Abstract: Systems for use in data retrieval. A natural language processing module is used in conjunction with a classifier module to analyze and decompose a user query into its elements, and to determine a type of query. These modules are also used to determine the parameters for the query. The type of query and the parameters are then used to find a suitable function that creates a structured database query with the fields in the database query being populated using the parameters and query elements found by the NLP module. The completed structured database query is then used to retrieve relevant data records in response to the query. The retrieved records are then further processed and formatted as necessary to result in a suitable response to the query.

Abstract: Systems and methods for determining similarities between an input data set and a target data set with the data sets being vector representations of the features of a candidate potential copy and a target original. A feature extraction module receives an image of the potential copy and extracts the features of that candidate. The features of the target original may already be extracted or may be separately extracted. The resulting data sets for the candidate and the original are then passed through a decision module. The decision module determines a level of similarity between the features of the candidate and the features of the original. The output of the decision module provides an indication of this level of similarity and, depending on this level of similarity, an alert may be generated. A report module may be included to provide an explanation regarding the level of similarity.

Abstract: Meaningful words or phrases may be extracted from the information and used as tags. Weights may be determined for the tags, and tag clouds may be generated for the items. The tag clouds may be stored to a data store. Information specifying a tag cloud may be received. Recommended items for which the tag clouds most closely match the specified tag cloud may be identified. Standard vector space distance calculations, for example the cosine distance between the tag clouds, may be used to determine cloud similarity. The results may be filtered to optimize relevance, novelty and familiarity in accordance with preferences of the user. The recommended items may be displayed to a user interface. Users may interact with the user interface to steer the recommendations towards more relevant content.

Abstract: Method and apparatus for transparent, steerable recommendations. A steerable recommender uses tag clouds including descriptive tags and associated weights to generate recommendations. Users may dynamically interact with the recommender via a user interface to steer the recommendations. A tag cloud for an item is displayed, items for which associated tag clouds are most similar to the displayed tag cloud are identified, and the items are displayed as recommendations. The strength of similarity of the items to the displayed tag cloud may be displayed. The user may modify a tag cloud, for example by changing the weight of a tag or by adding or removing a tag, and the recommendations may be automatically updated to reflect the modification. A recommended item may be selected to display the tag cloud corresponding to the item. A user may select a user interface element to request information on why a particular item was recommended.

Abstract: Meaningful words or phrases may be extracted from the information and used as tags. Weights may be determined for the tags, and tag clouds may be generated for the items. The tag clouds may be stored to a data store. Information specifying a tag cloud may be received. Recommended items for which the tag clouds most closely match the specified tag cloud may be identified. Standard vector space distance calculations, for example the cosine distance between the tag clouds, may be used to determine cloud similarity. The results may be filtered to optimize relevance, novelty and familiarity in accordance with preferences of the user. The recommended items may be displayed to a user interface. Users may interact with the user interface to steer the recommendations towards more relevant content.

Abstract: Method and apparatus for transparent, steerable recommendations. A steerable recommender uses tag clouds including descriptive tags and associated weights to generate recommendations. Users may dynamically interact with the recommender via a user interface to steer the recommendations. A tag cloud for an item is displayed, items for which associated tag clouds are most similar to the displayed tag cloud are identified, and the items are displayed as recommendations. The strength of similarity of the items to the displayed tag cloud may be displayed. The user may modify a tag cloud, for example by changing the weight of a tag or by adding or removing a tag, and the recommendations may be automatically updated to reflect the modification. A recommended item may be selected to display the tag cloud corresponding to the item. A user may select a user interface element to request information on why a particular item was recommended.