Method, medium, and system for ranking dishes at eating establishments

• US 8,296,194 B2
• Filed: 09/21/2010
• Issued: 10/23/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 09/21/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Chen, Billy, Ofek, Eyal
• Primary Examiner(s): Zimmerman, Matthew
• Application Number:
  US12/886,571
• Publication Number:
  US 20120072302A1
• Time in Patent Office: 763 Days
• Field of Search: 705/26.1, 705/27.1, 705/26.7
• US Class Current: 705/26.7
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0631 Item recommendations

Abstract

Data-driven item value determinations for a user-interested topic are automatically generated and made available to a user for rendering effective, efficient decisional choices on one or more aspects of the user-interested topic. Information on components of the user-interested topic relevant to a user'"'"'s decisional choices are mined from the internet and collated to generate values that identify optimum user choices. User input is utilized to tailor generated value determinations for specific user preferences, issues and/or concerns. Data-driven item value determinations can be generated for a host of user-interested topics including, but not limited to, eating establishment nutritional choices and shopping mall criteria.

Claims

1. A method for generating and outputting to a user deterministic data for the user to make decisions for a set of eating establishments comprising at least one eating establishment, the method comprising:

receiving an eating establishment inquiry from a user;

collecting at least one menu comprising collected menus for the set of eating establishments;

parsing at least one menu of the collected menus into a set of dishes comprising dishes identified on the at least one menu;

determining that a recipe utilized by an eating establishment for a first dish from the set of dishes cannot be located;

in response to at least the determination that a recipe utilized by an eating establishment for the first dish cannot be located, collecting a set of recipes comprising at least two recipes for the first dish by utilizing at least a device accessing the internet;

identifying a recipe utilizing the collected recipes to be the recipe for the first dish wherein the identified recipe comprises a first recipe;

ranking at least two of the set of dishes wherein the ranking is based at least in part on the first recipe and a nutritional consideration; and

outputting an indication of the ranking to the user.

2. The method for generating and outputting to a user deterministic data for the user to make decisions for a set of eating establishments of claim 1, further comprising:

determining that a recipe utilized by an eating establishment for a second dish from the set of dishes can be located wherein the recipe utilized by an eating establishment for the second dish comprises a second recipe;

identifying the second recipe as the recipe for the second dish; and

ranking at least two of the set of dishes identified on a collected menu wherein the ranking comprises a ranking of the first dish and a ranking of the second dish, and wherein the ranking is based at least in part on the first recipe and at least in part on the second recipe.

3. The method for generating and outputting to a user deterministic data for the user to make decisions for a set of eating establishments of claim 1, further comprising:

determining that a recipe utilized by an eating establishment for a third dish from the set of dishes cannot be located;

in response to at least the determination that a recipe utilized by an eating establishment for the third dish cannot be located, collecting a set of recipes comprising at least two recipes for the third dish by utilizing at least the device accessing the internet; and

utilizing at least two recipes from the set of recipes collected for the third dish to generate a new recipe comprising a third recipe to be identified as the recipe for the third dish wherein the third recipe comprises ingredient amounts from at least two recipes from the collected recipes.

4. The method for generating and outputting to a user deterministic data for the user to make decisions for a set of eating establishments of claim 1, wherein the nutritional consideration comprises a calorie count for each of the at least two dishes of the set of dishes ranked.

5. The method for generating and outputting to a user deterministic data for the user to make decisions for a set of eating establishments of claim 1, wherein the nutritional consideration comprises a grams of fat content for each of the at least two dishes of the set of dishes ranked.

6. The method for generating and outputting to a user deterministic data for the user to make decisions for a set of eating establishments of claim 1, wherein the nutritional consideration comprises an identification that either the user is allergic to an item that may be an ingredient in at least one of the at least two dishes of the set of dishes ranked or an identification that the user dislikes an item that may be an ingredient in at least one of the at least two dishes of the set of dishes ranked.

