Patents by Inventor Lawrence A. Birnbaum
Lawrence A. Birnbaum has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).
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Publication number: 20140025690Abstract: A relevance of a content item to an event is determined. A user rating of the content item is received. A ranking of the content item is determined with respect to the event, relative to one or more other content items associated with the event based at least in part on the relevance and the user rating. In some embodiments, the ranking is determined based at least in part on a sentiment score associated with the content item. A ranking algorithm provides a novel method for retrieving, scoring, ranking, and presenting content related to an event based on a combination of scoring contributions such as user rating, relevance, and sentiment. Embodiments provide users with the most relevant, engaging, and informative content concerning events of interest to them.Type: ApplicationFiled: September 25, 2013Publication date: January 23, 2014Applicant: PulsePoint, Inc.Inventors: Amra Q. Tareen, Erik Sundelof, Lawrence A. Birnbaum, Kristian J. Hammond, Sanjay C. Sood
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Patent number: 8630844Abstract: The subject invention provides a method for using available data and information to automatically create narrative stories that describes domain events, circumstances and/or entities in a comprehensible and compelling and audience customized, manner. Computer executable instructions provide for generating a narrative story using standard and uniform structures and data for receiving domain related data and a story specification, parsing the story specification to provide constituent components, transforming the constituent components into executable code, instantiating content blocks having at least one feature for the domain according to the story specification and rendering the narrative story using the constituent components specified by the content blocks.Type: GrantFiled: May 4, 2012Date of Patent: January 14, 2014Assignee: Narrative Science Inc.Inventors: Nathan Drew Nichols, Lawrence A. Birnbaum, Kristian J. Hammond
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Patent number: 8548996Abstract: Ranking content items is disclosed. A user input is received from each of one or more users indicating an opinion of the user with respect to a content item included in a plurality of content items. Based at least in part on a number of users from whom user input has been received, a degree is determined to which a ranking of the content item relative to one or more other content items in the plurality of content items is determined by user input.Type: GrantFiled: June 27, 2008Date of Patent: October 1, 2013Assignee: PulsePoint, Inc.Inventors: Amra Q. Tareen, Erik Sundelof, Lawrence A. Birnbaum, Kristian J. Hammond, Sanjay C. Sood
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Publication number: 20130246440Abstract: Associating a content item with an event is disclosed. A location associated with a received content item is determined. The received content item is associated with an event, at least in part based on an indicia of relatedness, other than the determined location, between the received content item and the event. A criterion that the indicia of relatedness is required to satisfy for the content item to be determined to be associated with the event has a lower value if the determined location associated with the received content item has a first degree of correspondence to a location associated with the event than if the determined location associated with the received content item has a second, lower degree of correspondence to the location associated with the event.Type: ApplicationFiled: December 10, 2012Publication date: September 19, 2013Applicant: ALLVOICES, INC.Inventors: Amra Q. Tareen, Sanjay C. Sood, Lawrence A. Birnbaum, Kristian J. Hammond, Erik Sundelof
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Patent number: 8374848Abstract: A system and method for automatically generating a narrative story receives data and information pertaining to a domain event. The received data and information and/or one or more derived features are then used to identify a plurality of angles for the narrative story. The plurality of angles is then filtered, for example through use of parameters that specify a focus for the narrative story, length of the narrative story, etc. Points associated with the filtered plurality of angles are then assembled and the narrative story is rendered using the filtered plurality of angles and the assembled points.Type: GrantFiled: May 13, 2010Date of Patent: February 12, 2013Assignee: Northwestern UniversityInventors: Lawrence A. Birnbaum, Kristian J. Hammond, Nicholas D. Allen, John R. Templon
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Patent number: 8355903Abstract: A system and method for automatically generating a narrative story receives data and information pertaining to a domain event. The received data and information and/or one or more derived features are then used to identify a plurality of angles for the narrative story. The plurality of angles is then filtered, for example through use of parameters that specify a focus for the narrative story, length of the narrative story, etc. Points associated with the filtered plurality of angles are then assembled and the narrative story is rendered using the filtered plurality of angles and the assembled points.Type: GrantFiled: May 13, 2010Date of Patent: January 15, 2013Assignee: Northwestern UniversityInventors: Lawrence A. Birnbaum, Kristian J. Hammond, Nicholas D. Allen, John R. Templon
