Method and apparatus for obtaining auditory and gestural feedback in a recommendation system

A method for updating a user profile relating to a television programming recommender, the updating of the user profile being carried out in a system configured for generating recommendations regarding content of programs comprising:

• obtaining said user profile indicating television program viewing preferences of a user;
• using an audio/visual device to capture user initiated feedback generated by the user and provided in the form of gestural feedback in the form of video information, and/or auditory sounds in the form of audio information, while the user is watching specific television programs;
• analyzing at least one of the audio and video information generated by an audio/visual capture device which is focused on said user while said user is viewing or completing viewing of a plurality of specific television programs at different times, to identify whether the said information is predefined behavioral feedback indicating present television program preferences of said user and, if so identified, translating the predefined behavioral feedback into a representation indicating a strength of user's liking or disliking of the specific program being watched;
• and
• wherein the updating of said user television program profile is based on processing the representation and the audio and/or video information is in the form of auditory or gestural feedback from the user and said feedback is initiated by the said system or initiated by the user and
• wherein if the occurrence of a predefined event relating to the television program being watched is detected then the feedback which is received for that program is either of a user response to a query which is generated to the user, in which case the feedback received is explicit feedback from the user which is used to update the user profile, or the feedback received is user initiated feedback which is implicit feedback which is used to update the user profile and the auditory and gestural feedback identified during the watching of the said program and which has been captured by the said audio/visual device is analyzed to validate the user's like or dislike of the said television program said predefined behavioral feedback includes auditory and/or gestural feedback, said feedback mapped to a scale corresponding to respective strengths of said preferences of said user in rating said plurality of television programs viewed.