Vulcan Inc.

Robert Arnold

Stuart Graham

John Chu

Jeremy Calvert

Mark Malleck

Dennis Schneider

Paul G Allen

Hubert E Kolde

Christopher W Jones

Jeff Bowden

Embodiments of the present invention are directed to flexible, user-adapted, continuous searching, on behalf of a particular user, for points of interest relevant to the user's current location within a specifically computed personal region of interest. In a general case, the personal region of interest is computed as a function of the user's level of disposition towards the searched-for points of interest. The level of disposition towards the searched-for points of interest may, in turn, be based on two or more of the user's location, the current date and time, a history of the user's interaction with the POI-searching system, including user-initiated searches and user selections from displayed search results, a user profile developed for, and continuously updated on behalf of, the user, and a current context for the search, as specified by a search query or by other context-specifying means. The personal region of interest generally defines an abstract area, volume, or hypervolume within which method and system embodiments of the present invention search for points of interest.

Method and system for continuous, dynamic, adaptive recommendation based on a continuously evolving personal region of interest

Various system embodiments of the present invention are directed to an automated concierge system through which users of the automated concierge system can request and obtain many types of information and services. Unlike traditional search engines and electronic query-processing interfaces, the automated concierge systems provide much greater flexibility with respect to means of access, including types of electronic devices and communications media that can be used to access the concierge services, greater flexibility in the timing of responses to information and service requests, more efficient information and service provision, and access to a much broader range of information sources and service providers. The automated concierge systems that represent embodiments of the present invention provide state-associated searches, in contrast to the stateless searches generally provided by search engines and many electronic query-processing interfaces, and employ a generally asynchronous message-based interface, rather than the rigid request/response interfaces provided by traditional search engines and other electronic query-processing systems.

Automated information-provision system

Method and system for continuous, dynamic, adaptive searching based on a continuously evolving personal region of interest

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Bellevue, WA, United States of America

Robert Arnold