System and method for automatically generating a narrative report of an event, such as a sporting event

• US 6,976,031 B1
• Filed: 02/23/2000
• Issued: 12/13/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 12/06/1999
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Sportspilot, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Sportspilot, Inc.
• Inventors: Schmid, David, Toupal, Ron
• Primary Examiner(s): Le, Uyen
• Assistant Examiner(s): CHEN, TE Y
• Application Number:
  US09/511,476
• Time in Patent Office: 2,120 Days
• Field of Search: 707 1- 9, 707100-104, 707/500.1, 707/530, 707/521, 705/1, 705 10- 12, 715/500.1, 463/4, 463/5, 463/7
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/186 Templates
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99939 Privileged access
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99945 Object-oriented database structure processing
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99948 Application of database or data structure, e.g. distributed, multimedia, or image

Abstract

An automatic report generator provides a narrative account of a newsworthy happening such as an sporting event by using templates. The game events are retrieved from storage and various statistics are generated from the game log and from past game logs. A template is selected for report generation in a two step process. First, conditional criteria associated with a template are compared to the game statistics to determine whether the template matches the game. In a second step, the remaining candidate templates are subjected to a weighting analysis by which the template providing the most detailed description, or describing the most relevant events of the game is selected. Once selected, game specific information is inserted into the template through the use of functions calls that request game specific data from the game log or from the game statistics generator.

Claims

1. A system for automatically generating a report about a happening comprising:

a database comprised of logs, each log corresponding to a specific happening and being comprised of a plurality of events;

a statistics generator routine running on a general purpose computer receiving as input the plurality of events for a specific happening and outputting statistics regarding the specific happening;

a template database comprised of article templates, each article template having one or more conditions associated with it;

a template selector comprising

a comparison routine running on a general purpose computer receiving as input the one or more conditions associated with a first template under consideration and further receiving as input statistics regarding the specific happening, and outputting an indication whether the conditions associated with the first template are met by the statistics; and

a selector routine running on a general purpose computer, wherein the selector routine applies a weighting evaluation to each template having conditions met by the statistics and outputs a single selected template; and

an article creator routine receiving as input the selected template, wherein the selected template comprises a body of text containing function calls and wherein the functions call out for specific statistics, the article creator routine outputting a report comprising the body of the text with the specific statistics inserted in place of the function calls.

2. The system of claim 1 wherein the statistics comprise numerical calculations selected from the group consisting of final score and score differential, and non-numerical values selected from the group consisting of team and player names, and time stamp values.

3. The system of claim 1 wherein the selector routine selects the template in response to the number of conditions associated with it.

4. The system of claim 1 wherein the selector routine selects the template in response to the weighting evaluation applied to each template.

5. The system of claim 1 wherein the log database and the template database comprise a single database.

6. The system of claim 1 wherein the routines are realized in a general purpose computer operating in response to pre-programmed instructions.

7. A system for automatically generating a report about a happening comprising:

a database comprised of logs, each log corresponding to a specific happening and including a plurality of events;

a statistics generator coupled to the database, receiving as input the plurality of events for a specific happening and outputting statistics regarding the specific happening;

a template database comprised of article templates, each article template being a pre-written description of a model happening in which references to an actual happening can be input and having one or more conditions associated with it;

a template selector process comprising

a comparison routine receiving as input the one or more conditions associated with a first template under consideration and further receiving as input statistics regarding the specific happening, and outputting an indication whether the conditions associated with the first template are met by the statistics; and

a selector routine, wherein the selector routine applies a weighting evaluation to each template having conditions met by the statistics and outputs a single selected template; and

an article creator routine receiving as input the selected template, wherein the selected template comprises a body of text containing function calls and wherein the functions calls call out for specific statistics, the article creator routine outputting a report comprising the body of the text with the specific statistics inserted in place of the function calls.

8. A computer-based method of generating a text-based description of a particular game of a sport, comprising:

providing a plurality of article templates, each such article template being a text-based, narrative description of a generic game of said sport;

defining at least one conditional requirement for each of said plurality of article templates;

recording a plurality of events from said game, including a final score of said game;

generating pre-selected statistics from the recorded events, said pre-selected statistics including a final score differential;

comparing a first conditional requirement for a first article template to said final score differential;

determining if said first conditional requirement is satisfied by said final score differential and if so selecting said first article template for publication and inserting at least one of said recorded events into an appropriate location in said article template to generate a game-specific, text-based, narrative description of said game.

9. The method of claim 8 wherein said first conditional requirement is satisfied if said final score differential exceeds a pre-defined limit.

10. The method of claim 8 wherein said plurality of article templates is specific to a first sport and further comprising providing a second plurality of article templates specific to a second sport.

11. The method of claim 8 wherein said at least one conditional requirement has a weighting factor associated with it.

12. The method of claim 8 wherein said article template is a word processing document having fields contained therein for insertion of one or more of said events from said game.