Method and apparatus for triggering the automatic generation of narratives

1. A story evaluation apparatus comprising:

a memory for storing an angle set data structure, the angle set data structure comprising (1) data representative of at least one story angle and (2) data associated with the at least one story angle that is representative of at least one applicability condition for the associated at least one story angle; and

a processor configured to (1) process data against the angle set data structure to determine whether at least one applicability condition for at least one story angle has been satisfied by the processed data, and (2) in response to the processing operation, generate an evaluation indicator, the evaluation indicator being indicative of whether a narrative story relating to the processed data is to be generated.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the processor is further configured to automatically generate a narrative story relating to the processed data in response to the evaluation indicator indicating that a narrative story relating to the processed data is to be generated.

3. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the processor is further configured to (1) receive source data relating to a subject, (2) compute a plurality of derived features based at least in part on the received source data, wherein the data processed by the processing operation comprises the source data and the derived features, and (3) generate an evaluation indicator indicative of whether a narrative story relating to the processed data that incorporates a story angle of the angle set data structure whose applicability conditions were satisfied by the processed data is to be generated.

4. The apparatus of claim 3 wherein the processor is further configured to (1) analyze the received source data, and (2) determine the subject related to the received source data in response to the analysis of the source data.

5. The apparatus of claim 4 wherein the processor is further configured to (1) analyze the derived features, and (2) determine the subject related to the received source data in response to the analysis of the source data and the derived features.

6. The apparatus of claim 3 wherein the evaluation indicator comprises a story generation request, the story generation request indicating that the narrative story is to be generated.

7. The apparatus of claim 6 wherein the story generation request comprises data that is indicative of at least one story angle from the angle set data structure.

8. The apparatus of claim 7 wherein the story generation request further comprises data indicative of at least one member of the group consisting of (1) the subject, and (2) at least a portion of the processed data.

9. The apparatus of claim 7 wherein the processor is further configured to (1) generate and update a data model relating to the subject based at least in part on the source data and the derived features, and (2) process the data model against the angle set data structure to determine whether at least one applicability condition for at least one angle has been satisfied by the data model.

10. The apparatus of claim 9 wherein the story generation request further comprises at least one derived feature from the data model.

11. The apparatus of claim 9 wherein the story generation request further comprises the data model.

12. The apparatus of claim 3 wherein the processor is further configured to (1) store the received source data in a database, (2) access a subject queue, the subject queue comprising a plurality of subject identifiers, (3) read a subject identifier from the subject queue in response to the subject queue accessing operation; (4) retrieve source data relating to the subject corresponding to the read subject identifier from the database in response to a database query associated with the read subject identifier, and (5) perform the derived features computation operation and the processing operation on the retrieved source data.

13. The apparatus of claim 3 wherein the processor is further configured to perform the receiving operation, the derived features computation operation, and the processing operation while the source data is in transit between a source and a destination.

14. The apparatus of claim 13 wherein the processor comprises a data transfer layer, the processor being configured to perform the receiving operation, the derived features computation operation, and the processing operation within the data transfer layer.

15. The apparatus of claim 3 wherein the angle set data structure further comprises data for a plurality of story angles, the story angle data comprising, for each story angle (1) an identifier for that story angle, and (2) data representative of at least one applicability condition for that story angle.

16. The apparatus of claim 15 wherein the processor is further configured to (1) compile at least a portion of the story angle data into a plurality of database triggers, and (2) perform the processing operation using the database triggers.

17. The apparatus of claim 16 wherein the processor is further configured to (1) receive the source data from a remote data source, (2) store the received source data in a database, and (3) perform the derived features computation operation, the processing operation, and the generation operation prior to the storage operation.

18. The apparatus of claim 15 wherein the processor is further configured to test at least one of the derived features against at least one of the applicability conditions associated with a story angle of the angle set data structure to determine whether at least one applicability condition for at least one story angle has been satisfied by the processed data.

19. The apparatus of claim 15 wherein the story angle data of the angle set data structure further comprises, for each story angle, data representative of an importance value for that story angle.

20. The apparatus of claim 19 wherein the processor is further configured to (1) compute an interestingness value for the processed data based at least in part on the importance value of each story angle whose associated applicability conditions were satisfied by the processed data, and (2) generate the evaluation indicator based at least in part on the computed interestingness value.

21. The apparatus of claim 20 wherein the processor is further configured to generate a story generation request in response to the interestingness value exceeding a threshold, the story generation request indicating that the narrative story is to be generated.

22. The apparatus of claim 19 wherein the processor is further configured to (1) create an archive of data, the data being indicative of at least one member of the group consisting of a plurality of previously generated evaluation indicators, a plurality of previously generated story generation requests, a plurality of story angles previously found to be applicable to previously evaluated data, and a plurality of previously generated narrative stories, (2) adjust the importance value for at least one of the story angles in the angle set data structure based on the content of the archive.

