Granted Patent B2

US 8,990,370 · App. 13/328,238 · Granted Mar 24, 2015

Abstract

Claims (62)

1. A method comprising facilitating a processing of and/or processing (1) data and/or (2) information and/or (3) at least one signal, the (1) data and/or (2) information and/or (3) at least one signal based, at least in part, on the following:

a processing of partial information relating to one or more real-world points of interest (POIs), by a processor, for insertion into one or more task templates;

based, at least in part, on the one or more task templates, a creation of one or more user tasks including one or more user incentives to verify, to extend, or a combination thereof the partial information according to one or more system requirements for information of the one or more real-world POIs; and

a distribution of the one or more user tasks based, at least in part on the one or more system requirements, history information relating to participation of one or more users, or a combination thereof.

2. A method of claim 1 , wherein the (1) data and/or (2) information and/or (3) at least one signal are further based, at least in part, on the following:

receipt of one or more answers in response to the distribution of the one or more user tasks, wherein the one or more answers relate to the one or more users tasks;

verification of the partial information based, at least in part, on comparing the one or more answers against each other; and

creation of updates of the one or more real-world POIs based, at least in part, on the verification of the partial information,

wherein the one or more incentives are presented as part of at least one game, wherein the one or more user tasks include, at least in part, one or more extension tasks, one or more verification tasks, one or more survey tasks, one or more group tasks, or a combination thereof, one or more extension tasks, wherein the one or more extension tasks are created to solicit information of one or more new real-world POIs.

3. A method of claim 2 , wherein the (1) data and/or (2) information and/or (3) at least one signal are further based, at least in part, on the following:

further verification of the partial information based, at least in part, on one or more other answers submitted by one or more other users for related user tasks,

wherein the one or more system requirements further include, at least in part, more frequent distributions of the one or more verification tasks than the one or more extension tasks.

4. A method of claim 2 , wherein the (1) data and/or (2) information and/or (3) at least one signal are further based, at least in part, on the following:

receipt of one or more answers in response to the distribution of the one or more user tasks, wherein the one or more answers relate to the one or more user tasks;

a distribution of the one or more incentives to one or more of the users based, at least in part, on the verification of the partial information, the further verification of the partial information, or a combination thereof; and

a processing of the one or more answers, one or more subsets of the one or more answers, or a combination thereof to generate other partial information.

5. A method of claim 4 , wherein the (1) data and/or (2) information and/or (3) at least one signal are further based, at least in part, on the following:

creation of the partial information based, at least in part, on information from one or more external sources, previously submitted answers to distributed user tasks, or a combination thereof,

a processing of the other partial information for insertion into the one or more task templates to cause, at least in part, creation of one or more other user tasks.

6. A method of claim 4 , wherein the (1) data and/or (2) information and/or (3) at least one signal are further based, at least in part, on the following:

at least one determination to validate at least one of the one or more answers based, at least in part, on at least another one of the one or more answers, wherein the at least one answer is associated with at least one of the one or more users; and

an assignment of one or more weighting points, one or more items, or a combination thereof to the at least one user based, at least in part, on the validation.

7. A method of claim 6 , wherein the (1) data and/or (2) information and/or (3) at least one signal are further based, at least in part, on the following:

a presentation with respect to the participation of the one or more users in one or more categories, one or more regions, or a combination thereof based, at least in part, on the assignment of the one or more weighting points, the one or more items, or a combination thereof.

8. A method of claim 6 , wherein the (1) data and/or (2) information and/or (3) at least one signal are further based, at least in part, on the following:

at least one determination of one or more social groups associated with the one or more users;

wherein the one or more user tasks are further distributed based, at least in part, on the one or more social groups by distributing user tasks for different POIs to users of an identical social group, and reducing weights of answers to the user tasks for identical POIs by the users of the identical social group.

