EMPIRICAL EXPERT DETERMINATION AND QUESTION ROUTING SYSTEM AND METHOD

• US 20150017616A1
• Filed: 02/28/2013
• Published: 01/15/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 02/29/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: AirBNB Incorporated
• Original Assignee: AirBNB Incorporated
• Inventors: Rachitsky, Lenny, Haugh, Samuel Alan, Gauthier, Nelson Aurel
• Granted Patent: US 10,311,747 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 434/130
• CPC Class Codes: G09B 19/0061 Geography
• CPC Class Codes: G09B 7/00 Electrically-operated teaching apparatus or devices working with questions and answers mechanically operated G09B3/00; computing arrangements G06F
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/10 in which an application is distributed across nodes in the network software deployment G06F8/60; multiprogramming arrangements G06F9/46
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/021 Services related to particular areas, e.g. point of interest [POI] services, venue services or geofences
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/024 Guidance services
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/027 using movement velocity, acceleration information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/029 Location-based management or tracking services
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/21 for social networking applications

Abstract

The system collects location tracking data about each user and analyzes the location tracking data to determine the level of expertise a user has for a specific venue/event or a specific geographic region at a particular scale on a map. The system receives questions about a specific venue/event or about a category of venue/event in a specific geographic region at a particular scale on a map and routes those questions in real time to one or more experts for the specific venue/event or the category of venue/event in the specific geographic region. The system receives a response to the question from at least one of the one or more experts and routes the response back to the requestor, also in real time. The system also efficiently represents the location of a plurality of venues/events and/or users within a specific geographic region on a displayed map at a plurality of scales.

Claims

1. A technical system for expert determination and question routing, the system comprising:

a non-transitory computer readable medium configured to store executable programmed modules and information including location tracking data, user information, venue information, venue category information, and map information;

a processor communicatively coupled with the non-transitory computer readable medium and configured to execute programmed modules stored therein, read information stored therein and write information to the non-transitory computer readable medium;

a tracker module stored in the non-transitory computer readable medium and configured to be executed by the processor, the tracker module configured to;

receive location tracking information associated with a first user; and

store the location tracking information associated with the first user in the non-transitory computer readable medium;

a scoring module stored in the non-transitory computer readable medium and configured to be executed by the processor, the scoring module configured to;

determine, based at least in part on the location tracking information associated with the first user, one or more expert scores that include an expert score for the first user with respect to a first venue; and

a router module configured to;

receive a question from a second user;

determine to route the question to the first user based at least in part on at least one of the expert scores determined for the first user; and

route the question to the first user.

74. The system of claim 1, wherein the expert score for the first user with respect to the first venue is determined based on at least one of the following:

a frequency of visits by the first user to the first venue, a duration associated with each visit by the first user to the first venue, and a time of day associated with each visit by the first user to the first venue.

75. The system of claim 1, wherein the one or more expert scores determined by the scoring module further includes at least one of the following:

an expert score for the first user with respect to a first category of venues, wherein the first venue is included in said first category, and an expert score for the first user with respect to a first geographic region at a first scale on a map, wherein the first venue is included in said first geographic region at said first scale.

76. The system of claim 75, wherein the scoring module is further configured to adjust at least one of the expert scores determined for the first user based on one or more of the following:

a time of day associated with each visit by the first user to the first venue, a breadth of the first category of venues, and a size of the first geographic region at the first scale.

77. The system of claim 75, wherein the router module is further configured to determine that the question from the second user comprises a question with respect to the first venue, and wherein the router module determines to route the question to the first user based at least in part on the expert score determined for the first user with respect to the first venue.

78. The system of claim 75, wherein the router module is further configured to determine that the question from the second user comprises a question with respect to the first category of venues, and wherein the router module determines to route the question to the first user based at least in part on the expert score determined for the first user with respect to the first category of venues.

79. The system of claim 75, wherein the router module is further configured to determine that the question from the second user comprises a question with respect to the first geographical region at the first scale on the map, and wherein the router module determines to route the question to the first user based at least in part on the expert score determined for the first user with respect to the first geographical region at the first scale on the map.

80. The system of claim 1, wherein:

the scoring module is further configured to determine, based at least in part on the location tracking information associated with the first user, that the first user is currently at the first venue; and

the router module is configured to determine to route the question to the first user based at least in part on the determination that the first user is currently at the first venue.

81. The system of claim 1, wherein the router module is further configured to receive a response to the question from the first user and provide the response to the second user.

82. The system of claim 81, wherein the scoring module is configured to update at least one of the expert scores determined for the first user based on at least one of the following:

an analysis of the response from the first user, and an analysis of peer feedback with respect to the response from the first user.

2-9. -9. (canceled)

10. A computer implemented method for expert determination and question routing, where one or more processors are programmed to perform steps comprising:

receiving location tracking information associated with a first user;

determining, based at least in part on the location tracking information associated with the first user, one or more expert scores that include an expert score for the first user with respect to a first venue;

receiving a question from a second user;

analyzing the question to identify a second venue;

determine to route the question to the first user based at least in part on at least one of the expert scores determined for the first user; and

routing the question to the first user.

83. The method of claim 10, wherein the expert score for the first user with respect to the first venue is determined based on at least one of the following:

a frequency of visits by the first user to the first venue, a duration associated with each visit by the first user to the first venue, and a time of day associated with each visit by the first user to the first venue.

84. The method of claim 10, wherein the one or more expert scores further includes at least one of the following:

an expert score for the first user with respect to a first category of venues, wherein the first venue is included in said first category, and an expert score for the first user with respect to a first geographic region at a first scale on a map, wherein the first venue is included in said first geographic region at said first scale.

85. The method of claim 84, further comprising adjusting at least one of the expert scores determined for the first user based on one or more of the following:

a time of day associated with each visit by the first user to the first venue, a breadth of the first category of venues, and a size of the first geographic region at the first scale.

86. The method of claim 84, further comprising determining that the question from the second user comprises a question with respect to the first venue, and determining to route the question to the first user based at least in part on the expert score determined for the first user with respect to the first venue.

87. The method of claim 84, further comprising determining that the question from the second user comprises a question with respect to the first category of venues, and determining to route the question to the first user based at least in part on the expert score determined for the first user with respect to the first category of venues.

88. The method of claim 84, further comprising determining that the question from the second user comprises a question with respect to the first geographical region at the first scale on the map, and determining to route the question to the first user based at least in part on the expert score determined for the first user with respect to the first geographical region in the first scale on the map.

89. The method of claim 10, further comprising:

determining, based at least in part on the location tracking information associated with the first user, that the first user is currently at the first venue; and

determining to route the question to the first user further based at least in part on the determination that the first user is currently at the first venue.

90. The method of claim 10, further comprising:

receiving a response to the question from the first user; and

updating at least one of the expert scores determined for the first user based on at least one of the following;

an analysis of the response from the first user, and an analysis of peer feedback with respect to the response from the first user.

11-73. -73. (canceled)

91. A non-transitory computer readable medium having stored thereon one or more sequences of instructions for causing one or more processors to perform the steps for expert determination and question routing, the steps comprising:

receiving location tracking information associated with a first user;

determining, based at least in part on the location tracking information associated with the first user, one or more expert scores that includes an expert score for the first user with respect to a first venue;

receiving a question from a second user;

determining to route the question to the first user based at least in part on at least one of the expert scores determined for the first user; and

routing the question to the first user.