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Patent number: 8352455Abstract: The invention described herein can be implemented in numerous ways, including as a process; an apparatus; a system; a composition of matter; a computer program; a product embodied on a computer readable storage medium, e.g., RAM, ROM, and other hardware storage devices; and/or a processor, such as a processor configured to execute instructions stored on and/or provided by a memory coupled to the processor. In this specification, these implementations, or any other form that the invention may take, may be referred to as techniques. In general, the order of the steps of disclosed processes may be altered within the scope of the invention. Unless stated otherwise, a component such as a processor or a memory described as being configured to perform a task may be implemented as a general component that is temporarily configured to perform the task at a given time or a specific component that is manufactured to perform the task.Type: GrantFiled: June 27, 2008Date of Patent: January 8, 2013Assignee: Allvoices, Inc.Inventors: Amra Q. Tareen, Sanjay C. Sood, Lawrence A. Birnbaum, Kristian J. Hammond, Erik Sundelof
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Patent number: 8260874Abstract: A system and method in accordance with the present disclosure provide collateral information to a user receiving primary information via a first user interface. The system and method receives a user request for the collateral information. A context is defined from the primary information. A user's probable collateral information needs are derived from the context. The system and method then map the needs to one or more information repositories, and query the information repositories and retrieve collateral information satisfying the needs. The collateral information is presented via at least one user interface, which may include the first user interface. The system and method provide user controls via the at least one user interface to facilitate exploration of the collateral information by the user.Type: GrantFiled: January 12, 2004Date of Patent: September 4, 2012Assignee: Northwestern UniversityInventors: Kristian Hammond, Jerome Budzik, Lawrence Birnbaum, Kevin Livingston, Mark Dredze
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METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR ASSESSING RELEVANT PROPERTIES OF WORK CONTEXTS FOR USE BY INFORMATION SERVICES
Publication number: 20110238657Abstract: An information retrieval system for automatically retrieving information related to the context of an active task being manipulated by a user. The system observes the operation of the active task and user interactions, and utilizes predetermined criteria to generate context representation of the active task that are relevant to the context of the active task. The information retrieval system then processes the context representation to generate queries or search terms for conducting an information search. The information retrieval system determines the relevance of a word to the context by utilizing an adaptive weighting system. The information retrieval system assigns varying weights to different attributes of a word and calculates an accumulated weight of the word by accumulating all weights assigned to the word. The attributes may include word size, style, location of the word, etc.Type: ApplicationFiled: November 15, 2010Publication date: September 29, 2011Applicant: NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITYInventors: Kristian Hammond, Jerome Louis Budzik, Lawrence Birnbaum -
Publication number: 20110209150Abstract: An information retrieval system for automatically retrieving information related to the context of an active task being manipulated by a user. The system observes the operation of the active task and user interactions, and utilizes predetermined criteria to generate a context representation of the active task that are relevant to the context of the active task. The information retrieval system then processes the context representation to generate queries or search terms for conducting an information search. The information retrieval system reorders the terms in a query so that they occur in a meaningful order as they naturally occur in a document or active task being manipulated by the user. Furthermore, the information retrieval system may access a user profile to retrieve information related to the user, and the select information sources or transform search terms based on attributes related to the user, such as the user's occupation, position in a company, major in school, etc.Type: ApplicationFiled: January 26, 2011Publication date: August 25, 2011Applicant: NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITYInventors: Kristian Hammond, Jerome Budzik, Lawrence Birnbaum
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Method and system for assessing relevant properties of work contexts for use by information services
Patent number: 7933906Abstract: An information retrieval system for automatically retrieving information related to the context of an active task being manipulated by a user. The system observes the operation of the active task and user interactions, and utilizes predetermined criteria to generate context representation of the active task that are relevant to the context of the active task. The information retrieval system then processes the context representation to generate queries or search terms for conducting an information search. The information retrieval system determines the relevance of a word to the context by utilizing an adaptive weighting system. The information retrieval system assigns varying weights to different attributes of a word and calculates an accumulated weight of the word by accumulating all weights assigned to the word. The attributes may include word size, style, location of the word, etc.Type: GrantFiled: May 23, 2006Date of Patent: April 26, 2011Assignee: Northwestern UniversityInventors: Kristian Hammond, Jerome Budzik, Lawrence Birnbaum -
