Compliance incentives for audience monitoring/recording devices

• US 5,483,276 A
• Filed: 08/02/1993
• Issued: 01/09/1996
• Est. Priority Date: 08/02/1993
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: The Nielsen Company LLC (MOOD Media Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Arbitron Inc. (MOOD Media Corporation)
• Inventors: Osborn, Susan V., Stowell, Carol P., Seiler, Ann B., Schmidt, Carole M., Brooks, Jon R., Pearl, Amy E., Wong, Wylie, Jensen, James M., White, Thomas W., McConochie, Roberta M.
• Primary Examiner(s): Groody, James J.
• Assistant Examiner(s): GRANT, CHRISTOPHER C
• Application Number:
  US08/101,558
• Time in Patent Office: 890 Days
• Field of Search: 455/2, 348/1, 348/2, 348/4, 348/5, 358/84
• US Class Current: 725/10
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 60/32 Arrangements for monitoring conditions of receiving stations, e.g. malfunction or breakdown of receiving stations
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 60/38 for identifying broadcast time or space
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 60/45 for identifying users
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 60/63 for services of sales data processing systems or methods specially adapted for electronic commerce G06Q30/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/165 Centralised control of user terminal subsequent to an upstream request signal H04N7/17345; Registering at central by two-way working H04N7/17309

Abstract

Systems and methods are provided for promoting use by an audience member of a portable broadcast exposure monitoring and/or recording device in accordance with a predetermined usage criterion. A sense signal is provided indicating whether the device is being carried with the person of the audience member, and a time signal corresponding with the sense signal is also provided. An indication to the audience member of whether the audience member'"'"'s usage of the device has been in accordance with the predetermined usage criterion is provided based on the sense signal and the corresponding time signal.

Claims

1. A system for promoting use by an audience member of a portable broadcast exposure monitoring and/or recording device in accordance with a predetermined usage criterion, comprising:

means for providing a sense signal indicating whether the device is being carried with the person of the audience member;

means for providing a time signal corresponding with the sense signal;

data storage means included with the device for storing the sense signal and the corresponding time signal; and

indication means for providing an indication to the audience member based on the sense signal and the corresponding time signal of whether the audience member'"'"'s usage of the device has been in accordance with the predetermined usage criterion.

2. The system of claim 1, further comprising compliance signal means for providing a compliance signal indicating whether the audience member has used the device in accordance with the predetermined usage criterion based on the sense signal and the corresponding time signal.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein the indication means is operative to provide said indication based on the compliance signal.

4. A system as in claim 1, wherein the indication provided to the audience member represents a cumulative usage of the device by the audience member.

5. A system as in claim 4, wherein the cumulative usage is computed relative to a predetermined starting time.

6. A system as in claim 1, wherein the indication means comprises means for providing an audible indication.

66. A system as in claim 1, wherein the predetermined usage criterion does not depend on exposure to a broadcast.

7. A system for promoting use by an audience member of a portable broadcast exposure monitoring and/or recording device in accordance with a predetermined usage criterion, comprising:

means for providing a sense signal indicating whether the device is being carried with the person of the audience member;

means for providing a time signal corresponding with the sense signal; and

indication means for providing an indication to the audience member based on the sense signal and the corresponding time signal of whether the audience member'"'"'s usage of the device has been in accordance with the predetermined usage criterion, the indication representing cumulative usage of the device by the audience member computed for a daily period.

8. A system for promoting use by an audience member of a portable broadcast exposure monitoring and/or recording device in accordance with a predetermined usage criterion, comprising:

means for providing a sense signal indicating whether the device is being carried with the person of the audience member;

means for providing a time signal corresponding with the sense signal; and

indication means for providing an indication to the audience member based on the sense signal and the corresponding time signal of whether the audience member'"'"'s usage of the device has been in accordance with the predetermined usage criterion, the indication representing a reward awarded to the audience member.

9. A system as in claim 8, wherein the reward is awarded to the audience member based on a random selection process.

10. A system as in claim 9, wherein the random selection process comprises a random selection of the audience member from among a selected group of audience members.

11. A system as in claim 8, wherein the reward is awarded to the audience member by selecting the member at random from a group of audience members selected according to compliance data gathered therefor.

12. A system as in claim 8, wherein the reward is based on a cumulative usage of the device by the audience member.

13. A system as in claim 8, wherein the reward is based on usage of the device by the audience member in accordance with the predetermined usage criterion at a predetermined time.

14. A system as in claim 8, further comprising means for providing notification to an audience member that a reward has been awarded to another audience member.