7. The method for generating and outputting to a user deterministic data for the user to make decisions for a set of eating establishments of claim 1, further comprising:

generating a display of the menu for an eating establishment;

augmenting the display of the menu for the eating establishment to indicate the ranking of the at least two dishes of the set of dishes identified on the menu; and

outputting the augmented display of the menu for the eating establishment to the user.

8. The method for generating and outputting to a user deterministic data for the user to make decisions for a set of eating establishments of claim 1, further comprising:

utilizing a user wireless, mobile computing device to communicate with a computing cloud wherein the computing cloud determines that the recipe utilized by an eating establishment for the first dish cannot be located, the computing cloud, in response to at least the determination that the recipe utilized by an eating establishment for the first dish cannot be located, collects via the internet the set of recipes comprising at least two recipes for the first dish, the computing cloud identifies the recipe utilizing the collected recipes to be the recipe for the first dish, and the computing cloud ranks the at least two dishes of the set of dishes, and wherein the user wireless, mobile computing device comprises a communication element comprising the capability to communicate with the computing cloud; and

utilizing the user wireless, mobile computing device to display the indication of the ranking to the user, wherein the user wireless, mobile computing device comprises a display element comprising the capability to output information to a user.

9. A tangible computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions stored thereon that when executed by a processor of a computing device implement a method for generating and outputting to a user deterministic data for the user to make decisions for a set of eating establishments comprising at least one eating establishment, the computer-readable medium comprising:

computer-executable instructions for receiving an eating establishment inquiry from a user;

computer-executable instructions for collecting at least one menu comprising collected menus for the set of eating establishments;

computer-executable instructions for parsing at least one menu of the collected menus into a set of dishes comprising dishes identified on the at least one menu;

computer-executable instructions for determining that a recipe utilized by an eating establishment for a first dish from the set of dishes cannot be located;

computer-executable instructions that, in response to at least the determination that a recipe utilized by an eating establishment for the first dish cannot be located, collect via the internet a set of recipes comprising at least two recipes for the first dish;

computer-executable instructions for identifying a recipe utilizing the collected recipes to be the recipe for the first dish wherein the identified recipe comprises a first recipe;

computer-executable instructions for ranking at least two of the set of dishes wherein the ranking is based at least in part on the first recipe and a nutritional consideration; and

computer-executable instructions for outputting an indication of the ranking to the user.

10. The tangible computer-readable medium of claim 9, further comprising:

computer-executable instructions for determining that a recipe utilized by an eating establishment for a second dish from the set of dishes can be located wherein the recipe utilized by an eating establishment for the second dish comprises a second recipe;

computer-executable instructions for identifying the second recipe as the recipe for the second dish; and

computer-executable instructions for ranking at least two of the set of dishes identified on a collected menu wherein the ranking comprises a ranking of the first dish and a ranking of the second dish, and wherein the ranking is based at least in part on the first recipe and at least in part on the second recipe.

11. The tangible computer-readable medium of claim 9, further comprising:

computer-executable instructions for determining that a recipe utilized by an eating establishment for a third dish from the set of dishes cannot be located;

computer-executable instructions that, in response to at least the determination that a recipe utilized by an eating establishment for the third dish cannot be located, collects a set of recipes comprising at least two recipes for the third dish by accessing the internet; and

computer-executable instructions for utilizing at least two recipes from the set of recipes collected for the third dish to generate a new recipe comprising a third recipe to be identified as the recipe for the third dish wherein the third recipe comprises ingredient amounts from at least two recipes from the collected recipes.

12. The tangible computer-readable medium of claim 9, wherein one or more of the computer-executable instructions are configured to execute on a wireless mobile computing device of the user.

13. The tangible computer-readable medium of claim 9, further comprising:

computer-executable instructions for populating a user profile with data comprising user-specific data relevant to eating establishments and at least one nutritional consideration for the user;

computer-executable instructions for modifying the ranking of at least one dish of the set of dishes ranked based on data in the user profile; and

computer-executable instructions for outputting to the user an indication of the modification of the ranking of the at least one dish.

