Method and system for media audience measurement and spatial extrapolation based on site, display, crowd, and viewership characterization

Abstract

The present invention provides a comprehensive method to design an automatic media viewership measurement system, from the problem of sensor placement for an effective sampling of the viewership to the method of extrapolating spatially sampled viewership data. The system elements that affect the viewership—site, display, crowd, and audience—are identified first. The site-viewership analysis derives some of the crucial elements in determining an effective data sampling plan: visibility, occupancy, and viewership relevancy. The viewership sampling map is computed based on the visibility map, the occupancy map, and the viewership relevancy map; the viewership measurement sensors are placed so that the sensor coverage maximizes the viewership sampling map. The crowd-viewership analysis derives a model of the viewership in relation to the system parameters so that the viewership extrapolation can effectively adapt to the time-changing spatial distribution of the viewership; the step identifies crowd dynamics, and its invariant features as the crucial elements that extract the influence of the site, display, and the crowd to the temporal changes of viewership. The extrapolation map is formulated around these quantities, so that the site-wide viewership can be effectively estimated from the sampled viewership measurement.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.