IP Library Granted Patent US 12,373,745
Granted Patent B2
US 12,373,745 · App. 17/707,641 · Granted Jul 29, 2025

Method and system for facilitating convergence

Inventors: Heidi Kenyon (Bellingham, WA); Choo Yei Chong (Redmond, WA); Megan Elizabeth Slater (Seattle, WA); Christopher Michael Dollar (Renton, WA); Wende Ellen Copfer (Woodinville, WA); Venkata Sreekanth Kannepalli (Redmond, WA); Shabnam Erfani (Kirkland, WA); Amy Lieh-An Huang (Seattle, WA); Neha Parikh Shah (Glen Ridge, NJ); Edward Michael Doran (Sammamish, WA)
Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC
G06Q10/0631G06N5/04G06N20/00G06Q10/1095
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 12,373,745
App. No.
17/707,641
Granted
Jul 29, 2025
Kind
B2
Abstract

A system and method for facilitating convergence includes receiving a request to schedule a meeting at a meeting time, retrieve at least one of user data, contextual data, facility data and map data, the user data including a list of a plurality of meeting participants for the meeting, providing at least one of the list of the plurality of meeting participants, the meeting time, the user data, and the facility data to a trained machine-learning (ML) model for predicting a location at which two or more of the plurality of meeting participants will be located within a given time period prior to the meeting time, receiving the predicted location as an output from the trained ML model, and identifying a meeting location from among one or more meeting venues based on the predicted location of the two or more of the plurality of meeting participants, and providing the meeting location for display in a first selectable user interface element.

Claims (43)

1. An improved data processing system for facilitating convergence between people comprising:

a processor; and

a memory in communication with the processor, the memory comprising executable instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the data processing system to perform functions of:

receiving a request to schedule a meeting at a meeting time;

retrieving, at a user location identifier engine, at least one of user data, contextual data, facility data and map data, the user data including a list of a plurality of meeting participants for the meeting, the user location identifier engine including a user location identifier machine-learning (ML) model trained with an initial training set, and the facility data including data collected from smart building features;

providing the facility data and at least one of the list of the plurality of meeting participants, the meeting time, and the user data to the trained user location identifier ML model for predicting a location at which two or more of the plurality of meeting participants will be located within a given time period prior to the meeting time, the trained user location identifier ML model determining a set of predicted user locations based on the facility data and at least one of the list of the plurality of meeting participants, the meeting time, and the user data;

receiving the set of predicted user locations by the user location identifier engine from the trained user location identifier ML model, wherein the trained user location identifier ML model identifies patterns in user activity, and determines associations between users, predicted facility use, and the set of predicted user locations;

continually training the trained user location identifier ML model with an ongoing training set that includes the user data and the facility data having been accumulated and analyzed over time, and with supplemental training data received from a user device;

identifying a meeting location from among one or more meeting venues based on the set of predicted user locations of the two or more of the plurality of meeting participants;

providing the meeting location for display in a first selectable user interface element; and

providing a second selectable user interface element for automatically making a reservation at the identified meeting location for the meeting.

2. The data processing system of claim 1 , wherein at least one of the user data or contextual data includes at least one of a user preference for one or more of the plurality of meeting participants and an accessibility requirement for one or more of the plurality of meeting participants, and the meeting location is identified based on the predicted location and at least one of the user preference or the accessibility requirement.

3. The data processing system of claim 2 , wherein the user preference includes at least one of preferred mode of transportation, dietary restrictions, venue preferences, parking preferences, and carbon emission preferences.

4. The data processing system of claim 1 , wherein the meeting location is identified based on geographic proximity of the predicted location of the two or more of the plurality of meeting participants to venue locations of the one or more meeting venues.

5. The data processing system of claim 1 , wherein the meeting location is identified based on travel time from the predicted location of the two or more of the plurality of meeting participants to venue locations of the one or more meeting venues.

6. The data processing system of claim 1 , wherein the meeting location is provided for display on a map.

7. The data processing system of claim 1 , wherein the meeting location is identified based on travel time from the meeting location to a location to which one or more of the plurality of meeting participants will travel to after the meeting.

