Computer based method for generating representative questions from an audience

• US 8,060,390 B1
• Filed: 11/24/2006
• Issued: 11/15/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 11/24/2006
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Voices Heard Media, Inc. (DMGx LLC)
• Original Assignee: Voices Heard Media, Inc. (DMGx LLC)
• Inventors: Overstreet, William
• Primary Examiner(s): Jarrett; Scott L
• Application Number:
  US11/604,139
• Time in Patent Office: 1,817 Days
• Field of Search: 705/7.11
• US Class Current: 705/7.11
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06 Resources, workflows, human or project management; Enterprise or organisation planning; Enterprise or organisation modelling
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/063 Operations research, analysis or management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising

Abstract

A computer assisted system and related method for interacting with an audience by combining questions from a group of questioners, analyzing the questions, and presenting the questions in summary form for answering by a speaker or interviewee. The answers are then delivered to the questioners. The entire interview may be delivered to the questioners, or portions may be selectively delivered to separate questioners based on questions asked by the respective questioner. In one embodiment, questions may be grouped by similar subject matter; groups may be arranged by the number of associated questions or by other priority criteria. In a further embodiment, a representative question may be generated for each group. The representative question may be selected from the group or may be generated from analysis results. In one embodiment, a subscriber based service is provided. Profiles may be developed for the questioners, and targeted advertising may be delivered based on the profiles.

Claims

1. A computer based method for assisting communications between a speaker conducting an interview of an interviewee and an audience of the interview by generating representative questions from the audience, the method comprising the steps of:

conducting an interview during a time period corresponding to real time;

receiving during the time period at a central processing server incoming questions during the time period from a plurality of audience members, thereby obtaining a plurality of audience generated questions; and

distilling at a rate substantially corresponding to the rate the questions are received the plurality of audience generated questions to a substantially smaller number of representative questions while also providing at the same rate information indicative of the questions most asked by the audience, the distilling comprising;

generating an analysis of the incoming questions at the central processing server, the analysis being updated substantially continuously at the rate that the questions are received, the analysis comprising grouping the incoming questions into groups of related questions, indicating the number of questions in each group of incoming questions, and generating a representative question for each group of incoming questions to yield the substantially smaller number of representative questions and the information indicative of the questions most asked by the audience which together indicate the full range of interests of the audience and the focus of greatest interest in groups of incoming questions, and

generating results of the analysis and substantially continually updating the results during a substantial portion of the time period and providing the representative questions including the results and updates and the information indicative of the questions most asked by the audience on an ongoing and substantially real time basis to the speaker for presentation to the interviewee to enable interactive communication between the interviewee and substantially a whole of the audience by providing to the interviewee information about the full range of interests of the audience and the focus of greatest interest in groups of incoming questions.