Large group interactions

• US 20030227479A1
• Filed: 10/25/2002
• Published: 12/11/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 05/01/2000
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Invoke Solutions, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Invoke Solutions, Inc.
• Inventors: Mizrahi, Aharon Ronen, Weisenstern, Amir Meir
• Granted Patent: US 7,092,821 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 715/753
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/10 Control of the course of the game, e.g. start, progess, end
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/12 involving interaction between a plurality of game devices, e.g. transmisison or distribution systems protocols for networked virtual reality, networked games H04L29/06034
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/30 Interconnection arrangements between game servers and game devices; Interconnection arrangements between game devices; Interconnection arrangements between game servers
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/335 using Internet
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/45 Controlling the progress of the video game
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/80 Special adaptations for executing a specific game genre or game mode
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/8064 Quiz
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 99/00 Subject matter not provided for in other groups of this subclass
• CPC Class Codes: G09B 7/00 Electrically-operated teaching apparatus or devices working with questions and answers mechanically operated G09B3/00; computing arrangements G06F

Abstract

A method of supporting mass human-interaction events, including: providing a mass interaction event by a computer network (100) in which a plurality of participants (102) interact with each other by generating information comprising of questions, responses to questions and fact information for presentation to other participants and assimilating information: and controlling, automatically by a computer (104) the rate of information presentation to each participant, to be below a maximum information assimilation rate of each participant.

Claims

1. A method of supporting the happening of a mass-interaction event, comprising:

providing a mass interaction event in which a plurality of participants interact with each other by generating information comprising at least one of questions, responses to questions and fact information for presentation to other participants and assimilating information; and

controlling, automatically by a computer, the rate of information presentation to each participant of said plurality of participants, to be below a maximum information assimilation rate of said each participant.

2. A method according to claim 1, wherein said mass-interaction event is characterized by the event being time bound.

3. A method according to claim 1, wherein said mass-interaction event is characterized by the event having a general temporal order.

4. A method according to claim 1, wherein said mass-interaction event is characterized by the plurality of participants all attending to the event at the same time, while the event is going on.

5. A method according to claim 1, wherein said mass-interaction event is characterized by the plurality of participants expecting fast responses to information they generate.

6. A method according to claim 1, wherein said controlling comprises controlling in real-time.

7. A method according to claim 1, wherein said rate is less than 30 words per minute.

8. A method according to claim 1, wherein said rate is at least 30 words per minute.

9. A method according to claim 1, wherein said rate is at least 50 words per minute.

10. A method according to claim 1, wherein said rate is at least 100 words per minute.

11. A method according to claim 1, wherein said rate is at least 200 words per minute.

12. A method according to claim 1, wherein said rate is at least 300 words per minute.

13. A method according to claim 1, wherein said rate is fixed for the event.

14. A method according to claim 1, wherein said rate is dynamic for the event.

15. A method according to claim 1, wherein said rate varies between participants.

16. A method according to claim 1, wherein said rate is dependent on at least one of an expected difficulty by a participant in assimilating the information, an interruption rate of said participant, a number of different subjects covered by said information, a matching between said information and views of said participant and other activities of said participant.

17. A method according to claim 1, wherein said plurality of participants comprises at least 50 participants.

18. A method according to claim 1, wherein said plurality of participants comprises at least 100 participants.

19. A method according to claim 1, wherein said plurality of participants comprises at least 1000 participants.

20. A method according to claim 1, wherein said plurality of participants comprises at least 10,000 participants.

21. A method according to claim 1, wherein said plurality of participants comprises at least 100,000 participants.

22. A method according to claim 1, wherein said plurality of participants comprises at least 1,000,000 participants.

23. A method according to claim 1, wherein said plurality of participants each has an average rate of information generation of at least 0.1 words per minute.

24. A method according to claim 1, wherein said plurality of participants each has an average rate of information generation of at least 1 word per minute.

25. A method according to claim 1, wherein said plurality of participants each has an average rate of information generation of at least 10 word per minute.

26. A method according to claim 1, wherein said event includes a plurality of passive listeners

27. A method according to claim 1, wherein at least one of said participants comprises at least one presenter, characterized in the presenter generating a main line of said event.

