Patent Publication Number: US-10317975-B2

Title: Systems and methods for providing information regarding resource consumption or environmental impact associated with usage of a computer

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
     This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/055,757, filed Jan. 25, 2011, which is the National Stage Application of PCT application PCT/US2008/073668, filed Aug. 20, 2008, the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference as though fully set forth herein. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND 
     In the last several years, people have become more concerned with their resource consumption and its impact on the environment. Such concerns have reached new heights recently with a backdrop of spiking energy costs and seemingly endless discussions of global warming. 
     While most persons have a general appreciation of the impact that their actions have on resource consumption and the environment, many such persons do not appreciate the impact of their computer usage. Therefore, while a person may consider himself to be relatively environmentally conscious because he adheres to “green” practices, such as lowering the thermostat in winter and raising it in summer, he may still unknowingly consume unnecessary amounts of energy and other resources with his computer and its peripheral devices. In addition to lacking knowledge of the impact of their computer usage, such persons often do not know how to change their computer usage practices to reduce their consumption and the environmental impact associated with that usage. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The disclosed systems and methods can be better understood with reference to the following drawings. The components in the drawings are not necessarily to scale. 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a first embodiment of a computing device configured to provide a user with information regarding resource consumption or environmental impact associated with use of the computing device. 
         FIG. 2  is a perspective view of a second embodiment of a computing device configured to provide a user with information regarding resource consumption or environmental impact associated with use of the computing device. 
         FIG. 3  is a block diagram illustrating an embodiment of an architecture for the computing devices of  FIGS. 1 and 2 . 
         FIG. 4  is a flow diagram of an embodiment of a method for providing a user with information regarding resource consumption or environmental impact associated with use of the computing device. 
         FIGS. 5A and 5B  together comprise a flow diagram that illustrates an example of operation of a consumption/environmental impact reporting program. 
         FIGS. 6A and 6B  are schematic depictions of a graphical user interface that can be presented to a user. 
         FIG. 7  is a flow diagram of a further embodiment of a method for providing a user with information regarding resource consumption or environmental impact associated with use of the computing device. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     As described above, many persons do not appreciate the impact of their computer usage in terms of resource consumption or environmental impact. Furthermore, such persons often do not know how to change their computer usage practices to reduce that consumption or environmental impact. Disclosed herein are computers that collect data pertaining to the user&#39;s operation of the computer and provide the user with an indication of the user&#39;s resource consumption and environmental impact. In some embodiments, the indication comprises a relatively simple graphical representation of how well or how poorly the user is doing in conserving resources, such as electricity and paper, and reducing his or her environmental impact. In some embodiments, the user can opt to receive recommendations regarding his or her computer usage practices that will reduce the user&#39;s resource consumption and environmental impact. 
     Referring now in more detail to the drawings, in which like numerals indicate corresponding parts throughout the views,  FIG. 1  illustrates a first computing device  100  in the form of a notebook or “laptop” computer. As indicated in  FIG. 1 , the computing device  100  includes a base  102  and a display  104  that are pivotally attached to each other. The base  102  includes an outer housing  106  that surrounds various internal components of the computing device  100 , such as a processor, memory, hard drive, and the like. Also included in the base  102  are user input devices, including a keyboard  108  that comprises a plurality of keys  110 , a touchpad  112 , and selection buttons  114 . In addition to those input devices, the base  102  further comprises a dedicated environmental or “green” key  116  that can be selected to obtain information regarding resource consumption or environmental impact associated with the user&#39;s operation of the computing device  100 . In some embodiments, the key  116  can literally comprise a physical green-colored key to convey its association with environmental awareness and impact. The display  104  includes its own outer housing  118  that supports a display screen  120 , such as a liquid crystal display (LCD) screen. 
       FIG. 2  illustrates a second computing device  200  in the form of personal or “desktop” computer. As indicated in  FIG. 2 , the computing device  200  includes a main processing unit or “box”  202  and a display  204 . The processing unit  202  includes an outer housing  206  that surrounds various internal components of the computing device  200 , such as a processor, memory, hard drive, and the like. The display  204  includes its own outer housing  208  that supports a display screen  210 , such as a cathode ray tube (CRT) or LCD screen. 
