AMASSING INFORMATION ABOUT COMMUNITY PARTICIPANT BEHAVIORS

• US 20090276230A1
• Filed: 04/30/2008
• Published: 11/05/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 04/30/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• 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: Smyers, Scott, Eyer, Mark
• Granted Patent: US 9,754,262 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/1.100
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/00 Commerce

Abstract

Particular embodiments provide recommendations based on community affiliation. In one embodiment, the method determines a query from a target user. A community in which the target user is a member is then determined. The community may include a plurality of members that have joined the community based on a common interest. User activity information is analyzed for at least a portion of the members of the community to determine a recommendation for the query. The user activity information is determined to be of interest to the target user based on the target user'"'"'s membership in the community. For example, based on the user'"'"'s membership in the community, recommendations as to what other members in the community liked can be correlated to the query for the target user. Thus, the recommendation may be provided to the user based on what other users in the community liked.

Claims

1. A method for providing recommendations based on community information, the method comprising:

determining a query from a target user;

determining a community in which the target user is a member, the community including a plurality of members;

analyzing user activity information associated with at least a portion of the plurality of members to determine a recommendation for the query, the user activity information determined to be of interest to the target user based on the target user'"'"'s membership in the community; and

outputting the recommendation to the target user.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

collecting user activity information from the plurality of members; and

storing the user activity information.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein collecting comprises capturing location information regarding activities participated in by the plurality of members.

4. The method of claim 3 wherein the capturing location information comprises receiving periodically captured time and global positioning system (GPS) location information from the plurality of members, wherein the time and GPS information is received from a network.

5. The method of claim 3 wherein capturing location information comprises accessing event information in the target user'"'"'s calendar database;

and

using the event information to determine the recommendation.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the user activity information comprises user opinion information for activities in the user activity information.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the user activity information is used to determine an activity that members in the community preferred, wherein the preferred activity is determined as the recommendation.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the query comprises automatically determining the query based on user activity information for the target user.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving a download of user activity information from a data recorder configured to record information for a user'"'"'s activities.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising analyzing user uploaded information for the community to determine the user activity information.

11. An apparatus configured to provide recommendations based on community information, the apparatus comprising:

one or more processors; and

logic encoded in one or more tangible media for execution by the one or more processors and when executed operable to;

determine a query from a target user;

determine a community in which the target user is a member, the community including a plurality of members;

analyze user activity information associated with at least a portion of the plurality of members to determine a recommendation for the query, the user activity information determined to be of interest to the target user based on the target user'"'"'s membership in the community; and

output the recommendation to the target user.

12. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the logic when executed is further operable to:

collect user activity information from the plurality of members; and

store the user activity information.

13. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein logic operable to collect comprises logic operable to capture location information regarding activities participated in by the plurality of members.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the capturing location information comprises receiving periodically captured time and global positioning system (GPS) location information from the plurality of members, wherein the time and GPS information is received from a network.

15. The method of claim 13, wherein capturing location information comprises accessing event information in the target user'"'"'s calendar database;

and

using the event information to determine the recommendation.

16. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the user activity information comprises user opinion information for activities in the user activity information.

17. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the user activity information is used to determine an activity that members in the community preferred, wherein the preferred activity is determined as the recommendation.

18. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein logic operable to determine the query comprises logic operable to automatically determine the query based on user activity information for the target user.

19. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the logic when executed is further operable to receive a download of user activity information from a data recorder configured to record information for a user'"'"'s activities.

20. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the logic when executed is further operable to analyze user uploaded information for the community to determine the user activity information.