Drawing an inference of a usage context of a computing device using multiple sensors

1. A method comprising:

invoking, by a computing device, operations of a set of sensors from a plurality of chosen sensors to provide information for an inference;

receiving, by the computing device and from a first one or more of the set of sensors, first information;

determining, by the computing device and based at least in part on the first information, and with a degree of confidence or a margin of error, the inference associated with a usage context of the computing device;

comparing, by the computing device, the degree of confidence or the margin of error with a respective confidence threshold or an respective error threshold;

responsive to determining that the degree of confidence is greater than or equal to the respective confidence threshold or if the margin of error is less than or equal to the respective error threshold, cancelling, by the computing device, operations of a second one or more of the set of sensors from which the computing device has not yet received second information for the inference associated with the usage context of the computing device, wherein the second one or more of the set of sensors are different from the first one or more of the set of sensors; and

configuring, by the computing device, based at least in part on the inference associated with the usage context of the computing device, at least a functionality of the computing device.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the inference is selected from a group consisting of: a measurement, a determination, a Boolean value, a prediction, a geographical location, and an activity determination.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the set of sensors comprises every sensor in the plurality of chosen sensors.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the set of sensors is selected from the plurality of chosen sensors based at least in part on an element selected from a group consisting of: an expected margin of error for information to be provided by at least one sensor from the set of sensors, an expected degree of confidence for information to be provided by the at least one sensor, an expected amount of resources to be consumed by the at least one sensor, an expected overlap of information to be provided by the set of sensors, an expected amount of time used by a sensor to provide information, an expected price for using the at least one sensor, a privacy consideration for using the at least one sensor, an importance of the inference to be drawn, and an acceptability threshold for information for the inference.

5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

responsive to determining that the degree of confidence is less than the respective confidence threshold or that the margin of error is greater than the respective error threshold:

waiting to receive the second information from the second one or more of the set of sensors; and

repeating the determining of the inference and the comparing with the second information received from the second one or more of the set of sensors until the degree of confidence is greater than or equal to the respective confidence threshold, the margin of error is less than or equal to the respective error threshold, or until the first information and the second information have been received from all of the set of sensors.

6. An apparatus comprising:

a plurality of chosen sensors,

at least one processor configured to:

invoke operations of a set of sensors from the plurality of chosen sensors to provide information for an inference;

receive, from a first one or more of the set of sensors, first information;

determine, based at least in part on the first information and with a degree of confidence or a margin of error, the inference associated with a usage context of a computing device;

compare the degree of confidence or the margin of error with a respective confidence threshold or error threshold; and

responsive to determining that the degree of confidence is greater than or equal to the respective confidence threshold or if the margin of error is less than or equal to the respective error threshold, cancel operations of a second one or more of the set of sensors from which the computing device has not yet received second information for the inference associated with the usage context of the computing device, wherein the second one or more of the set of sensors are different from the first one or more of the set of sensors; and

configure, based at least in part on the inference associated with the usage context of the computing device, at least a functionality of the computing device.

7. The apparatus of claim 6 , further comprising:

wherein the at least one processor is configured to select the set of sensors from the plurality of chosen sensors and to select a sensor remote from the apparatus.

8. The apparatus of claim 6 , wherein the inference is selected from a group consisting of: a measurement, a determination, a Boolean value, a predication, a geographical location, and an activity determination.

9. The apparatus of claim 6 , wherein the set of sensors comprises every sensor in the plurality of chosen sensors.

10. The apparatus of claim 6 , wherein the set of sensors comprises at least one sensor of a group consisting of: an accelerometer, an acoustic sensor, an infrared sensor, a magnetometer, a global positioning system, a short-range radio, and a wireless local-area-network radio.

11. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium comprising instructions that, when executed on at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to:

invoke a set of sensors from a plurality of chosen sensors to provide information for an inference;

receive, from a first one or more of the set of sensors, first information;

determine, based at least in part on the received first information and with a degree of confidence or a margin of error, the inference associated with a usage context of a computing device;

compare, by the computing device, the degree of confidence or the margin of error with a respective confidence threshold or error threshold;

responsive to determining that the degree of confidence is greater than or equal to the respective confidence threshold or if the margin of error is less than or equal to the respective error threshold, cancel operations of a second one or more of the set of sensors from which the computing device has not yet received second information for the inference associated with the usage context of the computing device, wherein the second one or more of the set of sensors are different from the first one or more of the set of sensors; and

configure, based at least in part on the inference associated with the usage context of the computing device, at least a functionality of the computing device.

12. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 11 , wherein the inference is selected from a group consisting of: a measurement, a determination, a Boolean value, a prediction, a geographical location, and an activity determination.

13. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 11 , wherein the set of sensors comprises every sensor in the plurality of chosen sensors.

14. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 11 , wherein the set of sensors is chosen from the plurality of chosen sensors based at least in part on an element selected from the group consisting of: an expected margin of error for information to be provided by a sensor, an expected degree of confidence for information to be provided by a sensor, an expected amount of resources to be consumed by a sensor, an expected overlap of information to be provided by a set of sensors, an expected amount of time used by a sensor to provide information, an expected price for using a sensor, a privacy consideration for using a sensor, an importance of the inference to be drawn, and an acceptability threshold for information for the inference.

15. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 11 , wherein the instructions, when executed on the at least one processor, further cause the at least one processor to:

responsive to the degree of confidence of the inference being less than the respective confidence threshold or if the margin of error is greater than the respective error threshold,

wait to receive the second information from at least one of the second one or more of the set of sensors, and

repeat the drawing and comparing steps with the second information received from the second one or more of the set of sensors until the degree of confidence is greater than or equal to the respective confidence threshold, the margin of error is less than or equal to the respective error threshold, or until the first information and the second information have been received from all of the set of sensors.