15. A system for promoting use by an audience member of a portable broadcast exposure monitoring and/or recording device in accordance with a predetermined usage criterion, comprising:

means for providing a sense signal indicating whether the device is being carried with the person of the audience member;

means for providing a time signal corresponding with the sense signal;

the device including the means for providing a sense signal and the means for providing a time signal, the system further comprising;

compliance signal means for providing a compliance signal indicating whether the audience member has used the device in accordance with the predetermined usage criterion based on the sense signal and the corresponding time signal;

indication means for providing an indication to the audience member based on the sense signal and the corresponding time signal of whether the audience member'"'"'s usage of the device has been in accordance with the predetermined usage criterion; and

means for transmitting the sense signal and the corresponding time signal from the device for provision to the compliance signal means.

16. A system as in claim 15, wherein the indication means is disposed within the device.

17. A system for promoting use by an audience member of a portable broadcast exposure monitoring and/or recording device in accordance with a predetermined usage criterion, comprising:

means included in the device for providing a sense signal indicating whether the device is being carried with the person of the audience member;

means included in the device for providing a time signal corresponding with the sense signal;

compliance signal means for providing a compliance signal indicating whether the audience member has used the device in accordance with the predetermined usage criterion based on the sense signal and the corresponding time signal;

means for transmitting the sense signal and the corresponding time signal from the device for provision to the compliance signal means;

a data transfer system for coupling with the device to receive the signals transmitted by the means for transmitting; and

indication means for providing an indication to the audience member based on the sense signal and the time signal of whether the audience member'"'"'s usage of the device has been in accordance with the predetermined usage criterion.

18. A system as in claim 17, wherein the data transfer system includes the means for providing an indication of whether the audience member'"'"'s usage of the device has been in accordance with the predetermined usage criterion.

19. A system as in claim 17, wherein the indication means is disposed within the device.

20. A system as in claim 17, wherein the data transfer system includes a docking station operative to couple with the device, the docking station including the compliance signal means and the indication means therewith.

21. The system of claim 20, wherein the docking station includes means for generating reward signals, the indication means being operative to provide an indication of a reward based on the reward signals.

22. A system for promoting use by an audience member of a portable broadcast exposure monitoring and/or recording device in accordance with a predetermined usage criterion, comprising:

means included in the device for providing a sense signal indicating whether the device is being carried with the person of the audience member;

means included in the device for providing a time signal corresponding with the sense signal;

compliance signal means located at a centralized data processing facility for providing a compliance signal indicating whether the audience member has used the device in accordance with the predetermined usage criterion based on the sense signal and the corresponding time signal, said compliance signal means being operative to receive sense and corresponding time signals from a plurality of monitoring and/or recording devices;

means for transmitting the sense signal and the corresponding time signal from the device for provision to the compliance signal means; and

indication means for providing an indication to the audience member based on the sense signal and the corresponding time signal of whether the audience member'"'"'s usage of the device has been in accordance with the predetermined usage criterion.

23. A system as in claim 22, wherein the centralized data processing facility also includes means for generating reward signals and for transmitting the reward signals to the means for providing an indication.

24. A system as in claim 23, further comprising a data transfer system for transferring data from the device to the centralized data processing facility, the data transfer system including the means for providing an indication of whether the audience member'"'"'s usage of the monitoring device has been in accordance with the predetermined usage criterion.

25. A system as in claim 23, wherein the indication means is disposed within the device.

26. A system for promoting use by an audience member of a portable broadcast exposure monitoring and/or recording device in accordance with a predetermined usage criterion, comprising:

means for providing a sense signal indicating whether the device is being carried with the person of the audience member;

means for providing a time signal corresponding with the sense signal; and

a visual display for providing a visual indication to the audience member based on the sense signal and the corresponding time signal of whether the audience member'"'"'s usage of the device has been in accordance with the predetermined usage criterion.

27. A system as in claim 26, wherein the visual display comprises at least one of a liquid crystal display and a light emitting diode.

28. A system for promoting use by an audience member of a portable broadcast exposure monitoring and recording device in accordance with a predetermined usage criterion, the device being operative to receive a broadcast audio signal having an identification signal in encoded form therein, decode the encoded identification signal and store the decoded identification signal with a corresponding time signal, comprising:

means for providing a sense signal indicating whether the device is being carried with the person of the audience member;

means for providing a time signal corresponding with the sense signal; and

indication means for providing an indication to the audience member based on the sense signal and the corresponding time signal of whether the audience member'"'"'s usage of the device has been in accordance with the predetermined usage criterion.

29. A method for promoting use by an audience member of a portable broadcast exposure monitoring and/or recording device in accordance with a predetermined usage criterion, comprising the steps of:

providing a sense signal indicating whether the device is being carried with the person of the audience member;

providing a time signal corresponding with the sense signal;

storing the sense signal and the corresponding time signal in the device; and

providing an indication to the audience member based on the sense signal and the corresponding time signal of whether the audience member'"'"'s usage of the device has been in accordance with the predetermined usage criterion.