     In addition to the processing unit  202  and the display  204 , the computing device  200  includes a keyboard  212  that comprises a plurality of keys  214 , such as conventional alphanumeric and function keys. In addition to those keys  214 , however, the keyboard  212  comprises a dedicated environmental key or green-key  216  that, like the key  116 , can be green in color and can be selected to obtain information regarding resource consumption or environmental impact associated with the use of the computing device  200 . 
       FIG. 3  is a block diagram illustrating an example architecture for one or both of the computing devices  100  and  200 . As indicated in  FIG. 3  the computing device  100 ,  200  comprises a processor  300 , memory  302 , a user interface  304 , and at least one I/O device  306 , each of which is connected to a local interface  308 . 
     The processor  300  can comprise a central processing unit (CPU) that controls overall operation of the computing device  100 ,  200 . The memory  302  includes any one of or a combination of volatile memory elements (e.g., RAM) and nonvolatile memory elements (e.g., hard disk, ROM, tape, etc.) that store code that can be executed by the processor  300 . 
     The user interface  304  comprises the components with which a user interacts with the computer  100 ,  200 . The user interface  304  at least includes a keyboard that comprises a green-key, such as green-key  116  or  216 . The one or more I/O devices  306  are adapted to facilitate communications with other devices and may include one or more communication components such as a modulator/demodulator (e.g., modem), wireless (e.g., radio frequency (RF)) transceiver, network card, etc. 
     The memory  302  comprises one or more computer-readable media that store various programs (i.e., logic) including an operating system  310 , a consumption monitoring program  312 , and a consumption/environmental impact reporting program  314 . The operating system  310  controls the execution of other programs and provides scheduling, input-output control, file and data management, memory management, and communication control and related services. The consumption monitoring program  312  continuously monitors the consumption of resources associated with operation of the computing device  100 ,  200  and associated peripheral devices, such resources including, for example, electricity and paper. 
     Responsive to detection of selection of a green button  116  or  216 , the reporting program  314  provides the user with information regarding resource consumption or environmental impact associated with the user&#39;s operation of the computing device  100 ,  200 . As described below, that indication can comprise a relatively simple graphical representation of how well or poorly the user is doing in conserving energy or reducing his or her environment impact in association with his or her usage of the computing device  100 ,  200 . In some embodiments, the determination as to how well the user is doing is made through comparison of the consumption data collected by the consumption monitoring program  312  and data contained in a best practices database  316  that specifies the practices that are considered to be best in terms of resource conservation or environmental friendliness. 
     Referring next to  FIG. 4 , illustrated is an embodiment of a method for providing a user with information regarding resource consumption or environmental impact associated with use of the computing device. Beginning with block  400 , a consumption monitoring program that executes on a computing device monitors operation of the computing device and its peripherals and stores consumption data. In some embodiments, the consumption monitoring program continuously accumulates and stores power consumption data, including the power draw of the components of the computing device during active use and during periods of inactivity (i.e., active and passive power consumption), the amount or percentage of time the computing device operates in a hibernation mode in which certain components are powered down during periods of inactivity, the amount or percentage of time the computing device operates in sleep mode in which the display is powered down during periods of inactivity, the amount or percentage of time the processor is operating, usage of peripherals (e.g., printers) and the consumption of resources (e.g., paper) associated with that use, and any other information relevant to the consumption of resources in association with operation of the computing device and its peripherals. 
     After some duration of such monitoring and storage, a user of the computing device selects the green-key, as indicated in block  402 . As described above, the green-key can comprise a physical green-colored key that is included with a keyboard of the computing device. In such a case, selection of the green-key would comprise the user pressing the green-key. Notably, however, the green-key can, in other embodiments, comprise a virtual key or other icon that is presented to the user in the display of the computing device, such as on the virtual desktop or the displayed task bar. In such a case, selection of the green-key would comprise selecting (e.g., double-clicking) the icon using an appropriate pointing device, such as a mouse or a touchpad. 
