Patent ID: 6236974
Filing Date: 2001-05-22
Classification: G06Q,Y10S

Abstract:
A computer-implemented method for creating a food preference vector, the preference vector comprising a plurality of fields that represent specific user preferences, the method comprising the steps of:(A) asking a pre-determined question eliciting information about the user's preference for a food with a specific characteristic;(B) storing a user response to the question in a field in the preference vector corresponding to the specific characteristic;(C) repeating steps (A)-(B) until all preference questions have been asked;(D) accessing a recipe for a menu with characteristics;(E) determining the suitability of the menu based on a comparison of the characteristics of the recipe for the menu with user preferences obtained from the food preference vector wherein the determining the suitability of the menu further comprises assigning a suitability weight to the menu based on a comparison of the characteristics of the recipe for the menu with the user preferences; identifying a last time the menu was used; and modifying the suitability weight based on the identified time of last use;(F) recommending the menu to the user if the menu is found to be suitable; and(G) updating the user food preference vector based on user satisfaction of the recommended menu.