Patent number: 7895595Abstract: An information retrieval system for automatically retrieving information related to the context of an active task being manipulated by a user. The system observes the operation of the active task and user interactions, and utilizes predetermined criteria to generate a context representation of the active task that are relevant to the context of the active task. The information retrieval system then processes the context representation to generate queries or search terms for conducting an information search. The information retrieval system reorders the terms in a query so that they occur in a meaningful order as they naturally occur in a document or active task being manipulated by the user. Furthermore, the information retrieval system may access a user profile to retrieve information related to the user, and the select information sources or transform search terms based on attributes related to the user, such as the users occupation, position in a company, major in school, etc.Type: GrantFiled: July 30, 2003Date of Patent: February 22, 2011Assignee: Northwestern UniversityInventors: Kristian Hammond, Jerome Budzik, Lawrence Birnbaum
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Patent number: 7890336Abstract: A system and method in accordance with the present invention include means for providing interactive assistance for the performance of a set of predefined steps, including selecting the set of predefined steps and automatically generating a step-sensitive grammar for each step. Generating the step-sensitive grammar includes generating a set of navigation commands related to each step and generating a set of rules to recognize potential queries related to each step. A recognizer is configured for determining if a received utterance forms one of the navigation commands or one of the potential queries, within a context of the current step. Form this determination, provided are navigation to a different step if the utterance was a navigation command or a response if the utterance was a query.Type: GrantFiled: January 13, 2003Date of Patent: February 15, 2011Assignee: Northwestern UniversityInventors: Lawrence Birnbaum, Kristian Hammond, Leonard Chen
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Method and system for assessing relevant properties of work contexts for use by information services
Patent number: 7836010Abstract: An information retrieval system for automatically retrieving information related to the context of an active task being manipulated by a user. The system observes the operation of the active task and user interactions, and utilizes predetermined criteria to generate context representation of the active task that are relevant to the context of the active task. The information retrieval system then processes the context representation to generate queries or search terms for conducting an information search. The information retrieval system determines the relevance of a word to the context by utilizing an adaptive weighting system. The information retrieval system assigns varying weights to different attributes of a word and calculates an accumulated weight of the word by accumulating all weights assigned to the word. The attributes may include word size, style, location of the word, etc.Type: GrantFiled: July 30, 2003Date of Patent: November 16, 2010Assignee: Northwestern UniversityInventors: Kristian Hammond, Jerome Budzik, Lawrence Birnbaum -
Patent number: 7657518Abstract: Methods and apparatus assessing, ranking, organizing, and presenting search results associated with a user's current work context are disclosed. The system disclosed assesses, ranks, organizes and presents search results against a user's current work context by comparing statistical and heuristic models of the search results to a statistical and heuristic model of the user's current work context. In this manner, search results are assessed, ranked, organized, and/or presented with the benefit of attributes of the user's current work context that are predictive of relevance, such as words in a user's document (e.g., web page or word processing document) that may not have been included in the search query. In addition, search results from multiple search engines are combined into an organization scheme that best reflects the user's current task. As a result, lists of search results from different search engines can be more usefully presented to the user.Type: GrantFiled: January 31, 2007Date of Patent: February 2, 2010Assignees: Northwestern University, Perfect Market, Inc.Inventors: Jerome Louis Budzik, Sanjay Chand Sood, Lawrence A. Birnbaum, Kristian J. Hammond, Andrew Joseph Crossen
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Patent number: 7644072Abstract: Methods and apparatus assessing, ranking, organizing, and presenting search results associated with a user's current work context are disclosed. The system disclosed assesses, ranks, organizes and presents search results against a user's current work context by comparing statistical and heuristic models of the search results to a statistical and heuristic model of the user's current work context. In this manner, search results are assessed, ranked, organized, and/or presented with the benefit of attributes of the user's current work context that are predictive of relevance, such as words in a user's document (e.g., web page or word processing document) that may not have been included in the search query. In addition, search results from multiple search engines are combined into an organization scheme that best reflects the user's current task. As a result, lists of search results from different search engines can be more usefully presented to the user.Type: GrantFiled: January 31, 2007Date of Patent: January 5, 2010Assignees: Perfect Market, Inc., Northwestern UniversityInventors: Jerome Louis Budzik, Sanjay Chand Sood, Lawrence A. Birnbaum, Kristian J. Hammond, Andrew Joseph Crossen
