Participant grouping for enhanced interactive experience
AssigneePresident and Fellows of Harvard College
InventorsGary King, Eric Mazur, Brian Lukoff
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Representative embodiments of a method for grouping participants in an activity include the steps of: (i) defining a grouping policy; (ii) storing, in a database, participant records that include a participant identifier, a characteristic associated with the participant, and/or an identifier for a participant's handheld device; (iii) defining groupings based on the policy and characteristics of the participants relating to the policy and to the activity; and (iv) communicating the groupings to the handheld devices to establish the groups.
Claims24
A method of grouping participants in an activity, the participants each having a handheld device, the method comprising:
- defining a grouping policy;
- storing, in a database, participant records each comprising a participant identifier, an identifier for the participant's handheld device, and at least one characteristic associated with the participant, wherein the at least one characteristic of the participants is weighted by:
- selecting a training set of individuals, the training set being larger than or equal to a number of the participants to be grouped, the individuals in the training set being related to the participants based on criteria relevant to the activity;
- and
- computationally estimating a functional relationship between the at least one characteristic and a grouping success likelihood based on the training set;
- defining groupings based on the grouping policy and characteristics of the participants relating to the grouping policy and to the activity;
- and
- communicating the groupings in a communication to the participants' handheld devices, wherein the communication identifies at least a first participant of the groupings to a recipient of the communication, wherein the recipient is a second participant of the groupings.
A system for grouping participants in an activity, the participants each having a handheld device, the system comprising:
- a memory for storing a participant database comprising a record for each of the participants, each record specifying a participant identifier, an identifier for the participant's handheld device, and at least one characteristic associated with the participant, wherein the memory further comprises a training database comprising records corresponding to individuals collectively defining a training pool;
- and
- a processor in operative communication with the memory, the processor being configured to:
- (i) define groupings of participants based on a grouping policy and characteristics of the participants, stored in the training database or the participant database, relating to the grouping policy and to the activity;
- (ii) communicate the groupings in one or more communications to the handheld devices, wherein the one or more communications identify at least a first participant of the groupings to a recipient of a communication, wherein the recipient is a second participant of the groupings;
- and
- (iii) weight the characteristics of the participants by:
- selecting, from the training database, a training set of records, the training set being larger than or equal to a number of the participants to be grouped, the individuals in the training set being related to the participants based on criteria relevant to the activity;
- and
- computationally estimating a functional relationship between the characteristics and a grouping success likelihood based on the training set.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.