Clusters for rapid artist-audience matching

• US 7,860,741 B1
• Filed: 06/12/2006
• Issued: 12/28/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 11/16/1999
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Emergent Discovery, LLC
• Original Assignee: Emergent Discovery, LLC
• Inventors: Robinson, Gary
• Primary Examiner(s): Loftis, Johnna R
• Application Number:
  US11/423,577
• Time in Patent Office: 1,660 Days
• Field of Search: 705/10
• US Class Current: 705/7.31
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9535 Search customisation based on user profiles and personalisation
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0202 Market predictions or forecasting for commercial activities
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0203 Market surveys; Market polls
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0204 Market segmentation
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/06 Buying, selling or leasing transactions

Abstract

The invention involves clusters or hubs each comprising multiple works for which human beings might express taste-based preferences.

The items are grouped in clusters in such a way that the works most in accordance with the tastes of any particular individual person will tend to be in a small number of these clusters out of the overall collection. In this way, clusters can be used to help the person find items that he is not previously familiar with but that he will probably like.

The clustering of works is optimized by human effort, software, or both. By way of example, a methodology for doing this using the principle of information transfer as described in the theory of Shannon entropy is explained. When human effort is used to perform the optimization, facilities are provided for using such principles to determine whether a human-suggested change actually improves the clustering.

Facilities are provided whereby the optimization work may be distributed across multiple machines.

Facilities are provided whereby artists may introduce new works to the system and quickly make them known to the people who are likely to enjoy them. Facilities are provided whereby users can easily receive recommendations for works they are likely to enjoy.

Claims

1. A system for gathering ratings of items of entertainment works, from raters who are skilled at predicting community opinion, said system including a network of computers, each computer having a central processing unit and a memory, said system comprising:

a) at least one server computer having a central processing unit and a memory, wherein said server computer is connected to the network;

b) a plurality of client computers each having a central processing unit and a memory, said client computers serving one or more rating users;

c) the memory of at least one said computer in the network of computers containing a plurality of rating user data sets, each rating user data set representing the tastes of one of said rating users;

d) the memory of at least one said computer in the network of computers containing an item description data set, wherein said item description data set describes taste data for an item;

e) the memory of at least one said server computer containing computer-executable instructions for carrying out a search process which selects a subset of said rating users based on the degree of similarity of each user'"'"'s said rating user data set to said item description data set and each of said rating users'"'"' reliability of predicting community opinion;

f) the memory of at least one said computer in the network of computers containing an input data set by which a promoting user indicates a desire to pay at least one of said rating users to review said item, wherein said promoting user is not enabled to discover at least one from the group consisting of the ratings previously produced by at least one of said rating users and information that could enable said promoting user to communicate with at least one of said rating users;

g) an output screen connected to a computer connected to the network, said output screen enabling rating users to learn they have received an offer of compensation in return for rating said item;

h) transfer means to send said item to said rating users;

i) an input screen connected to a computer connected to the network, wherein each of said rating users can input a rating and an optional review; and

j) the memory of least one said server computer containing computer-executable instructions for operating a recommender system which uses said ratings in generating a recommendation for said item.