Patent ID: 8015050

Claim:
An operation supporting apparatus comprising: a non-transitory memory portion that when executed by a computer stores characteristics of an operation to be multiplexed; a determination portion that determines, using at least one computer processor, whether multiple operations can be multiplexed on the basis of the characteristics thereof stored in the memory portion, and a characterization portion that categorizes multiple operations as a time constraint type operation in which a user is constrained by time until completion of the operation, or a unit group type operation in which the user is unconstrained by time in completing the operation, wherein for the time constraint type operations, the characteristics of the operation include at least a task attention interval (TAI) which is calculated based upon a degree of concentration of the consciousness of the user on the operation in a period of time, which is further based upon designating an expected amount of time a user will have to provide a particular level of concentration on the operation for each of a plurality of intervals over which the operation is processed, and for each unit group type operation, the characteristics of the operation include at least an unit accomplishment time (UAT) that is based upon an estimated time period necessary for completing one unit of the unit group operation, and wherein the determination portion further is programmed to calculate at least two of a sum of periods in which said multiple operations can be processed simultaneously, a sum of multiplex execution ratios (MRs) for combinations of multiple operations that can be processed simultaneously, and a sum of task execution ratios (TERs) of the unit group type operations when said multiple operations are processed simultaneously, on the basis of the characteristics of the operation to be multiplexed, and to determine whether said multiple operations can be multiplexed according to whether said type constraint type operations can be multiplexed with said unit group type operations based on combining said at least two sums that have been calculated, and on a comparison between the TAIs and UATs of the multiple operations.