured for receiving, processing, and transmitting a user command and/or one or more data streams. In such embodiments, the communication module  302  performs communication functions between various devices, including the user computing device  145 , the administrator computing device  185 , and a third-party computing device  195 . In some embodiments, the communication module  302  is configured to allow one or more users of the system, including a third-party, to communicate with one another. In some embodiments, the communications module  302  is configured to maintain one or more communication sessions with one or more servers, the administrative computing device  185 , and/or one or more third-party computing device(s)  195 . 
     In this disclosure, the various embodiments are described with reference to the flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, apparatus (systems), and computer program products. Those skilled in the art would understand that each block of the flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, and combinations of blocks in the flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, can be implemented by computer readable program instructions. The computer readable program instructions can be provided to a processor of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, such that the instructions, which execute via the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing apparatus, create means for implementing the functions or acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks. The computer readable program instructions can be stored in a computer readable storage medium that can direct a computer, a programmable data processing apparatus, and/or other devices to function in a particular manner, such that the computer readable storage medium having instructions stored therein comprises an article of manufacture including instructions which implement aspects of the function/act specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks. The computer readable program instructions can be loaded onto a computer, other programmable data processing apparatus, or other device to cause a series of operational acts to be performed on the computer, other programmable apparatus, or other device to produce a computer implemented process, such that the instructions that execute on the computer, other programmable apparatus, or other device implement the functions or acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks. 
     In this disclosure, the block diagrams in the Figures illustrate the architecture, functionality, and operation of possible implementations of systems, methods, and computer program products according to the various embodiments. Each block in the flowchart or block diagrams can represent a module, segment, or portion of instructions, which comprises one or more executable instructions for implementing the specified logical function(s). In some embodiments, the functions noted in the blocks can occur out of the order noted in the Figures. For example, two blocks shown in succession can, in fact, be executed concurrently or substantially concurrently, or the blocks can sometimes be executed in the reverse order, depending upon the functionality involved. In some embodiments, each block of the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, and combinations of blocks in the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, can be implemented by a special purpose hardware-based system that performs the specified functions or acts or carry out combinations of special purpose hardware and computer instructions. 
     In this disclosure, the subject matter has been described in the general context of computer-executable instructions of a computer program product running on a computer or computers, and those skilled in the art would recognize that this disclosure can be implemented in combination with other program modules. Generally, program modules include routines, programs, components, data structures, etc. that perform particular tasks and/or implement particular abstract data types. Those skilled in the art would appreciate that the computer-implemented methods disclosed herein can be practiced with other computer system configurations, including single-processor or multiprocessor computer systems, mini-computing devices, mainframe computers, as well as computers, hand-held computing devices (e.g., PDA, phone), microprocessor-based or programmable consumer or industrial electronics, and the like. The illustrated embodiments can be practiced in distributed computing environments where tasks are performed by remote processing devices that are linked through a communications network. Some embodiments of this disclosure can be practiced on a stand-alone computer. In a distributed computing environment, program modules can be located in both local and remote memory storage devices. 
     In this disclosure, the terms “component,” “system,” “platform,” “interface,” and the like, can refer to and/or include a computer-related entity or an entity related to an operational machine with one or more specific functionalities. The disclosed entities can be hardware, a combination of hardware and software, software, or software in execution. For example, a component can be a process running on a processor, a processor, an object, an executable, a thread of execution, a program, and/or a computer. By way of illustration, both an application running on a server and the server can be a component. One or more components can reside within a process and/or thread of execution and a component can be localized on one computer and/or distributed between two or more computers. In another example, respective components can execute from various computer readable media having various data structures stored thereon. The components can communicate via local and/or remote processes such as in accordance with a signal having one or more data packets (e.g., data from one component interacting with another component in a local system, distributed system, and/or across a network such as the Internet with other systems via the signal). As another example, a component can be an apparatus with specific functionality provided by mechanical parts operated by electric or electronic circuitry, which is operated by a software or firmware application executed by a processor. In such a case, the processor can be internal or external to the apparatus and can execute at least a part of the software or firmware application. As another example, a component can be an apparatus that provides specific functionality through electronic components without mechanical parts, wherein the electronic components can include a processor or other means to execute software or firmware that confers at least in part the functionality of the electronic components. In some embodiments, a component can emulate an electronic component via a virtual machine, e.g., within a cloud computing system. 
     The phrase “application” as is used herein means software other than the operating system, such as Word processors, database managers, Internet browsers and the like. Each application generally has its own user interface, which allows a user to interact with a particular program. The user interface for most operating systems and applications is a graphical user interface (GUI), which uses graphical screen elements, such as windows (which are used to separate the screen into distinct work areas), icons (which are small images that represent computer resources, such as files), pull-down menus (which give a user a list of options), scroll bars (which allow a user to move up and down a window) and buttons (which can be “pushed” with a click of a mouse). A wide variety of applications is known to those in the art. 
     The phrases “Application Program Interface” and API as are used herein mean a set of commands, functions and/or protocols that computer programmers can use when building software for a specific operating system. The API allows programmers to use predefined functions to interact with an operating system, instead of writing them from scratch. Common computer operating systems, including Windows, Unix, and the Mac OS, usually provide an API for programmers. An API is also used by hardware devices that run software programs. The API generally makes a programmer&#39;s job easier, and it also benefits the end user since it generally ensures that all programs using the same API will have a similar user interface. 
     The phrase “central processing unit” as is used herein means a computer hardware component that executes individual commands of a computer software program. It reads program instructions from a main or secondary memory, and then executes the instructions one at a time until the program ends. During execution, the program may display information to an output device such as a monitor. 
     The term “execute” as is used herein in connection with a computer, console, server system or the like means to run, use, operate or carry out an instruction, code, software, program and/or the like. 
     In this disclosure, the descriptions of the various embodiments have been presented for purposes of illustration and are not intended to be exhaustive or limited to the embodiments disclosed. Many modifications and variations will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the described embodiments. The terminology used herein was chosen to best explain the principles of the embodiments, the practical application or technical improvement over technologies found in the marketplace, or to enable others of ordinary skill in the art to understand the embodiments disclosed herein. Thus, the appended claims should be construed broadly, to include other variants and embodiments, which may be made by those skilled in the art.