Patent ID: 7979426
Filing Date: 2011-07-12
Classification: G06F

Abstract:
1. A method for predicting an interest of a user in an object of interest, the method comprising: storing data relating to usage patterns of the user, wherein the data includes a context portion having information as to the context in which items were used, and an interest rating portion indicative of an interest of the user in one or more objects of interest, wherein the context is the situation in which the user or device operated by the user is operating when the items were used; clustering the data into clusters of data points; determining, for each of the clusters, a centroid, wherein the centroid includes a context portion and an interest rating portion; receiving a current context of the user; selecting clusters by comparing a data point representing the current context with the context portion of one or more centroids, wherein clusters with centroids having context portions more similar to the current context are selected over clusters with centroids having context portions less similar to the current context; computing, based on interest ratings in the interest rating portion of the centroids of the selected clusters, an interest rating indicative of an interest of the user in one of the one or more objects of interest that has no interest rating in its corresponding interest rating portion, given the current context; and determining an item to recommend to the user based on the current context and also based on data points having interest rate portions with interest rates that were computed during the computing step as well as data points having interest portions with interest rates that were not computed during the computing step.