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Patent number: 7627565Abstract: Methods and apparatus assessing, ranking, organizing, and presenting search results associated with a user's current work context are disclosed. The system disclosed assesses, ranks, organizes and presents search results against a user's current work context by comparing statistical and heuristic models of the search results to a statistical and heuristic model of the user's current work context. In this manner, search results are assessed, ranked, organized, and/or presented with the benefit of attributes of the user's current work context that are predictive of relevance, such as words in a user's document (e.g., web page or word processing document) that may not have been included in the search query. In addition, search results from multiple search engines are combined into an organization scheme that best reflects the user's current task. As a result, lists of search results from different search engines can be more usefully presented to the user.Type: GrantFiled: January 31, 2007Date of Patent: December 1, 2009Assignees: Northwestern University, Perfect Market, Inc.Inventors: Jerome Louis Budzik, Sanjay Chand Sood, Lawrence A. Birnbaum, Kristian J. Hammond, Andrew Joseph Crossen
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Patent number: 7617199Abstract: Methods and apparatus assessing, ranking, organizing, and presenting search results associated with a user's current work context are disclosed. The system disclosed assesses, ranks, organizes and presents search results against a user's current work context by comparing statistical and heuristic models of the search results to a statistical and heuristic model of the user's current work context. In this manner, search results are assessed, ranked, organized, and/or presented with the benefit of attributes of the user's current work context that are predictive of relevance, such as words in a user's document (e.g., web page or word processing document) that may not have been included in the search query. In addition, search results from multiple search engines are combined into an organization scheme that best reflects the user's current task. As a result, lists of search results from different search engines can be more usefully presented to the user.Type: GrantFiled: January 31, 2007Date of Patent: November 10, 2009Assignees: Northwestern University, Perfect Market, Inc.Inventors: Jerome Louis Budzik, Sanjay Chand Sood, Lawrence A. Birnbaum, Kristian J. Hammond, Andrew Joseph Crossen
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Patent number: 7617200Abstract: Methods and apparatus assessing, ranking, organizing, and presenting search results associated with a user's current work context are disclosed. The system disclosed assesses, ranks, organizes and presents search results against a user's current work context by comparing statistical and heuristic models of the search results to a statistical and heuristic model of the user's current work context. In this manner, search results are assessed, ranked, organized, and/or presented with the benefit of attributes of the user's current work context that are predictive of relevance, such as words in a user's document (e.g., web page or word processing document) that may not have been included in the search query. In addition, search results from multiple search engines are combined into an organization scheme that best reflects the user's current task. As a result, lists of search results from different search engines can be more usefully presented to the user.Type: GrantFiled: January 31, 2007Date of Patent: November 10, 2009Assignees: Northwestern University, Perfect Market, Inc.Inventors: Jerome Louis Budzik, Sanjay Chand Sood, Lawrence A. Birnbaum, Kristian J. Hammond, Andrew Joseph Crossen
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Patent number: 7610279Abstract: Methods and apparatus assessing, ranking, organizing, and presenting search results associated with a user's current work context are disclosed. The system disclosed assesses, ranks, organizes and presents search results against a user's current work context by comparing statistical and heuristic models of the search results to a statistical and heuristic model of the user's current work context. In this manner, search results are assessed, ranked, organized, and/or presented with the benefit of attributes of the user's current work context that are predictive of relevance, such as words in a user's document (e.g., web page or word processing document) that may not have been included in the search query. In addition, search results from multiple search engines are combined into an organization scheme that best reflects the user's current task. As a result, lists of search results from different search engines can be more usefully presented to the user.Type: GrantFiled: January 31, 2007Date of Patent: October 27, 2009Assignees: Perfect Market, Inc., Northwestern UniversityInventors: Jerome Louis Budzik, Sanjay Chand Sood, Lawrence A. Birnbaum, Kristian J. Hammond, Andrew Joseph Crossen