14. The tangible computer-readable medium of claim 9, wherein the nutritional consideration comprises at least one of a set of nutritional considerations comprising calorie counts for dishes, grams of fat content for dishes, the user'"'"'s allergy to an ingredient that may be in a dish, and the user'"'"'s dislike of an ingredient that may be in a dish.

15. A system for generating and outputting to a user deterministic data for the user to make decisions for a set of eating establishments comprising at least one eating establishment, the system comprising:

a computing device processor and memory configured with instructions which when executed by the computing device processor cause the computing device processor to perform the following steps;

receive an eating establishment inquiry from a user;

collect at least one menu comprising collected menus for the set of eating establishments wherein one menu of the collected menus comprises a first menu for a first eating establishment;

parse the first menu into a first set of dishes comprising dishes identified on the first menu;

determine that a recipe utilized by the first eating establishment for a first dish from the first set of dishes cannot be located;

in response to at least the determination that a recipe utilized by the first eating establishment for the first dish cannot be located, collect a first set of recipes comprising at least two recipes for the first dish by utilizing at least a device accessing the internet;

identify a recipe utilizing the collected first set of recipes to be the recipe for the first dish wherein the identified recipe comprises a first recipe;

rank at least two of the first set of dishes wherein the ranking is based at least in part on the first recipe and a nutritional consideration; and

output an indication of the ranking to the user.

16. The system for generating and outputting to a user deterministic data for the user to make decisions for a set of eating establishments of claim 15, wherein the instructions further cause the computing device processor to:

determine that a recipe utilized by the first eating establishment for a second dish from the first set of dishes can be located wherein the recipe utilized by the first eating establishment for the second dish comprises a second recipe;

identify the second recipe as the recipe for the second dish; and

rank at least two of the first set of dishes identified on the first menu wherein the ranking comprises a ranking of the first dish and a ranking of the second dish, and wherein the ranking is based at least in part on the first recipe and at least in part on the second recipe.

17. The system for generating and outputting to a user deterministic data for the user to make decisions for a set of eating establishments of claim 15, wherein the instructions further cause the computing device processor to:

determine that a recipe utilized by the first eating establishment for a third dish from the first set of dishes cannot be located;

in response to at least the determination that a recipe utilized by the first eating establishment for the third dish cannot be located, collect a second set of recipes comprising at least two recipes for the third dish by utilizing at least the device accessing the internet; and

utilize at least two recipes from the second set of recipes collected for the third dish to generate a new recipe comprising a third recipe to be identified as the recipe for the third dish wherein the third recipe comprises ingredient amounts from at least two recipes from the second set of recipes.

18. The system for generating and outputting to a user deterministic data for the user to make decisions for a set of eating establishments of claim 15, wherein the instructions further cause the computing device processor to:

collect at least one second menu for a second eating establishment;

parse the second menu into a second set of dishes comprising dishes identified on the second menu;

identify a recipe located by at least the device accessing the internet to be the recipe for a second dish identified on the second menu wherein the identified recipe for the second dish comprises a second recipe;

rank at least a subset of the set of eating establishments wherein the subset comprises the first eating establishment and the second eating establishment, and wherein the ranking is based at least in part on the first recipe, the second recipe and a nutritional consideration; and

output an indication of the ranking of the eating establishments to the user.

19. The system for generating and outputting to a user deterministic data for the user to make decisions for a set of eating establishments of claim 18, wherein the instructions further cause the computing device processor to:

generate a first score for the first eating establishment wherein the first score is determined at least in part by the first recipe and the nutritional consideration;

generate a second score for the second eating establishment wherein the second score is determined at least in part by the second recipe and the nutritional consideration; and

rank the at least subset of the set of eating establishments based at least in part on the first score and the second score.

20. The system for generating and outputting to a user deterministic data for the user to make decisions for a set of eating establishments of claim 19, wherein the nutritional consideration comprises at least one of a set of nutritional considerations comprising calorie counts for dishes, grams of fat content for dishes, the user'"'"'s allergy to an ingredient that may be in a dish, and the user'"'"'s dislike of an ingredient that may be in a dish.