     Once the green-key has been selected, the consumption/environmental impact reporting program  314 , as indicated in block  404 , presents information to the user regarding one or both of the user&#39;s consumption of resources and the environmental impact of that consumption associated with the user operation of the computing device and its peripherals. Notably, there is overlap between resource consumption and environmental impact. For example, the consumption of power by computer users in the aggregate increases the amount of electricity that must be generated by power plants, which may use environmentally unfriendly materials, such as coal, to generate that electricity. Furthermore, the consumption of paper by computer users in the aggregate increases the demand for paper and, therefore, can cause further deforestation. It is further noted, however, that information about resource consumption may be of interest to the user independent of environmental concerns. For example, due to rising energy costs, some users may be more concerned with the costs associated with their computer usage practices. Due to the overlap between resource consumption and environmental impact, however, the information presented to the user can simultaneously provide the user with an indication of both aspects phenomena. 
     As described above, the information provided to the user can be conveyed in the form of a simple graphical representation of how well or poorly the user is doing from an energy conservation or environmental friendliness perspective. In some embodiments, the graphical representation can comprise a graphic image of a tree, with the size or apparent health of the tree reflecting the user&#39;s operation of the computing device and its peripherals. By way of example, a small and/or wilting tree can signify high resource consumption and a negative environmental impact, while a tall and/or robust tree can signify low resource consumption and a relatively small environmental impact (or a positive environmental impact). Alternatively, how well or poorly the user is doing with his or her usage can be reflected by a number of trees, with a relatively small number of trees signifying high resource consumption and a negative environmental impact, and a large number of trees (e.g., a forest) signifying low resource consumption and a relatively small environmental impact. 
     Many variations on the environment-centric graphical representation are possible. For example, the graphical representation could comprise a given number or carbon credits with a greater number of credits signifying good practices and a lower number of credits signifying poor practices. In other embodiments, the graphical representation can focus on energy consumption or costs as opposed to environmental impact. For example, the graphical representation could comprise a number of light bulbs, with a greater number of bulbs signifying high power consumption and therefore poor practices and a lower number of bulbs signifying low power consumption and cost and therefore good practices. As a further example, the graphical representation could comprise stacks of currency (e.g., dollar bills) or gold coins with large stacks bills signifying high power consumption and cost and high costs and therefore poor practices and smaller stacks signifying low power consumption and low costs and therefore good practices. In some embodiments, the type of graphical representation presented can be chosen by the user as a configuration setting. 
     Irrespective of the form of the information that is presented to the user, the user can quickly develop an appreciation of how well or poorly the user is operating his computing device and peripherals from a resource consumption or environmental impact standpoint. Assuming the user believes there is room for improvement, the user can then change his or her computer usage practices and, after the passage of time (e.g., one or a few weeks), the user can again select the green-key to see if there is any improvement due to the adoption of better usage practices. 
       FIGS. 5A and 5B  illustrate an example of operation of the consumption/environmental impact reporting program  314  identified in  FIG. 3 . Beginning with block  500  of  FIG. 5A , the consumption/environmental impact reporting program  314  is activated. As described above, such activation can occur in response to the green-key being selected by the user. Next, as indicated in block  502 , the reporting program  314  collects resource consumption data that has been accumulated by the monitoring program. In some embodiments, the consumption data is contained in a table that is populated by the monitoring program. Regardless, the data provides an indication of resource consumption by the computing device and its peripherals. In some embodiments, the reporting program  314  collects only recent data from the table, for example, that accumulated over the last month or week. In some embodiments, the period of time to be used can be selected by the user as a configuration setting. 
     Once the reporting program  314  collects the consumption data, it compares that data to best practices data, as indicated in block  504 . In some embodiments, the best practices data can be stored in a database within local memory of the computing device and echoes best practices established by a relevant authoritative or governing body. By way of example, the best practices data incorporates the  80  PLUS standard established by the U.S. Department of Energy. Irrespective of the basis for the best practices data, that data identifies the usage practices that are considered useful in conserving resources and/or reducing environmental impact without being unduly restrictive. The comparison can take into consideration various specific practices followed by the user. For example, the reporting program can consider how quickly the user&#39;s computing device goes into a hibernation mode, how long the user&#39;s computing device sits idle while plugged into a wall outlet (and therefore passively consumes power), how many pieces of paper are consumed by the user during printing, and so forth. Each of those practices can be individually compared with an associated best practice to gauge how well the user conserving resources or controlling his or her environmental impact. 