28. A method according to claim 27, wherein said at least one presenter comprises at least two main presenters.

29. A method according to claim 27, comprising providing at least one set of presentation material used by said presenter to present said main line.

30. A method according to claim 27, wherein at least a subset of said plurality of participants can cooperate to change the main line of said event.

31. A method according to claim 1, wherein at least one of said participants comprises a mediator, characterized in the mediator at least assisting in organizing the event.

32. A method according to claim 31, wherein said mediator comprises a group mediator that mediates a discussion by a group of participants.

33. A method according to claim 31, wherein said mediator comprises an event mediator that assists in organizing the an ongoing event as a whole.

34. A method according to claim 31, wherein said mediator comprises a controller mediator that prevents misuse of the event.

35. A method according to claim 31, wherein said at least one mediator is organized in a hierarchy of mediators.

36. A method according to claim 1, wherein at least one of said participants comprises a choreographer, characterized in the choreographer planning at least a part of the event.

37. A method according to claim 1, wherein at least one of said participants comprises an answering assistant, characterized in the answering assistant answering questions raised by other participants.

38. A method according to claim 1, wherein controlling the rate comprises controlling the rate using different methods for different participant types.

39. A method according to claim 1, wherein controlling the rate comprises providing different time lines for different participants.

40. A method according to claim 39, wherein different time lines are characterized by having different progression rates for different parts of the time line.

41. A method according to claim 39, wherein different time lines are characterized by having different content order of content of said event.

42. A method according to claim 39, wherein different time lines are characterized by covering different content.

43. A method according to claim 39, comprising providing a participant with a tool showing different time lines being used by other participants.

44. A method according to claim 39, comprising providing a participant with a tool for accelerating the flow of information in his time line to join a different time line.

45. A method according to claim 39, comprising allowing an unlimited number of time lines at one time for different participants.

46. A method according to claim 39, comprising allowing only a limited number of time lines at one time for different participants.

47. A method according to claim 39, wherein at least one of the participants is a presenter and wherein said presenter operates according to a time line, delayed relative to the time line of other participants, to allow the presenter time to interact with other participants without slowing down the rate of information presentation.

48. A method according to claim 1, wherein control ling the rate comprises using the participants as a computational resource to reduce the amount of presented information.

49. A method according to claim 48, wherein using the participants as a resource comprises using rankings of elements of said event provided by the participants.

50. A method according to claim 49, wherein said ranking is explicit by said participants.

51. A method according to claim 49, wherein said ranking is implicit by the actions of said participants.

52. A method according to claim 48, wherein using the participants as a resource comprises using participants to answer questions raised by other participants.

53. A method according to claim 48, wherein using the participants as a resource comprises using participants to prevent misuse of the event.

54. A method according to claim 48, wherein using the participants as a resource comprises using participants to drop questions raised by other participants.

55. A method according to claim 1, wherein controlling the rate of information presentation comprises reducing a rate of information presentation to a presenter of the event.

56. A method according to claim 55, wherein said reducing comprises providing feedback to said presenter.

57. A method according to claim 56, wherein said feedback comprises at least one of an indication of points in the time line that slow participants the most, questions that have large group followings, polarization and fractionalization of the participants, statistics of content-related and unrelated messages between participants, number of interacting participants, number of questions that are not joined by a certain number of participants or by participants of different groups and ranking of at least one of questions, discussions and answers.

58. A method according to claim 56, wherein said feedback comprises at least one statistic of feedback from at least a sample of the participants.

59. A method according to claim 56, wherein said feedback is provided continuously to said presenter.

60. A method according to claim 56, wherein said feedback includes open-ended feedback sentences.

61. A method according to claim 60, comprising offering a participant the option of joining a free-text feedback response of a different participant.

62. A method according to claim 1, wherein controlling the rate of information presentation comprises filtering presented information based on ranking of the information.

63. A method according to claim 62, wherein said ranking is a scalar value.

64. A method according to claim 62, wherein said ranking is a vector of values.

65. A method according to claim 62, wherein said filtering comprises automatically modifying said filtering to achieve a desired presentation rate.

66. A method according to claim 62, wherein said filtering is performed at a private computing station associated with a participant.