30. A method as in claim 29, further comprising the step of providing a compliance signal indicating whether the audience member has used the device in accordance with the predetermined usage criterion based on the sense signal and the corresponding time signal.

31. A method as in claim 29, wherein the indication provided to the audience member represents a cumulative usage of the device by the audience member.

32. A method for promoting use by an audience member of a portable broadcast exposure monitoring and/or recording device in accordance with a predetermined usage criterion, comprising the steps of:

providing a sense signal indicating whether the device is being carried with the person of the audience member;

providing a time signal corresponding with the sense signal; and

providing an indication to the audience member based on the sense signal and the corresponding time signal of whether the audience member'"'"'s usage of the device has been in accordance with the predetermined usage criterion, the indication representing a reward awarded to the audience member.

33. A method as in claim 32, further comprising the step of notifying an audience member that a reward has been awarded to another audience member.

34. A method for promoting use by an audience member of a portable broadcast exposure monitoring and recording device in accordance with a predetermined usage criterion, the device being operative to receive a broadcast audio signal having an identification signal in encoded form therein, decode the encoded identification signal and store the decoded identification signal with a corresponding time signal, comprising the steps of:

providing a sense signal indicating whether the device is being carried with the person of the audience member;

providing a time signal corresponding with the sense signal; and

providing an indication to the audience member based on the sense signal and corresponding time signal of whether the audience member'"'"'s usage of the device has been in accordance with the predetermined usage criterion.

35. A system for promoting usage by an audience member of a portable broadcast exposure monitoring and/or recording device in accordance with a predetermined usage criterion, the device being operative to acquire and/or store broadcast exposure data and to couple with a data transfer system under the control of the audience member to provide data to the data transfer system from the device, comprising:

sensing means for providing a sense signal in response to coupling of the device with the data transfer system;

means for providing a time signal corresponding with the sense signal;

compliance signal means for providing a compliance signal indicating whether the device was coupled with the data transfer system within a predetermined coupling time frame based on the sense signal and the corresponding time signal; and

coupling indication means for providing an indication to the audience member based on the compliance signal of whether the audience member has coupled the device with the data transfer system within the predetermined coupling time frame.

36. A system as in claim 35, wherein the indication provided to the audience member represents a cumulative number of times that the audience member has coupled the device to the data transfer system within the predetermined coupling time frame.

37. A system as in claim 36, wherein the cumulative number of times is computed relative to a predetermined starting time.

38. A system as in claim 35, wherein the indication provided to the audience member represents a reward awarded to the audience member.

39. A system as in claim 38, wherein the reward is awarded to the audience member based on a random selection process and conditioned on coupling of the device with the data transfer system within said predetermined coupling time frame determined based on the compliance signal.

40. A system as in claim 38, wherein the reward relates to a cumulative number of times of coupling the monitoring device by the audience member within the predetermined coupling time frame.

41. A system as in claim 40, wherein the reward relates to the coupling of the device by the audience member in accordance with the predetermined usage criterion at a particular time.

42. A system as in claim 38, further comprising means for providing notification to an audience member that a reward was awarded to another audience member.

43. A system as in claim 35, wherein the data transfer system includes the means for providing a sense signal, the means for providing a time signal, and the coupling indication means.

44. A system as in claim 43, wherein the data transfer system includes the compliance signal means.

45. A system as in claim 44, wherein the indication provided to the audience member represents a reward awarded to the audience member.

46. A system as in claim 35, wherein the device includes the coupling indication means.

47. A system as in claim 35, wherein the compliance signal means is located at a centralized data processing facility.

48. A system as in claim 47, wherein the data transfer system includes means for transmitting the sense signal and corresponding time signal to the compliance signal means, and the compliance signal means includes means for transmitting the compliance signal to the data transfer system.

49. A system as in claim 48, wherein the indication provided to the audience member represents a reward awarded to the audience member.

50. A system as in claim 35, wherein the device includes a rechargeable battery, and the data transfer system includes means for recharging the rechargeable battery.

51. A system as in claim 50, wherein the device includes means for providing a low battery charge indication.

52. A system for promoting usage by an audience member of a portable broadcast exposure monitoring and recording device in accordance with a predetermined usage criterion, the device being operative to receive a broadcast audio signal having an identification signal in encoded form therein, decode the encoded identification signal, store the decoded identification signal with a corresponding time signal, and couple with a data transfer system under the control of the audience member to provide the decoded identification signal and corresponding time signal to the data transfer system from the device, comprising:

sensing means for providing a sense signal in response to coupling of the device with the data transfer system;

means for providing a sense time signal corresponding with the sense signal;

compliance signal means for providing a compliance signal indicating whether the device was coupled with the data transfer system within a predetermined coupling time frame based on the sense signal and the corresponding sense time signal; and

coupling indication means for providing an indication to the audience member based on the compliance signal of whether the audience member has coupled the device with the data transfer system within the predetermined coupling time frame.