     Once the various comparisons have been made, the reporting program  314  presents the user with a graphical representation of how well the user is doing from a resources consumption or environmental impact standpoint, as indicated in block  506 . In some embodiments, the user is presented with a graphical user interface in the form of a dialog box that includes the graphical representation.  FIGS. 6A and 6B  illustrate such a dialog box  600 . With reference to  FIG. 6A , the dialog box  600  includes a graphical image of a tree  602 , which can as represent the impact of the user&#39;s practices on the environment. In the example of  FIG. 6A , the tree  602  is a mere sapling and therefore conveys room for improvement. In addition, the dialog box  600  includes a message  604  that states “You could do better” to underscore the message conveyed by the sapling. 
     With reference back to  FIG. 5A , the user can further be presented with the option to receive usage recommendations that would reduce the user&#39;s resource consumption or environmental impact (block  508 ). As indicated in  FIG. 6A , such an option can be presented in the dialog box  600  as a selectable link  606  to information as to how the user can improve his or her computer usage practices. With reference to decision block  510  of  FIG. 5A , if the user does not wish to receive such recommendations, flow is terminated for the session. If, on the other hand, the user wishes to receive recommendations, flow continues to block  512  at which the recommendations are presented to the user, for example in the dialog box  600 . The nature of the recommendations will depend upon the user&#39;s particular computer usage practices and, specifically, upon those practices upon which the user could improve and/or that would have the greatest impact. Therefore, if, for example, the user does not have his or her computing device set to automatically go into hibernation mode after sitting idle for several minutes, the reporting program  314  could recommend a setting change to the user that would cause hibernation or occur sooner. In some embodiments, if the user tends to leave his or her desktop computer running for many hours when not being used, the reporting program  314  could recommend shutting the computer down when imminent use is not foreseen. Another recommendation could be to unplug a notebook computer when it is not being used to reduce its passive power consumption and extend its battery life. Yet another recommendation could be to reduce boot time to reduce processor power consumption. Yet another recommendation could be to replace an outdated computer if newer computers are significantly more energy efficient. 
     Irrespective of the recommendations that are provided, the user can then be presented with the option of running a simulation that assumes adoption of one or more of the recommendations, as indicated in block  514  of  FIG. 5B . With reference to decision block  516 , if the user does not wish to run such a simulation, flow for the session is terminated. If, however, the user does wish to run the simulation, the user&#39;s selections for changes to be used in the simulation are received, as indicated in block  518 , and the reporting program  314  runs the simulation and presents a further graphical representation to the user, as indicated in block  520 . Assuming the changes the user selected have a significant impact on resource consumption or the environment, the graphical representation will reflect a significant improvement. Such an improvement is depicted in  FIG. 6B , which in contrast to the small sapling  602  of  FIG. 6A  depicts a mature tree  608  and further includes a message  610  that states “Congratulations, you&#39;re doing great!” The improvement in the graphical representation not only provides a clear indication of how much better the user could do but further provides motivation to the user to change his or her computer usage practices. 
     Assuming the user makes changes to his or her computer usage practices, the user should see similar signs of improvement when the green-key is selected in the future. Therefore, with each coming week or month, the user can watch his tree grow tall and healthy, providing the user both with feedback as to how the user has improved in terms and a feeling of accomplishment. It is hoped that such feedback and that feeling of accomplishment will inspire computer users to operate their computers in a more conservation minded and environmentally friendly way that, in the aggregate, will have a significant impact on preserving the planet&#39;s resources and environmental health. 
       FIG. 7  illustrates a further method for providing a user with information regarding resource consumption or environmental impact associated with use of the computing device. The method comprises monitoring on a computing device resource consumption (block  700 ), storing resource consumption data obtained from the monitoring (block  702 ), receiving a request from the user for information regarding resource consumption or environmental impact associated with the user&#39;s operation of the computing device (block  704 ), and presenting to the user information regarding resource consumption or environmental impact (block  706 ).