9. A method of claim 2 , wherein the at least one game includes at least one crowd sourcing game.

10. A method of claim 9 , wherein the at least one crowd sourcing game includes, at least in part, a multi-player game, and the one or more users are competing players in the multi-player game.

11. An apparatus comprising:

at least one processor; and

at least one memory including computer program code for one or more programs,

the at least one memory and the computer program code configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to perform at least the following,

process and/or facilitate a processing of partial information relating to one or more real-world points of interest (POIs) for insertion into one or more task templates;

based, at least in part, on the one or more task templates, create one or more user tasks including one or more user incentives to verify, to extend, or a combination thereof the partial information according to one or more system requirements for information of the one or more real-world POIs; and

cause, at least in part, a distribution of the one or more user tasks based, at least in part, on the one or more system requirements, history information relating to participation of one or more users, or a combination thereof.

12. An apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the one or more incentives are presented as part of at least one game, wherein the one or more user tasks include, at least in part, one or more extension tasks, one or more verification tasks, one or more survey tasks, one or more group tasks, or a combination thereof.

13. An apparatus of claim 12 , wherein the one or more system requirements include, at least in part, more frequent distributions of the one or more verification tasks than the one or more extension tasks.

14. An apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the apparatus is further caused to:

receive one or more answers in response to the distribution of the one or more user tasks, wherein the one or more answers relate to the one or more user tasks; and

process and/or facilitate a processing of the one or more answers, one or more subsets of the one or more answers, or a combination thereof to generate other partial information.

15. An apparatus of claim 14 , wherein the apparatus is further caused to:

process and/or facilitate a processing of the other partial information for insertion into the one or more task templates to cause, at least in part, creation of one or more other user tasks.

16. An apparatus of claim 14 , wherein the apparatus is further caused to:

determine to validate at least one of the one or more answers based, at least in part, on at least another one of the one or more answers, wherein the at least one answer is associated with at least one of the one or more users; and

cause, at least in part, an assignment of one or more points, one or more items, or a combination thereof to the at least one user based, at least in part, on the validation.

17. An apparatus of claim 16 , wherein the apparatus is further caused to:

cause, at least in part, a presentation with respect to the participation of the one or more users in one or more categories, one or more regions, or a combination thereof based, at least in part, on the assignment of the one or more points, the one or more items, or a combination thereof.

18. A method of claim 1 , wherein the (1) data and/or (2) information and/or (3) at least one signal are further based, at least in part, on the following:

determination of one or more target POIs among the real-world POIs to promote traffic therearound;

solicitation of information on one or more non-competing POIs among the real-world POIs that are near the one or more target POIs;

a processing of the information on the one or more non-competing POIs for insertion into one or more new task templates to cause, at least in part, creation of one or more new user tasks including one or more new user incentives to verify, to extend, or a combination thereof information relating to the one or more target POIs, wherein the one or more new incentives are presented as part of the at least one game; and

a distribution of the one or more new user tasks.

19. A method of claim 1 , wherein the (1) data and/or (2) information and/or (3) at least one signal are further based, at least in part, on the following:

determination of a target geographic area to promote traffic therein;

a receipt of a new entry of one POI among the real-world POIs that are located within the target geographic area;

determination of one or more missing fields in the new entry of the POI that are useful for promoting the target geographic area; and

a retrieval of information on one or more non-competing POIs among the real-world POIs that are near the POI.

20. A method of claim 19 , wherein the (1) data and/or (2) information and/or (3) at least one signal are further based, at least in part, on the following:

solicitation of information on the one or more non-competing POIs;

a processing of the information on the one or more non-competing POIs for insertion into one or more new task templates to cause, at least in part, creation of one or more new user tasks including one or more new user incentives to verify, to extend, or a combination thereof information relating to the one or more missing fields in the new entry of the POI, the POI, the target geographic area, or a combination thereof, wherein the one or more new incentives are presented as part of the at least one game; and

a distribution of the one or more new user tasks.

Assignments (10)