67. A method according to claim 62, wherein said filtering is performed at a central computing station not associated with a single participant.

68. A method according to claim 62, wherein said filtering comprises filtering based on an association of said participant to a group of participants.

69. A method according to claim 62, wherein said filtering comprises automatically selecting whether to expose a participant to a question.

70. A method according to claim 62, wherein said filtering comprises keyword based filtering.

71. A method according to claim 62, wherein said filtering comprises subject based filtering.

72. A method according to claim 62, wherein said filtering comprises ranking based filtering.

73. A method according to claim 1, wherein controlling the rate of information presentation comprises restructuring the presentation to better suit assimilation abilities of said participant.

74. A method according to claim 73, wherein restructuring comprises reordering presented information to reduce interruptions during an attending of a subject by a participant.

75. A method according to claim 73, wherein restructuring comprises reordering presented information to form a series of segments, each segment having a single subject.

76. A method according to claim 1, wherein controlling the rate comprises maintaining at least a minimum rate of interaction between participants.

77. A method according to claim 76, wherein maintaining at least a minimum rate comprises injecting questions by a controller of said event.

78. A method according to claim 1, wherein controlling the rate of information presentation, comprises causing a reduction in the propagation of information between participants.

79. A method according to claim 78, wherein said reduction in propagation does not reduce an interactivity level of said event, as felt by said participants.

80. A method according to claim 78, comprising exposing a new item of information to at least a minimum number of participants, to ensure a useful exposure of the item.

81. A method according to claim 80, wherein said useful exposure comprises an exposure sufficient to provide a meaningful ranking of said item, said ranking being used for a decision on further exposure of said item.

82. A method according to claim 81, wherein said meaningful ran king comprises a statistically meaningful ranking.

83. A method according to claim 80, wherein said useful exposure comprises exposing said item to a varied set of participants.

84. A method according to claim 80, wherein said useful exposure comprises exposing said item to at least one leading participant, which participant has a greater authority than other of said participants.

85. A method according to claim 80, comprising trading off said controlling of exposure rate and said exposing to a minimum number of participants, to achieve a desired perceived level of interactivity.

86. A method according to claim 78, comprising generating an ad-hoc group of participants to which a question is exposed, to limit a propagation of the question, at least at a first stage, to said group.

87. A method according to claim 86, wherein said group is dissolved after said question is answered.

88. A method according to claim 86, comprising splitting said group to control an information presentation rate to members of said group.

89. A method according to claim 86, comprising encouraging a participant to join an existing question rather than creating a new question.

90. A method according to claim 89, wherein said encouraging comprises exposing questions to participants that are expected to be interested in the question and offering the that participants join the question.

91. A method according to claim 89, wherein said questions are presented in a structure suitable for locating a question of interest by a participant.

92. A method according to claim 91, wherein said questions are organized by subject.

93. A method according to claim 91, wherein said questions are organized according to a structure of said event.

94. A method according to claim 93, wherein said questions are organized to a presentation material prepared for said event.

95. A method according to claim 91, wherein said questions are associated with a search engine for search said questions.

96. A method according to claim 91, wherein at least one of said questions is generated during said event.

97. A method according to claim 91, wherein at least one of said questions is generated during a previous event.

98. A method according to claim 86, comprising selective propagation of participant-generated content generated within said group to outside of said group.

99. A method according to claim 98, wherein said propagation is according to a hierarchical organization of said participants.

100. A method according to claim 99, wherein a presenter of said event, that generates a main line of said event, is included in said hierarchy.

101. A method according to claim 78, comprising controlling at least one of a damping rate and propagation distances of participant generated content.

102. A method according to claim 78, comprising imposing a structure on the event, which structure reduces opportunities for proliferation of information.

103. A method according to claim 102, wherein organizing the event comprises structuring a question and answer session to match one of a limited number of templates.

104. A method according to claim 78, comprising increasing an effectiveness of propagated information.

105. A method according to claim 104, wherein increasing an effectiveness of propagation of information comprises selecting information for propagation based on ranking by other participants.

106. A method according to claim 104, wherein increasing an-effectiveness of propagation of information comprises grouping said participants into groups having a participant mix that encourages useful interaction.

