18216512. FEATURE DISCOVERY LAYER simplified abstract (Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC)

FEATURE DISCOVERY LAYER

Organization Name

Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC

Inventor(s)

Thomas Henry Alphin, Iii of Kirkland WA (US)

Jan-Kristian Markiewicz of Redmond WA (US)

Jan H. Karachale of Redmond WA (US)

Benjamin J. Schoepke of Seattle WA (US)

Ryan Brennen Cuppernull of Ann Arbor MI (US)

William Scott Stauber of Seattle WA (US)

Aury Fuchsia Delmar of Seattle WA (US)

Yashraj M. Borse of Redmond WA (US)

Albert Peter Yih of Seattle WA (US)

Jeffrey Matthew Smith of Monroe WA (US)

Michael Pe Von Hippel of Seattle WA (US)

Robert Armen Mikhayelyan of Seattle WA (US)

Eric Norman Badger of Redmond WA (US)

Ryan Lee Solorzano of Redmond WA (US)

Nishitha Burman of Seattle WA (US)

Juan Sebastian Sepulveda Varon of Vancouver WA (US)

Jerome Healy of Seattle WA (US)

FEATURE DISCOVERY LAYER - A simplified explanation of the abstract

This abstract first appeared for US patent application 18216512 titled 'FEATURE DISCOVERY LAYER

The abstract describes an operating system (OS) discovery mode that identifies and provides access to OS and/or third-party provided features within a desktop region. When activated, the mode analyzes content in the region to identify usable content and renders visual cues highlighting the availability of features. Users can interact with these cues to manipulate content or invoke features such as modifying application display, launching micro-experiences, or exporting images.

• Identification and access to OS and third-party features in a desktop region
• Analysis of content to identify usable features
• Rendering visual cues to highlight feature availability
• User interaction with cues to manipulate content or invoke features
• Modification of application display, launching micro-experiences, cropping or exporting images

Potential Applications: - Enhancing user experience by providing easy access to OS and third-party features - Improving productivity by allowing quick manipulation of content - Facilitating efficient workflow by launching micro-experiences inline

Problems Solved: - Difficulty in accessing and utilizing OS and third-party features within a desktop environment - Lack of visual cues to indicate feature availability - Inefficient content manipulation processes

Benefits: - Streamlined access to features for enhanced user experience - Increased productivity through quick content manipulation - Improved workflow efficiency with inline micro-experiences

Commercial Applications: Title: Enhanced Desktop Productivity Tool This technology can be utilized in various commercial applications such as software development tools, graphic design software, and productivity applications to enhance user experience and streamline workflow processes.

Questions about the technology: 1. How does the OS discovery mode improve user interaction with desktop content? 2. What are the key benefits of using visual cues to highlight feature availability in a desktop environment?

Original Abstract Submitted

Disclosed is an operating system (OS) discovery mode that identifies and provides access to OS and/or third-party provided features within an applicable region of a desktop. In some configurations, once the discovery mode is activated, the content displayed by the applicable region is analyzed to identify content usable by OS and/or third-party provided features. Visual cues are rendered in the applicable region near the identified content, highlighting the availability of the OS and/or third-party provided features. Users may interact with the visual cues to manipulate the underlying content or to invoke the OS and/or third-party provided features. OS and/or third-party provided features may modify content displayed by an application, launch an inline micro-experience, crop or export images, etc. While in the discovery mode, visual cues are highlighted as a discovery mouse cursor moves around the desktop. In some configurations the discovery mode is triggered automatically, causing an OS service to automatically identify and display a set of entity visual cues across the applicable region.