International Business Machines Corporation

A.t.x. International, Inc.

Kyle Harding

Alessandro Donatelli

Sarika Budhiraja

Jonathan Tristan O'Gorman

Keith Hoyes

Ian Quick

Brian Russell Garrett

A method of expert peer identification includes receiving, from a user, a request for an expert peer for an asset type, and obtaining asset interaction data relevant to the request including a list of assets, and, for each asset on the list, values for each of a set of pre-defined interaction categories for each worker that has interacted with the asset. The method further includes, for each asset on the list, respectively multiplying the interaction category values by a corresponding set of category weights to obtain a set of weighted interaction values, and, for each worker, processing the sum of their weighted interaction values to obtain an overall centrality measure. The method also includes selecting one of the workers as the expert peer based, at least in part, on their overall centrality measure, and identifying the expert peer to the user.

Asset management expert peer identification

A shopping system for scanning codes related to products, such as consumer goods and services, and for retrieving data associated with the codes includes a portable, hand-held and battery-operated optical code scanner for scanning, capturing, storing and decoding information related to scanned codes, at least a first shopping kiosk having a processor, and at least a first host computer operatively coupled to the first shopping kiosk. The scanner and the first shopping kiosk are configured such that the scanner transfers decoded data to the kiosk, and the kiosk provides the transferred decoded data in a useable format by means of a display monitor and/or a printer. A communications data link between the scanner and the first shopping kiosk is established for transfer of decoded data by a transfer, and recognition by the first shopping kiosk and/or the first host computer, of an identification code stored in memory of the scanner that is associated with a user of the scanner and/or the scanner. Upon receipt and recognition of the transferred decoded data and/or the identification code, the first host computer selects and retrieves stored information associated with the decoded data and/or the identification code that is relevant to, for instance, scanned items and shopping preferences and needs of the identified user. Such retrieved information is downloaded to the first shopping kiosk to provide such information to the identified user in a useable format.

Optical bar code scanner and system for retrieving bar code data

Growing community of inventors

North Attleboro, MA, United States of America

Kyle Harding