8. A method for identifying a meeting location for a meeting comprising:

receiving a request to schedule the meeting at a meeting time;

retrieving, at a user location identifier engine, at least one of user data, contextual data, facility data and map data, the user data including a list of a plurality of meeting participants for the meeting, the user location identifier engine including a user location identifier machine-learning (ML) model trained with an initial training set and the facility data including data collected from smart building features;

providing the facility data and at least one of the list of the plurality of meeting participants, the meeting time, and the user data to the trained user location identifier ML model for predicting a location at which two or more of the plurality of meeting participants will be located within a given time period prior to the meeting time, the trained user location identifier ML model determining a set of predicted user locations based on the facility data and at least one of the list of the plurality of meeting participants, the meeting time, and the user data;

receiving the set of predicted user locations by the user location identifier engine from the trained user location identifier ML model wherein the trained user location identifier ML model identifies patterns in user activity, and determines associations between users, predicted facility use, and the set of predicted user locations;

continually training the trained user location identifier ML model with an ongoing training set that includes the user data and the facility data having been accumulated and analyzed over time, and with supplemental training data received from a user device;

identifying a meeting location from among one or more meeting venues based on the set of predicted user locations of the two or more of the plurality of meeting participants;

providing the meeting location for display in a first selectable user interface element; and

providing a second selectable user interface element for automatically making a reservation at the identified meeting location for the meeting.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein the meeting location is identified based on geographic proximity of the predicted location of the two or more of the plurality of meeting participants to venue locations of the one or more meeting venues.

10. The method of claim 8 , wherein the meeting location is identified based on travel time from the predicted location of the two or more of the plurality of meeting participants to venue locations of the one or more meeting venues.

11. The method of claim 8 , wherein the meeting location is provided for display on a map.

12. The method of claim 8 , wherein the meeting location is identified based on travel time from the meeting location to a location to which one or more of the plurality of meeting participants will travel to after the meeting.

13. A non-transitory computer readable medium on which are stored instructions that, when executed, cause a programmable device to perform functions of:

receiving a request to schedule a meeting at a meeting time;

retrieving, at a user location identifier engine, at least one of user data, contextual data, facility data and map data, the user data including a list of a plurality of meeting participants for the meeting, the user location identifier engine including a user location identifier machine-learning (ML) model trained with an initial training set and the facility data including data collected from smart building features;

providing the facility data and at least one of the list of the plurality of meeting participants, the meeting time, and the user data to the trained user location identifier ML model for predicting a location at which two or more of the plurality of meeting participants will be located within a given time period prior to the meeting time, the trained user location identifier ML model determining a set of predicted user locations based on the facility data and at least one of the list of the plurality of meeting participants, the meeting time, and the user data;

receiving the set of predicted user locations by the user location identifier engine from the trained user location identifier ML model, wherein the trained user location identifier ML model identifies patterns in user activity, and determines associations between users, predicted facility use, and the set of predicted user locations;

continually training the trained user location identifier ML model with an ongoing training set that includes the user data and the facility data having been accumulated and analyzed over time, and with supplemental training data received from a user device;

identifying a meeting location from among one or more meeting venues based on the set of predicted user locations of the two or more of the plurality of meeting participants;

providing the meeting location for display in a first selectable user interface element; and

providing a second selectable user interface element for automatically making a reservation at the identified meeting location for the meeting.

14. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 13 , wherein the meeting location is identified based on geographic proximity of the predicted location of the two or more of the plurality of meeting participants to venue locations of the one or more meeting venues.

15. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 13 , wherein the meeting location is identified based on travel time from the predicted location of the two or more of the plurality of meeting participants to venue locations of the one or more meeting venues.

16. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 13 , wherein the meeting location is provided for display on a map.

17. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 13 , wherein the meeting location is identified based on travel time from the meeting location to a location to which one or more of the plurality of meeting participants will travel to after the meeting.

Assignments (1)
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Mar 29, 2022
From: KENYON, HEIDI; CHONG, CHOO YEI; SLATER, MEGAN ELIZABETH; DOLLAR, CHRISTOPHER MICHAEL; COPFER, WENDE ELLEN; KANNEPALLI, VENKATA SREEKANTH; ERFANI, SHABNAM; HUANG, AMY LIEH-AN; SHAH, NEHA PARIKH; DORAN, EDWARD MICHAEL
To: MICROSOFT TECHNOLOGY LICENSING, LLC
Reel/Frame 059430/0119 →
Continuity (2)
Provisional Application 63289440 · Dec 14, 2021
Related Publication 20230186247A1 · Jun 15, 2023
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