Data processing: database and file management or data structures – Database design – Data structure types
Reexamination Certificate
1996-05-30
2001-04-10
Lintz, Paul R. (Department: 2171)
Data processing: database and file management or data structures
Database design
Data structure types
C707S793000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06216133
ABSTRACT:
The invention relates to a method enabling a user to fetch a specific information item from a set of information items in an information processing system, in which each information item has one or more item attributes, the system comprising a first agent for evaluating the item attributes associated with the information items, thus forming an agent affinity between the first agent and each of the information items evaluated, said method comprising a selection step for the selection of the specific information item by the first agent in dependence on said agent affinity.
The invention also relates to an information processing system, comprising:
a set of information items, each of which comprises one or more item attributes,
a first agent having an instantaneous state for evaluating the item attributes associated with the information items and determining an agent affinity between the first agent and the information items, and for selecting a specific information item from the set for a user of the system in dependence on the agent affinity.
A method of this kind is known from the article “Issues in multimedia interface design: media integration and interface agents”, B. Laurel et al., Proceedings of the fifteenth annual ACM conference, Apr. 1-5, 1990, Seattle, Wash., U.S.A. The known method utilizes a system with a number of agents, referred to as guides, for the selection of information items. Each agent has a given affinity for each information item and offers the user an ordered sub-set of items wherefrom the user selects a specific item. The known method utilizes a temporal metaphor, the information items being arranged in a temporal sequence relative to one another. In the known method the agents and the attributes of the information items are static. An agent therein operates on the basis of its own static sub-set and the static attributes of the information items.
It is an object of the invention to provide a method of the kind set forth in which the selection of the specific item by the agent is adapted to the instantaneous needs and circumstances of the user. To this end, the method in accordance with the invention is characterized in that it comprises the step of forming at least once an image of a user affinity between the user and the information items from a pattern of past interactions between the user and the system and recording this image in a user attribute, and that the selection step comprises the selection of the specific information item by the first agent in further dependence on the user attribute. As a result of the formation of an image of the user affinity between the user and the information items and the consideration of this user affinity for the selection of an information item, the item which best suits the user at the relevant instant will be selected from a possibly large group of information items. The method in accordance with the invention can be used notably to assist the user in searching large sets of information items such as they occur, for example in multimedia databases.
A version of the method of the invention in which the system comprises a set of agents and in which the method includes an activation step for activating the first agent from the set of agents is characterized in that the activation step comprises the activation of the first agent in dependence on the user attribute. In a system in which several agents are available, the user is supported by the system in selecting an agent. An agent is selected on the basis of the user attribute for the user, so that an agent which suits the user as well as possible is activated. A system offering services or goods for sale (teleshopping) can activate for the user that agent which is most likely to make a sale.
A version of the method in accordance with the invention is characterized in that the method comprises a step for deactivation by the user of the agent activated during the activation step. This enables the user to reject an agent proposed by the system in order to obtain a different agent.
A version of the method in accordance with the invention is characterized in that the image of the user affinity is formed on the basis of the user's cognizance of the specific information item. User cognizance of the specific information item is one of the possibilities of forming an image of the user affinity between the user and the information items. This information is used in a next stage for the selection of a next information item, so that the user is then confronted with an information item which better suits the user's needs.
A version of the method in accordance with the invention in which the set comprises sub-sets and in which one of the sub-sets is made accessible for selection of the specific information item by the first agent is characterized in that a sub-set comprises a first list with neighbor sets, a neighbor set comprising a given one of the other sub-sets, and that the first agent selects, as an alternative for the specific information item, a specific sub-set from the first list of the accessible sub-set. The structure in which a given sub-set is associated with a selection from the other sub-sets offers the user a degree of ordering of the information items which is attractive for the searching of the entire set of information items.
A version of the method in accordance with the invention is characterized in that the accessible sub-set with the sub-sets from the first list are reproduced spatially to the user. The spatial arrangement of the sub-sets in a virtual space offers the user an ordering which closely resembles the ordering of objects in reality. Such natural ordering simplifies the retrieval of information items by the user and also makes the initial use of the system less complicated.
A version of the method in accordance with the invention is characterized in that in addition to a first representation of the selected specific information item there is also reproduced a second representation of a non-selected information item. By additionally showing one or more information items other than the selected information item, the user is informed further as regards the presence of the information items in the set. This is useful in exploring a large set of information items.
The system in accordance with the invention is characterized in that it comprises means for forming an image of a user affinity between the user and the information items on the basis of a pattern of past interactions between the user and the system and for recording this image in a user attribute, and that the first agent is suitable to select the specific information item in further dependence on the user attribute. As a result of the recording of a degree of affinity of the user for given information items, the agent of the system can select the information item which best suits the user. The affinity is dynamically updated on the basis of the actions undertaken by the user of the system. This means that at a later instant an information item may be selected other than that which best suits the user until that instant.
Various attractive embodiments of the method and the system in accordance with the invention are described in the dependent Claims.
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Lintz Paul R.
Rones Charles L.
Thorne Gregory L.
U.S. Phi,ips Corporation
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