Database evaluation system supporting intuitive decision in complex multi-attributive domains using fuzzy hierarchical expert models

• US 6,463,431 B1
• Filed: 06/25/1999
• Issued: 10/08/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 11/15/1995
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: CXT Systems, Inc. (Quest Patent Research Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Bizrate.Com, Co.
• Inventors: Schmitt, Martin
• Primary Examiner(s): VON BUHR, MARIA N
• Application Number:
  US09/344,637
• Time in Patent Office: 1,201 Days
• Field of Search: 707/1-5, 345/333-346, 345/803-805, 345/744-747
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/2428 Query predicate definition using graphical user interfaces, including menus and forms G06F16/2423 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 99/00 Subject matter not provided for in other groups of this subclass
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99934 Query formulation, input preparation, or translation
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99935 Query augmenting and refining, e.g. inexact access
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99943 Generating database or data structure, e.g. via user interface

Abstract

A database evaluation system provides for intuitive end user analysis and exploration of large databases of information through real time fuzzy logic evaluation of utility preferences and nearest neighbor exploration. The system provides for domain modeling of various types of information domains using attribute mappings to database fields, and utility value weightings, allowing multiple different domain models to be coupled with a same database of information. User interaction with the evaluation system is through an interactive key generator interface providing immediate, iterative visual feedback as to which candidate items in database match the user'"'"'s partial query. A proximity searcher user interface provides for nearest neighbor navigation and allows the user to determine which items in the database are closest to a given item along each independent attribute of the items, and selectively navigate through such nearest neighbors. A fractal proximity searcher simultaneously displays multiple levels of nearest neighbors for user selected attributes.

Claims

1. A user interface for navigating a database comprising a plurality of records representing items, each record having two or more associated attributes, each record having a value for each associated attribute, the user interface comprising:

a first reference window pane for displaying a representation of a reference record; and

two or more associated attribute window panes for at least one of the plurality of attributes, each attribute window pane displaying at least one representation of a record of the database that has a specified degree of similarity to a reference record in the first reference window pane with respect to the attribute for the attribute window pane.

2. The user interface of claim 1 wherein one or more attribute window panes are responsive to a user input selecting the representation of the record displayed therein, the first reference window being capable of displaying a representation of the selected record and of updating the attribute window panes to display a representation of at least one record of the database that has a desired degree of similarity to the selected record represented in the updated first reference window.

3. The user interface of claim 1 further comprising one or more additional reference windows and associated attribute window panes according to claim 1.

4. The user interface of claim 1 further comprising a proximity searcher coupled to the user interface, the proximity searcher being capable of determining the degree of similarity between a reference record and other records by a function that measures the distance between a reference record'"'"'s attribute values and another record'"'"'s attribute values.

5. The user interface of claim 1, wherein the user interface is hosted on a computer system that is remote from the computer system hosting the database, the computer systems being in communication over the Internet or other wide area network.

6. A method for selecting items in a database comprising a plurality of records representing items, each record having at least two or more attributes, each record having a value for each associated attribute, comprising:

a) selecting a set of records from the database for evaluation;

b) presenting from the set of records a record of the database to a user;

c) receiving a user input specifying at least one reason why the user does not select the presented record;

d) associating the reason with an attribute of the presented item and at least one value of the attribute of the record;

e) comparing the value of the attribute associated with the reason with a corresponding attribute in the set of records and eliminating from the set of records, records having a corresponding value equal to or less than the value of the associated attribute of the presented record; and

f) repeating steps a) through e) until a limited number of records remain in the set of records.

7. A database evaluation system comprising:

a database for storing a plurality records representing items, each record having at least two or more associated attributes for the record, each record having a value for each associated attribute;

an evaluation engine, the evaluation engine coupling a domain model to the database and allowing a user to inspect, compare, or navigate records in the database;

a proximity searcher coupled to the evaluation engine, the proximity searcher being capable of determining for a reference record in the database selected by a user the distance of other records in the database with respect to one or more attribute values associated with each record; and

at least one user interface coupled to the proximity searcher for allowing a user to iteratively select a representation of a reference record from records in the database and to display other representations of records found by the proximity searcher to be a predetermined distance from the reference record.

