Method and apparatus for scalable meetings in a discussion synthesis environment
First Claim
1. A communications network based system for providing mechanisms for enabling a discussion about a chosen topic, wherein a group of a plurality of participants participate in the group, the system comprising:
- means for contributing a statement on a topic, means for allowing this statement to be sent to an initial subset of the participants, each participant of the group being provided with means to rate a statement by assigning a value or code to that statement, a controlling mechanism for controlling whether a statement of a participant on said topic is propagated to an ever increasing number of the rest of the participants according to a first criterion that depends upon the values or codes assigned to the statement by the participants to whom the statement has been sent, means to determine the extent the statement has propagated through the group, and means to determine that at least one statement has been collectively selected, whereby determining selection of the at least one statement depends on the extent the at least one statement has propagated through the group.
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Abstract
The techniques of the present invention provide mechanisms for enabling a new type of interactive online discussion where any number of people can participate in a discussion of a topic and having the impression of following a coherent discussion. By following a novel process described in the present invention, eventually they would collectively generate a set of statements that the majority of the participants have agreed to. Moreover, a participation performance of the participants is being kept so as to potentially regroup those best performers in a future meeting with a similar topic.
66 Citations
32 Claims
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1. A communications network based system for providing mechanisms for enabling a discussion about a chosen topic,
wherein a group of a plurality of participants participate in the group, the system comprising: -
means for contributing a statement on a topic, means for allowing this statement to be sent to an initial subset of the participants, each participant of the group being provided with means to rate a statement by assigning a value or code to that statement, a controlling mechanism for controlling whether a statement of a participant on said topic is propagated to an ever increasing number of the rest of the participants according to a first criterion that depends upon the values or codes assigned to the statement by the participants to whom the statement has been sent, means to determine the extent the statement has propagated through the group, and means to determine that at least one statement has been collectively selected, whereby determining selection of the at least one statement depends on the extent the at least one statement has propagated through the group. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A method providing mechanisms for enabling a network based discussion about a chosen topic,
wherein a group of a plurality of participants participate in a group discussion, participants being provided with means for contributing a statement on a topic and means for allowing this statement to be sent to an initial subset of the participants, each participant of the group being provided with means to rate a statement by assigning a value or code to that statement, wherein a statement of a participant on said topic is propagated to an ever increasing number of the rest of the participants according to a first criterion that depends upon the values or codes assigned to the statement by the participants to whom the statement has been sent, to thereby collectively select at least one statement, whereby selection of the at least one statement depends on the extent the at least one statement has propagated through the group.
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29. A software computer product comprising code which when executed on a processing engine controls a group of communications between a plurality of participants participating in a group discussion about a chosen topic, comprising code for:
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providing the participants with means for contributing a statement on a topic and means for allowing this statement to be sent to an initial subset of the participants, providing each participant of the group with means to rate a statement by assigning a value or code to that statement, propagating a statement of a participant on said topic to an ever increasing number of the rest of the participants according to a first criterion that depends upon the values or codes assigned to the statement by the participants to whom the statement has been sent. - View Dependent Claims (31)
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30. The software computer product according to claim 30 further comprising code for:
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determining that at least one statement has been collectively selected, whereby selection of the at least one statement depends on the extent the at least one statement has propagated through the group.
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32. A network element for use in a communications network providing mechanisms for enabling a discussion about a chosen topic, wherein a group of a plurality of participants participate in the group using terminals in communication with the network, the network element comprising:
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means for receiving a statement on a topic from a participant terminal, means for sending this statement to an initial subset of the participant terminals, means for receiving from a participant terminal a value or code rating a statement, a controlling mechanism for controlling whether a statement of a participant on said topic is propagated to an ever increasing number of the rest of the participants according to a first criterion that depends upon the values or codes assigned to the statement by the participants to whom the statement has been sent, means to determine the extent the statement has propagated through the group, and means to determine that at least one statement has been collectively selected, whereby determining selection of the at least one statement depends on the extent the at least one statement has propagated through the group.
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Specification