Automated online purchasing system
First Claim
1. An automated online purchasing system, comprising:
- a knowledge base comprising knowledge, meta-knowledge that was created at a time of entry of said knowledge, and meta-knowledge in the form of one or more annotations that accumulate over time, said annotations including any of, but not limited to, usefulness of said knowledge, additional user opinions, certifications of veracity of said knowledge, commentary by users, and connections between said knowledge and other units of knowledge;
a user learning model comprising any of;
information on a user'"'"'s needs, capabilities, knowledge, and preferences, said meta-knowledge stored in said knowledge base, and generalized knowledge about how people learn; and
a knowledge base viewer, wherein if annotations associated with a visible item within said knowledge base indicate that said item is available for purchase, said user is presented with an option to purchase said item.
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Abstract
The invention uses the underlying structures and features of a knowledge web system to provide a simple, rapid, and convenient method of online purchasing. During ordinary use of a knowledge web viewer, if the annotations associated with a visible item indicate that it is available for purchase, the user is presented with an option to purchase the item. Preferably, this is accomplished through the appearance or “un-graying-out” of a buy button in a control panel region of the knowledge web viewer. The determination of the availability for sale of an item may be made using the annotations associated with the particular topics, i.e. nodes within the knowledge web labeled graph structure, visible within the knowledge web viewer. Such annotations indicate the specific vendors offering the item for sale, and may also indicate such information as pricing and availability. Annotations indicating other users'"'"' opinions of the available item may also be presented to the user so that he may make an informed purchase. If the user indicates that he wants to purchase the item, preferably by selecting the buy button, the knowledge web viewer uses the annotations to contact a vendor. If the annotations indicate that more than one vendor is available, the knowledge web viewer consults a user model to determine which of the available vendors is preferred by the user. To streamline the purchase process further, the personal information required by the vendor to transact the sale may be extracted directly from the user model, without further input from the user. Such information may include the users'"'"' preferred method of payment, method of shipment, and shipping address. Due to the structure, storage, and access privileges associated with the user model, the integrity and security of all sensitive personal information is ensured.
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Citations
24 Claims
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1. An automated online purchasing system, comprising:
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a knowledge base comprising knowledge, meta-knowledge that was created at a time of entry of said knowledge, and meta-knowledge in the form of one or more annotations that accumulate over time, said annotations including any of, but not limited to, usefulness of said knowledge, additional user opinions, certifications of veracity of said knowledge, commentary by users, and connections between said knowledge and other units of knowledge;
a user learning model comprising any of;
information on a user'"'"'s needs, capabilities, knowledge, and preferences, said meta-knowledge stored in said knowledge base, and generalized knowledge about how people learn; and
a knowledge base viewer, wherein if annotations associated with a visible item within said knowledge base indicate that said item is available for purchase, said user is presented with an option to purchase said item. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. An automated online purchasing method, comprising the steps of:
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providing a knowledge base comprising knowledge, meta-knowledge that was created at a time of entry of said knowledge, and meta-knowledge in the form of one or more annotations that accumulate over time, said annotations including any of, but not limited to, usefulness of said knowledge, additional user opinions, certifications of veracity of said knowledge, commentary by users, and connections between said knowledge and other units of knowledge;
providing a user learning model comprising any of;
information on a user'"'"'s needs, capabilities, knowledge, and preferences, said meta-knowledge stored in said knowledge base, and generalized knowledge about how people learn; and
providing a knowledge web viewer, wherein if annotations associated with a visible item within said knowledge base indicate that said item is available for purchase, said user is presented with an option to purchase said item. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24)
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Specification