8. The system of claim 7 wherein the distance between a reference record and other records is determined by a function that measures the distance between a reference record'"'"'s attribute values and another record'"'"'s attribute values.

9. The system of claim 8 wherein the proximity searcher determines the distance (D) of a record to a reference record by the general formula for computing the partial derivative:

$D_{\mathrm{car}}=\sqrt[n-1]{\underset{\underset{i\ne <br><br>j}{i=1}}{\overset{n}{\sum <br><br>}}<br><br>\text{\hspace{1em}<br><br>}<br><br>{\left(U_i-U_c\right)}^{n-1}<br><br>W_i}$

where

n=number of attributes

U=utility value, or “

score”

W=relative weight of an attribute

a=index of reference item

j=index of current attribute.

10. The system of claim 8 wherein the user interface includes a reference window pane for displaying a reference record and neighbor window panes for displaying other records found by the proximity searcher to be a predetermined distance from the reference record, each window pane being capable of displaying at least one record.

11. The system of claim 10 wherein one or more neighbor window panes are associated with an attribute, the attribute associated window pane displaying the nearest neighbor to the reference record with respect to the associated attribute.

12. The system of claim 7 wherein a user interface in conjunction with the proximity searcher allows a user to select a displayed representation of a record to explore its attributes.

13. The system of claim 7 wherein a user interface in conjunction with the proximity searcher allows a user to select a displayed representation of a record as a reference record and to simultaneously display other representations of records in the database that are nearest neighbors from the reference record in terms of specified attribute values.

14. The system of claim 7 wherein the user interface in conjunction with the proximity searcher allows a user to select a displayed representation of a record as a reference record to explore a displayed record'"'"'s attributes and to compare the reference record to other records in the database that are a predetermined distance from the reference record.

16. The system of claim 7 wherein the proximity searcher displays a reference record in a window pane on the user interface and, with respect to at least one specified attribute, displays a nearest neighbor of the reference record in an attribute window pane.

17. The system of claim 7 wherein the user interface allows a user to select any record displayed in association with a reference record and make that record a second reference record that can be explored with respect to its attributes or compared with other records in the database that are a predetermined distance from the second reference record.

18. The system of claim 7 wherein one or more attributes are hierarchically defined by other attributes.

19. The system of claim 7 wherein one or more of the attributes are weighted relative to other attributes.

20. The system of claim 7 wherein the user interface includes a manipulation mechanism for a user to give a relative weighting of attributes.

21. The database evaluation system of claim 7 wherein the user interface is hosted on a computer system that is remote from the computer system hosting the database, the computer systems being in communication over the Internet or other wide area network.

15. The system of dim 14 wherein the other records include one or more nearest neighbors to the reference record relative to specified attributes.

22. A database evaluation system comprising:

a database for storing a plurality of records of items, each record having two or more associated attributes, each record having a value for each associated attribute;

an evaluation engine, the evaluation engine coupling a domain model to the database and allowing a user to iteratively inspect, compare, or navigate records in the database according to at least one user specified search criterion; and

at least one user interface for displaying a short list of scored items, the items being scored according to their degree of match to user set search criteria.

23. The database evaluation system of claim 22 further comprising a direct manipulation mechanism for relative weighting of attributes by a user, the evaluation engine updating the short list according to any change in the relative weighting of the attributes.

24. The system of claim 23 wherein the mechanism for the user to change the relative weights of the attributes comprises at least one slider control.

25. The system of claim 22 wherein the evaluation engine includes a proximity searcher for a user to search for nearest neighbors of an item displayed on the short list.

26. The system of claim 22 wherein the degree of match is represented on a user interface by graphing or differences in size, color, hue of graphical representations of the scored items.

27. The system of claim 22 wherein the user interface displays an initial state of all items that are to be the subject to a search query.

28. A method of searching a database for records of items similar to a record for a reference item in a database comprising:

providing a database comprising a plurality of records of items, each record having two or more associated attributes, a domain model, and an evaluation engine having a proximity searcher;

selecting a reference record from the database;

specifying one or more attributes associated with the reference record;

using the proximity searcher to determine the distance between the reference record and other records in the database with respect to the values associated with each record for the specified attributes; and

displaying representations of records on a user interface found to be predetermined distance from the reference record.