23. The apparatus of claim 15 wherein the processor is further configured to (1) compute an interestingness value based on the source data the derived features and at least one of the applicability conditions, and (2) generate the evaluation indicator based at least in part on the computed interestingness value.

24. The apparatus of claim 23 wherein the evaluation indicator comprises the computed interestingness value.

25. The apparatus of claim 23 wherein the evaluation indicator comprises a story generation request, the story generation request indicating that the narrative story is to be generated, wherein the processor is further configured to compute a priority value for the narrative story based at least in part on the computed interestingness value, and wherein the story generation request comprises the computed priority value.

26. The apparatus of claim 23 wherein the evaluation indicator comprises a story generation request, the story generation request indicating that the narrative story is to be generated, wherein the processor is further configured to (1) create an archive of data, the data being indicative of at least one member of the group consisting of a plurality of previously generated evaluation indicators, a plurality of previously generated story generation requests, a plurality of story angles previously found to be applicable to previously evaluated data, and a plurality of previously generated narrative stories, and (2) use the archive to compute the interestingness value.

27. The apparatus of claim 26 wherein the processor is further configured to (1) reduce the interestingness value in response to the archive containing data about the subject.

28. The apparatus of claim 15 wherein the processor is further configured to (1) create an archive of data, the data being indicative of at least one member of the group consisting of a plurality of previously generated evaluation indicators, a plurality of previously generated story generation requests, a plurality of story angles previously found to be applicable to previously evaluated data, and a plurality of previously generated narrative stories, and (2) adjust at least one of the applicability conditions in the angle set data structure based on the content of the archive.

29. The apparatus of claim 15 wherein at least one of the story angles has an associated applicability condition corresponding to a temporal condition.

30. The apparatus of claim 15 wherein at least one of the story angles has an associated applicability condition corresponding to a data type for the source data.

31. The apparatus of claim 3 wherein the processor is further configured to (1) automatically generate a narrative story about the subject using the angle set data structure in response to the evaluation indicator indicating that the narrative story is to be generated, wherein the story angle data of the angle set data structure further comprises, for each story angle, data representative of a trigger status for that story angle, the trigger status being indicative of whether that story angle is to be evaluated during the processing operation, and wherein the processing operation is configured to process the data against the story angle data in the angle data structure having a trigger status indicative of that story angle to be used by the processing operation.

32. The apparatus of claim 3 wherein the evaluation indicator comprises a story generation request, the story generation request indicating that the narrative story is to be generated, and wherein the processor is further configured to (1) store the story generation request in a queue, the queue storing a plurality of story generation requests, (2) read a story generation request from the queue, and (3) automatically generate a narrative story identified by the read story generation request using the angle set data structure, wherein the narrative story includes a narrative incorporating the story angle identified by the read story generation request.

33. The apparatus of claim 3 wherein the processor is further configured to communicate the evaluation indicator to a remote processor.

34. The apparatus of claim 3 wherein the processor comprises a first processor and a second processor;

wherein the first processor is further configured to (1) performing the receiving operation, the derived features computation operation, the processing operation, and the generation operation, and (2) communicate the evaluation indicator to the second processor; and

wherein the second processor is configured to automatically generate a narrative story in response to the communicated evaluation indicator indicating that the narrative story is to be generated.

35. The apparatus of claim 3 wherein the subject comprises a company, wherein the received source data comprises stock price information associated with the company, and wherein the angle set data structure comprises (1) data representative of a plurality of story angles corresponding to a plurality of different stock price story angles, and (2) for each stock price story angle, data associated therewith that identifies at least one applicability condition for that stock price story angle.

36. The apparatus of claim 35 wherein one of the stock price story angles comprises a “52 week high” stock price story angle.

37. The apparatus of claim 35 wherein one of the stock price story angles comprises a “gapping” stock price story angle.

38. The apparatus of claim 35 wherein the processor is further configured to automatically generate a narrative story about the company in response to the evaluation indicator indicating that the narrative story is to be generated, wherein the automatically generated narrative story comprises a narrative incorporating a stock price story angle of the angle set data structure whose applicability conditions were satisfied by the processed data.

39. The apparatus of claim 38 wherein the processor is further configured to use the angle set data structure to facilitate the automatic generation of the narrative story.

40. The apparatus of claim 3 wherein the accessed angle data set structure comprises a plurality of instructions for execution by the processor during the processing operation, the plurality of instructions incorporating the at least one applicability condition for the at least one story angle.

41. An apparatus comprising:

a memory for storing data about at least one story angle; and

a processor for interacting with the memory to execute a software program, the software program comprising a story evaluator module, the story evaluator module configured to process data relating to a subject against the story angle data to determine whether a narrative story about the subject is to be automatically generated.

42. The apparatus of claim 41 wherein the memory is configured to store data about a plurality of story angles, and wherein the software program further comprises a story generator module, the story generator module for interacting with the story evaluation module, the story generator module configured to automatically generate a narrative story about a subject in response to a determination by the story evaluator module that a narrative story about the subject is to be automatically generated.