Intuitive mapping between explicit and implicit personalization

• US 20030074447A1
• Filed: 10/16/2001
• Published: 04/17/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 10/16/2001
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.), Sony Electronics Inc. (Sony Group Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.), Sony Electronics Inc. (Sony Group Corp.)
• Inventors: Baraniuk, Monika, Godes, Jerrold, Rafey, Richter A., Hofrichter, Klaus, Wilson, David
• Application Number:
  US09/981,776
• Publication Number:
  US 20030074447A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/225
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/306 User profiles
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/329 in the application layer [OSI layer 7]

Abstract

A method for providing personalized use of a device. A usage profile, reflective of preferences of a client can be implicitly and/or explicitly updated to generate a refined profile. The profile may then be used to control usage of a corresponding device.

Claims

1. A method for providing personalized usage of a device:

providing a usage profile; and

refining using at least one of, explicit refinement or implicit refinement to generate a refined profile;

wherein the refined profile may be used to control usage of a corresponding device.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein implicit refinement comprises refining the usage profile according to a user'"'"'s usage patterns of the corresponding device.

3. The method as set forth in claim 1, wherein explicit refinement comprises enabling a user to modify the profile.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein explicit refinement comprises displaying using a web-based application to display the profile and enabling the user to modify the profile using the web-based application.

5. The method as set forth in claim 1, further comprising storing the refined profile.

6. The method as set forth in claim 1, further comprising further refining a refined profile by at least one process selected from the group consisting of explicitly refining and implicitly refining.

7. A method for providing customized usage of a device comprising:

a user generating a user generated profile of user preferences; and

implicitly refining the user generated profile based on the user'"'"'s usage patterns of a corresponding device.

8. The method as set forth in claim 7, further comprising further refining usage of a device selected from the group consisting of implicitly refining and explicitly refining, said explicitly refining comprising the user modifying the profile.

9. Machine readable media that provide instructions which when executed by a machine causes the machine to perform operations comprising:

providing a usage profile; and

refining using at least one of explicit refinement or implicit refinement to generate a refined profile;

wherein the refined profile may be used to control usage of a corresponding device.

10. The media as set forth in claim 9, further comprising further refining a refined profile by a process selected from the group consisting of explicitly refining and implicitly refining.

11. The media as set forth in claim 9, wherein implicit refinement comprises refining the usage profile according to a user'"'"'s usage patterns of the corresponding device.

12. The media as set forth in claim 9, wherein explicit refinement comprises enabling a user to modify the profile with direct visual feedback.

13. An apparatus comprising:

a preference database configured to store user preferences with respect to operation of at least one device;

an implicit profile developer configured to implicitly generate and refine user preferences based upon a user'"'"'s usage pattern of the at least one device; and

an explicit profile developer configured to enable a user to explicitly modify the user preferences to generate and refine a profile;

wherein the refined profile is used in the operation of the at least one device.

14. The apparatus as set forth in claim 13, wherein the apparatus is located one of local to, remote to or within the device.

15. The apparatus as set forth in claim 13, wherein the apparatus is located remotely at a service provider, the service provider coupled to the device.

16. The apparatus as set forth in claim 13, wherein the explicit profile developer comprises a coupled web-system configured to enable a user to modify user preferences through the world-wide-web.

17. The apparatus as set forth in claim 13, wherein the preferences database comprises specific criteria and a tally of interest for each criterion for at least one user.

18. The apparatus as set forth in claim 13, wherein the implicit profile developer is an automated system triggered by a user'"'"'s usage of the at least one device.