Gathering data concerning publication usage

• US 7,962,315 B2
• Filed: 03/18/2005
• Issued: 06/14/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 03/19/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: The Nielsen Company LLC (MOOD Media Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Arbitron Inc. (MOOD Media Corporation)
• Inventors: Zhang, Jack K., Pugh, Daniel W., Crystal, Jack C., Visnius, Douglas J., Flanagan, Eugene L. III, Neuhauser, Alan R., Jensen, James M.
• Primary Examiner(s): Charioui; Mohamed
• Assistant Examiner(s): Le; Toan M
• Application Number:
  US11/084,481
• Publication Number:
  US 20060028953A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,279 Days
• Field of Search: 702/187, 702 33- 36, 702 41- 44, 702/57, 702/59, 702/65, 702/81, 702/84, 702/127, 702130-132, 702/136, 702138-140, 702182-183, 702/185, 702188-189, 340/500, 340540-541, 340/545.4, 340/565, 340/568.1, 340/571, 340/572.1, 340/572.8, 340/665, 340/870.01, 340/870.11, 340/870.16, 340/870.3, 283/72, 283/83, 283/85, 283/101, 283/103, 281/9, 281/12, 738/653
• US Class Current: 702/187
• CPC Class Codes: B42D 15/00 Printed matter of special format or style not otherwise provided for
• CPC Class Codes: B42P 2221/00 Books or filing appliances with additional arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 19/0717 the sensor being capable of sensing environmental conditions such as temperature history or pressure
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 19/0723 the record carrier comprising an arrangement for non-contact communication, e.g. wireless communication circuits on transponder cards, non-contact smart cards or RFIDs
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/00 Administration; Management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/258 Client or end-user data management, e.g. managing client capabilities, user preferences or demographics, processing of multiple end-users preferences to derive collaborative data arrangements for services using the result on the distributing side of broadcast systems H04H60/66; profiles in network data switching protocols H04L67/30
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/25891 being end-user preferences retrieval of video data in a video database based on user preferences G06F16/739; arrangements for recognizing users' preferences H04H60/46; user profiles in network data switching protocols H04L67/306; processing of user preferences or user profiles in wireless networks H04W8/18
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/44222 Analytics of user selections, e.g. selection of programs or purchase activity monitoring of user selections in data processing systems G06F11/34; arrangements for monitoring the user's behaviour or opinions in broadcast systems H04H60/33

Abstract

Methods and systems for measuring and gathering data relating to publication usage by participants in publication readership studies. Some methods and systems employ portable monitors carried by participants of the studies along with publications fitted with various devices, such as piezoelectric transducers, RFID tags and others devices and circuits.

Claims

1. A system for producing data concerning usage of a publication by a person, comprising:

a piezoelectric element disposed in or on a predetermined portion of a publication and operative to produce as an output electrical energy when deformed; and

a communication device disposed in or on the publication and responsive to the electrical energy output by the piezoelectric element to communicate data indicating usage of the publication to a data receiver apart from the publication.

2. The system of claim 1, further comprising the publication.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the communication device comprises a wireless transmitter.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the piezoelectric element is disposed on or in a page of the publication and is adapted to produce electrical energy when the page of the publication is turned.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the piezoelectric element is a piezoelectric polymer film.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the publication includes a plurality of pages and the system includes a plurality of piezoelectric elements coupled to the communication device, each of the piezoelectric elements disposed on or in a respectively different one of the plurality of pages of the publication, the communication device adapted to communicate data identifying the page of the publication corresponding to the respective piezoelectric element supplying the electrical energy to the communication device.

7. The system of claim 1, further comprising a motion detector disposed in or on the publication, coupled to the communication device, and adapted to detect movement of the publication;

wherein the communication device is adapted to communicate the data when the motion detector detects movement of the publication.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein the publication includes a plurality of pages, at least one of the pages including a folded flap designed to temporarily conceal an item for display on the page;

the piezoelectric element disposed within a vicinity of the folded flap and adapted to produce electrical energy upon lifting of the folded flap to reveal the item for display on the page.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein the piezoelectric element comprises a piezoelectric polymer film disposed in or on a substantial portion of a cover of the publication and is adapted to produce electrical energy upon grasping of the cover by a hand of a person.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein the piezoelectric polymer film is adapted to produce electrical energy upon detection of a temperature change caused by heat from the hand grasping the cover.

11. The system of claim 9, wherein the piezoelectric polymer film is adapted to produce electrical energy having a detectable characteristic only upon detection of both physical stress and a temperature change caused by the hand grasping the cover;

and the communication device is adapted to communicate data indicating grasping of the publication upon receiving the electrical energy having the detectable characteristic.

12. The system of claim 1, wherein the piezoelectric element and the communication device are coupled via an electrically conductive visible media.

13. The system of claim 1, wherein the publication includes an outer packaging material;

the piezoelectric element is disposed in or on the outer packaging material and is adapted to produce electrical energy upon removal of the outer packaging material; and

the communication device transmits data indicating removal of the outer packaging material upon receipt of the produced electrical energy.

14. The system of claim 1, further comprising a portable monitor adapted to be carried by a participant in a publication readership study, the portable monitor including a wireless receiver operative to receive the data transmitted by the communication device, and storage operative to store the received information.

15. The system of claim 14, wherein the wireless receiver of the portable monitor further is adapted to receive one or more position signals, and the storage of the portable monitor is operative to store position data pertaining to the received one or more position signals along with the received information.

16. The system of claim 1, wherein the piezoelectric element is coupled to the communication device by conductive ink.

17. A method of producing data in a processor-based system concerning usage of a publication by a person, comprising:

producing usage data in the system indicating usage of the publication via a deformation of a piezoelectric element disposed in or on the publication; and

communicating the usage data from the system to a data collector.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the step of communicating comprises wirelessly communicating the usage data to a data collector.

19. The method of claim 17, wherein producing usage data comprises producing electrical energy using the piezoelectric element when a page of the publication is turned.

20. The method of claim 17, wherein the piezoelectric element is a piezoelectric polymer film.

21. The method of claim 17, further comprising providing a plurality of piezoelectric elements disposed on or in respectively different pages of the publication, and producing usage data comprises by producing usage data that corresponds to a turned page by means of the respective piezoelectric element disposed on or in the turned page.

22. The method of claim 17, further comprising detecting motion of the publication;

and wirelessly communicating data based on the detected motion to a data collector.

23. The method of claim 17, further comprising providing the piezoelectric element within a vicinity of a folded flap of a page of the publication;

and the step of producing usage data is carried out upon lifting of the folded flap.

24. The method of claim 17, comprising producing usage data corresponding to grasping the publication.

25. The method of claim 24, comprising producing usage data by detecting a temperature change caused by heat from a hand grasping the publication.

26. The method of claim 25, wherein producing usage data includes detecting physical stress, and communicating the usage data is carried out only upon detecting both physical stress and the temperature change.

27. The method of claim 17, comprising producing usage data corresponding to grasping the publication using a piezoelectric polymer film in or on a cover of the publication.

28. The method of claim 17, comprising producing usage data upon removal of the publication from an outer packaging material.

29. The method of claim 17, comprising communicating the usage data wirelessly to a portable monitor carried by a participant of a publication readership study.

30. The method of claim 29, further comprising ascertaining a location of the portable monitor upon receiving the wirelessly communicated usage data and storing the location with the wirelessly communicated usage data within the portable monitor.

31. The method of claim 17, wherein the step of communicating the usage data is carried out by a wireless transmitter;

the method further comprising coupling an output of the piezoelectric element to the wireless transmitter via conductive ink disposed on the publication.