Method and system for supporting symbolic serendipity

• US 7,319,998 B2
• Filed: 11/12/2004
• Issued: 01/15/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 11/14/2003
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Universidade de Coimbra
• Original Assignee: Universidade de Coimbra
• Inventors: Costa Dias De Figueiredo, António, Marum Campos, José Manuel
• Primary Examiner(s): Chace; Christian
• Assistant Examiner(s): Chau; Dung K
• Application Number:
  US10/987,455
• Publication Number:
  US 20050120015A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,159 Days
• Field of Search: 707/4, 707/5, 707/6, 707/104.1, 706/45, 706/46, 706/50
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/93 Document management systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06N 20/00 Machine learning
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99934 Query formulation, input preparation, or translation
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99936 Pattern matching access
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99945 Object-oriented database structure processing

Abstract

The present invention provides a method and system for supporting serendipity and pseudo-serendipity. A collection of profiles are generated to model the user'"'"'s worldview. A collection of shadow profiles are generated to model divergent knowledge based on the user'"'"'s profiles and external information or knowledge sources. A collection of items are retrieved from the profiles and used to perform a deliberate search for laterality. The initial and lateral items are merged into a search string. The search string is used to perform a search or wandering process that is aware of potential serendipitous stimuli in an information space. The discovered, unexpected, unsought, unforeseen stimuli are intended to be subsequently presented to the user.

Claims

1. A method for supporting serendipity and pseudo-serendipity by providing unsought, unexpected, unforeseen information to a user aimed at stimulating the user'"'"'s sagacity and at providing the user with cognitive material for the formation of creative and/or insightful ideas, the method comprising the steps of:

a) acquiring, classifying and managing the user'"'"'s world-view in a plurality of profiles;

b) hypothesizing and storing extraneous data divergent from the user profiles in shadow profiles by deliberately relying on controlled random processes and cross-fertilization of concept from the user profiles and by looking for lateral concepts or ideas in information and knowledge sources; and

c) producing stimuli for the user based on controlled random processes and by looking for and evaluating potentially serendipitous data, using the user profiles, divergent search queries on information spaces, knowledge bases and additional resources.

2. A computer system for supporting serendipity and pseudo-serendipity by providing unsought, unexpected, unforeseen information to a user aimed at stimulating the user'"'"'s sagacity and at providing the user with cognitive material for the formation of creative and/or insightful ideas, the computer system a processor;

comprising;

a) a Profiles Management Module, responsible for acquiring, classifying and managing the user'"'"'s world-view in a plurality of profiles;

b) a Divergence Module, responsible for hypothesizing and storing extraneous data divergent from the user profiles in shadow profiles by deliberately relying on controlled random processes and cross-fertilization of concept from the user profiles and by looking for lateral concepts or ideas in information and knowledge sources; and

c) a Stimuli Generation Module, responsible for producing stimuli for the user based on controlled random processes and by looking for and evaluating potentially serendipitous data, using the user profiles, divergent search queries on information spaces, knowledge bases and additional resources.

3. A computer-readable program storage device, having a set of program instructions physically embodied thereon, executable by a computer, to support serendipity and pseudo-serendipity by providing unsought, unexpected, unforeseen information to the user aimed at stimulating the user'"'"'s sagacity and at providing the user with cognitive material for the formation of creative and/or insightful ideas, as recited in claim 2.