Patent ID: 7356518
Filing Date: 2008-04-08
Classification: G06N

Abstract:
1. A computer-readable medium having computer-readable instructions stored thereon which when executed in a computer system having at least one user interface including at lest one output device and at least one input device, instruct the computer system to perform a method, comprising: a) causing at least a part of a solution set to be presented through at least one of the at least one output devices to at least two first-level users, b) receiving through at least one of the at least one input devices, from at least one of the at least two first-level users, a ranking of the at least a part of the solution set presented to that user, c) if rankings of at least a part of the solution set were received from a plurality of first-level users, aggregating the rankings and generating an updated solution set based on the aggregated rankings, d) if rankings of at least a part the solution set were received from only one first-level user, generating an updated solution set based on the ranking by the said user, e) causing the updated solution set to be presented through at least one of the at least one output devices to at least one second-level user, f) receiving through at least one of the at least one input devices, from at least one of the at least one second-level users, a ranking of the updated solution set, g) if rankings of the updated solution set were received from a plurality of second-level users, aggregating the rankings, and generating a further updated solution set based on the aggregated rankings, h) if rankings of the updated solution set were received from only one second-level user, generating a further updated solution set based on the ranking by the said user, i) determining if a stopping criterion has been satisfied, j) if the said stopping criterion has not been satisfied, repeating steps a) through i) based upon the further updated solution set, and k) if the said stopping criterion has been satisfied, causing at least a portion of the further updated solution set to be presented to at least one user through at least one of the at least one output devices.