53. A method for promoting usage by an audience member of a portable broadcast exposure monitoring and/or recording device in accordance with a predetermined usage criterion, the device being operative to acquire and/or store broadcast exposure data and to couple with a data transfer system under the control of the audience member to provide data to the data transfer system from the device, comprising the steps of:

providing a sense signal in response to coupling of the device with the data transfer system;

providing a time signal corresponding with the sense signal;

providing a compliance signal indicating whether the device was coupled with the data transfer system within a predetermined coupling time frame based on the sense signal and corresponding time signal; and

providing an indication to the audience member based on the compliance signal of whether the audience member has coupled the device with the data transfer system within the predetermined coupling time frame.

54. A method as in claim 53, wherein the indication provided to the audience member represents a cumulative number of times that the audience member has coupled the device to the data transfer system within the predetermined coupling time frame.

55. A method as in claim 53, wherein the indication provided to the audience member represents a reward awarded to the audience member.

56. A method as in claim 53, further comprising the step of notifying an audience member that a reward has been awarded to another audience member.

57. A method for promoting usage by an audience member of a portable broadcast exposure monitoring and recording device in accordance with a predetermined usage criterion, the device being operative to receive a broadcast audio signal having an identification signal in encoded form therein, decode the encoded identification signal, store the decoded identification signal with a corresponding time signal, and couple with a data transfer system under the control of the audience member to provide the decoded identification signal and corresponding time signal to the data transfer system from the device, comprising the steps of:

providing a sense signal in response to coupling of the device with the data transfer system;

providing a sense time signal corresponding with the sense signal;

providing a compliance signal indicating whether the device was coupled with the data transfer system within a predetermined coupling time frame based on the sense signal and corresponding sense time signal;

providing an indication to the audience member based on the compliance signal of whether the audience member has coupled the device with the data transfer system within the predetermined coupling time frame.

58. A system for promoting use by an audience member of a portable broadcast exposure monitoring and/or recording device in accordance with a predetermined usage criterion, comprising:

means for providing a sense signal indicating whether the device is being carried with the person of the audience member;

means for providing an operational state signal from time to time, the operational state signal indicating whether said device is in an operating state for monitoring broadcast exposure; and

means for providing a plurality of indications to the audience member, each of the plurality of indications being provided at a different respective time, each of the plurality of indications indicating that the device is in the operating state based on the operational state signal and the sense signal.

59. A system as in claim 58, wherein the means for providing the operational state signal includes means for providing an indication that the device is operative to detect and store broadcast exposure data.

60. A system as in claim 58, wherein the means for providing a plurality of indications comprises a visual display.

61. A system as in claim 60, wherein the visual display comprises at least one of a liquid crystal display and a light emitting diode.

62. A system as in claim 58, wherein the means for providing the plurality of indications comprises means for providing an audible indication.

63. A system for promoting use by an audience member of a portable broadcast exposure monitoring and recording device in accordance with a predetermined usage criterion, the device being operative to receive a broadcast audio signal having an identification signal in encoded form therein, decode the encoded identification signal and store the decoded identification signal with a corresponding time signal, comprising:

means for providing a sense signal indicating whether the device is being carried with the person of the audience member;

means for providing an operational state signal from time to time, the operational state signal indicating whether said device is in an operating state for monitoring broadcast exposure; and

means for providing a plurality of indications to the audience member, each of the plurality of indications being provided at a different respective time, each of the plurality of indications indicating that the device is in the operating state based on the operational state signal and the sense signal.

64. A method for promoting use by an audience member of a portable broadcast exposure monitoring and/or recording device in accordance with a predetermined usage criterion, comprising the steps of:

providing a sense signal indicating whether the device is being carried with the person of the audience member;

providing an operational state signal from time to time, the operational state signal indicating whether said device is in an operating state for monitoring broadcast exposure; and

providing a plurality of indications to the audience member, each of the plurality of indications being provided at a different respective time, each of the plurality of indications indicating that the device is in the operating state based on the operational state signal and the sense signal.

65. A method for promoting use by an audience member of a portable broadcast exposure monitoring and recording device in accordance with a predetermined usage criterion, the device being operative to receive a broadcast audio signal having an identification signal in encoded form therein, decode the encoded identification signal and store the decoded identification signal with a corresponding time signal, comprising the steps of:

providing a sense signal indicating whether the device is being carried with the person of the audience member;

providing an operational state signal from time to time, the operational state signal indicating whether said device is in an operating state for monitoring broadcast exposure; and

providing a plurality of indications to the audience member, each of the plurality of indications being provided at a different respective time, each of the plurality of indications indicating that the device is in the operating state based on the operational state signal and the sense signal.