29. The method of claim 28 wherein the distance between a reference record and other records is determined by a function that measures the distance between a reference record'"'"'s attribute values and another record'"'"'s attribute values.

30. The method of searching of claim 28 wherein the user interface is hosted on a computer system that is remote from the computer system hosting the database, the computer systems being in communication over the Internet or other wide area network.

31. A method of searching a database comprising:

providing a database comprising a plurality of records of items, each record having a plurality of associated attributes, each item having a value for its associated attribute;

a domain model;

an evaluation engine; and

a direct manipulation mechanism for relative weighting of attributes by a user;

accepting a user'"'"'s input of at least one search criterion through the evaluation engine;

processing the search criterion to produce a short list of scored items, the items being scored according to their degree of match to user set search criteria;

displaying the scored items on a user interface;

accepting the a users adjustment of the relative weighting of attributes with the manipulation mechanism, the evaluation engine updating the short list according to the change in the relative weighting of the attributes.

32. A user interface for a database evaluation system comprising one or more windows displaying graphical representations of a plurality of records of items in a database, the graphical representations adapted to convey the utility of an item relative to user specified criteria, the user interface further including a direct manipulation mechanism for real time adjustment of the relative weighting of the specified criteria, the represented displayed records being responsive to user input so that a user can explore the attributes for a record of a displayed record or search for nearest neighbors for a displayed record relative to one or more specified attributes.

33. A user interface for navigating a database comprising a plurality of records representing items, the items comprising items for consumer purchase, each record having two or more associated attributes, each record having a value for each associated attribute, the user interface comprising:

a first reference window pane for displaying a representation of a reference record; and

two or more associated attribute window panes for at least one of the plurality of attributes, each attribute window pane displaying at least one representation of a record of the database that has a specified degree of similarity to a reference record in the first reference window pane with respect to the attribute for the attribute window pane.

34. The user interface of claim 33, wherein the items represented in the database are motor vehicles.

35. The user interface of claim 34, wherein the user interface is hosted on a computer system that is remote from the computer system hosting the database, the computer systems being in communication over the Internet or other wide area network.

36. The user interface of claim 33, wherein the user interface is hosted on a computer system that is remote from the computer system hosting the database, the computer systems being in communication over the Internet or other wide area network.

37. A database evaluation system comprising:

a database for storing a plurality records representing items, the items representing items for consumer purchase, each record having at least two or more associated attributes for the record, each record having a value for each associated attribute;

an evaluation engine, the evaluation engine coupling a domain model to the database and allowing a user to inspect, compare, or navigate records in the database;

a proximity searcher coupled to the evaluation engine, the proximity searcher being capable of determining for a reference record in the database selected by a user the distance of other records in the database with respect to one or more attribute values associated with each record; and

at least one user interface coupled to the proximity searcher for allowing a user to iteratively select a representation of a reference record from records in the database and to display other representations of records found by the proximity searcher to be a predetermined distance from the reference record.

38. The database evaluation system of claim 37 wherein the items represented in the database are motor vehicles.

39. The database evaluation system of claim 38 wherein the user interface is hosted on a computer system that is remote from the computer system hosting the database, the computer systems being in communication over the Internet or other wide area network.

40. The database evaluation system of claim 37 wherein the user interface is hosted on a computer system that is remote from the computer system hosting the database, the computer systems being in communication over the Internet or other wide area network.

41. A method of searching a database for records of items similar to a record for a reference item in a database comprising:

providing (a) a database comprising a plurality of records of items, the items representing items for consumer purchase, each record having two or more associated attributes, (b) a domain model, and (c) an evaluation engine having a proximity searcher;

selecting a reference record from the database;

specifying one or more attributes associated with the reference record;

using the proximity searcher to determine the distance between the reference record and other records in the database with respect to the values associated with each record for the specified attributes; and

displaying representations of records on a user interface found to be a predetermined distance from the reference record.

42. The method of claim 41 wherein the items wherein the items represented in the database are motor vehicles.

43. The method of searching of claim 42 wherein the user interface is hosted on a computer system that is remote from the computer system hosting the database, the computer systems being in communication over the Internet or other wide area network.

44. The method of searching of claim 41 wherein the user interface is hosted on a computer system that is remote from the computer system hosting the database, the computer systems being in communication over the Internet or other wide area network.