107. A method according to claim 106, wherein said mix includes at least one participant expected to be able to correctly answer a posed question.

108. A method according to claim 106, wherein said mix includes at least one participant expected to be able to moderate a discussion in said group.

109. A method according to claim 106, wherein said mix is selected to statistically represent said plurality of participants.

110. A method according to claim 1, wherein said event comprises one of a lecture, an entertainment event, an e-learning session, sales meeting, training session, product launch, product focus group meeting, corporate lecture, conference, stockholder'"'"'s meeting and help desk.

111. A method according to claim 1, comprising analyzing said interactions between said participants to extract information about at least one of said participants.

112. A method according to claim 111, wherein said information about participants comprises an identification of participants having desirable personal qualities.

113. A method according to claim 112, wherein said information about participants comprises an identification of participants qualified to answer questions.

114. A method according to claim 1, comprising analyzing said interactions between said participants to extract information about said event.

115. A method according to claim 114, wherein said extracted information comprises ordered discussion threads.

139. Apparatus for carrying out a method according to any of claims 1-138, comprising a computer and a memory storing therein software for programming said computer.

116. A method of at least partly optimizing discussion groups, comprising:

providing an issue to be discussed; and

automatically peopling a group comprising at least four participants, by a computer, for said discussion, responsive to said issue.

117. A method according to claim 116, wherein said peopling comprises initially peopling said group with participants.

118. A method according to claim 116, wherein peopling comprises maintaining a peopling of said group.

119. A method according to claim 116, wherein peopling comprises modifying a peopling of said group to achieve a desired effect.

120. A method according to claim 119, wherein said modifying comprises modifying responsive to existing group dynamics.

121. A method of dealing with questions in an on-going synchronous event that includes a plurality of participants that raise questions and expect answers, comprising:

accumulating questions and answers in a pervious event; and

providing said accumulated question and answers as a database of answers of a current event.

122. A method according to claim 121, comprising manually editing said accumulation between said events.

123. A method according to claim 121, wherein said accumulation is indexed to a time line of said event.

124. A method of managing an on-going interactive event, comprising:

detecting an interaction dynamics of said event; and

modifying at least one parameter of interaction between participants to control said dynamics.

125. A method according to claim 124, wherein said modifying comprises injecting a question and automatically creating a group, by a computer, linking a plurality of said participants to discuss the question.

126. A method according to claim 124, wherein said modifying comprises modifying a propagation characteristic of participant-generated content in said event.

127. A method according to claim 126, wherein said modifying comprises damping propagation content generated by a particular participant.

128. A method according to claim 124, wherein said modifying comprises modifying an automatic grouping characteristic in said event.

129. A method of providing feedback from a large audience of participants to a presenter, during an event comprising:

collecting statistics regarding the interaction of said participants with said event; and

displaying said statistics to said presenter.

130. A method according to claim 129, wherein said statistics relate to interaction between participants.

131. A method according to claim 129, wherein said statistics relate to ranking of participant-generated content by said participants.

132. A method according to claim 129, wherein said statistics relate to rate of information assimilation by said participants.

133. A method of providing a balanced presentation, comprising:

providing a main event presented by at least one presenter;

providing an ongoing commentary channel associated with said event and providing commentary on said presentation; and

providing means for a plurality of participants in said event to discuss said main event and said commentary with each other.

134. A method of question management in a system having a large plurality of participants, comprising:

receiving a suggested question;

automatically determining whether to expose the question to one or more participants;

automatically selecting a plurality of participants to whom the question is to be exposed, at least one of said participant not being expected to answer said question;

automatically exposing the question to the selected participants; and

repeating said automatically determining, selecting and exposing to achieve a desired question exposure.

135. A method according to claim 134, wherein said automatically selecting comprises automatically selecting participants responsive to an event time line associated with each participant.

136. A method according to claim 134, wherein said exposing comprises forcing a discussion of said question to have a fixed organization.

137. A method according to claim 134, wherein selecting comprises selecting participants that are expected to have free attention resources for considering said question.

138. A method according to claim 134, wherein said desired question exposure comprises an exposure to a statistical representation of said large plurality of participants.