Personal taste assessment method and system

1. A method of generating a recommendation for a consumable item, comprising:

by one or more processors, causing one or more electronic devices to:

output a user interface to a person, and,

receive, via the user interface, a rating set comprising the person's ratings for each of a plurality of rated consumable items;

by one or more processors, developing a preference model for the person based on the rating set, wherein the preference model represents associations between the person's ratings of consumable items and a plurality of consumable item traits, and wherein developing the preference model comprises:

accessing a database to retrieve trait values of sensory traits that are associated with the rated consumable items;

identifying at least one association between at least one trait value for the rated consumable items and at least one of the received ratings,

including the at least one association in the preference model, and

saving the preference model to a computer-readable memory; and

by one or more processors:

receiving, from another user, a recommendation request, wherein the recommendation request comprises an identification of the person or of a group to which the person belongs,

accessing a user profile for the person, wherein the user profile comprises the preference model,

accessing a database of trait values for a plurality of candidate consumable items,

identifying a candidate consumable item in the database having trait values whose properties match traits associated with rated consumable items that the person found to be appealing,

processing the trait values of the candidate consumable item with the user profile to generate a predicted rating as a prediction of how the person would rate the identified candidate consumable item, and

causing an electronic device to output an identification of the identified candidate consumable item and the predicted rating to the other user.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein using the identifying information to identify a candidate consumable item also comprises constraining the plurality of candidate consumable items to those having trait values that satisfy a user-supplied criterion.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein using the identifying information to identify a candidate consumable item also comprises constraining the plurality of candidate consumable items to those having trait values that satisfy a situational criterion.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the situational criterion comprises available inventory at a retailer.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein:

the trait values of the identified candidate consumable item are associated with at least one of the following senses: taste, smell and touch.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein:

the trait values of the identified candidate consumable item correspond to one or more indicators of preference in the preference model; and

generating the predicted rating comprises:

entering values of the retrieved traits of the identified candidate consumable item into the preference model, and

returning a result of the preference model as the prediction.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein processing the retrieved characteristics with the user profile to generate the predicted rating comprises:

analyzing dependency patterns in the preference model of the user profile; and

using the dependency patterns to generate the predicted rating.

8. The method of claim 6 , wherein analyzing the dependency patterns comprises:

analyzing consistent patterns of dependency in the preference model and identifying a representative rating based on the consistent patterns; and

using the representative rating as the predicted rating.

9. The method of claim 6 , wherein analyzing the dependency patterns comprises:

analyzing contrasting or polarizing patterns of dependency in the preference model;

processing values of characteristics of the identified candidate consumable item in the preference model having contrasting or polarizing patterns of dependency to yield a result; and

using the result as the predicted rating.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein processing the retrieved characteristics with the user profile to generate the predicted rating comprises:

determining that no preference model in the user profile can be matched with, or is reflective of, the characteristics of the identified candidate consumable item; and

generating an inconclusive result as the predicted rating.

11. A system for predicting a person's preference for a consumable item, comprising:

one or more processors:

a database of trait values for a plurality of candidate consumable items;

a computer-readable memory storing a user profile for a first person; and

a computer-readable memory containing programming instructions that, when executed, cause one or more of the processors to:

receive, from the first person, ratings for each of a plurality of rated consumable items,

access a database to retrieve trait values of sensory traits that are associated with the rated consumable items,

develop a preference model for the first person based on the rating set, wherein the preference model represents associations between the person's ratings of consumable items and a plurality of consumable item traits, and wherein developing the preference model comprises:

identifying at least one association between at least one of the trait values for the rated consumable items and at least one of the received ratings, and

including the at least association in the preference model,

save the preference model in the user profile,

receive, from another person, a recommendation request for the first person, wherein the recommendation request comprises an identification of the person or of a group to which the person belongs,

access the database and the user profile for the first person, to identify a candidate consumable item in the database having trait values whose properties match traits that the preference model indicates are associated with rated consumable items that the person found to be appealing,

process the trait values of the candidate consumable item with the user profile to generate a predicted rating as a prediction of how the person would rate the identified candidate consumable item, and

cause an electronic device to output an identification of the identified candidate consumable item and the predicted rating.

12. The system of claim 11 , wherein the instructions to use the identifying information to identify a candidate consumable item also comprise instructions to constrain the plurality of candidate consumable items to those having trait values that satisfy a user-supplied criterion.

13. The system of claim 11 , wherein the instructions to use the identifying information to identify a candidate consumable item also comprise instructions to constrain the plurality of candidate consumable items to those having characteristics that satisfy a situational criterion.

14. The method of claim 12 , wherein the situational criterion comprises available inventory at a retailer.

15. The system of claim 11 , wherein:

the trait values of the identified candidate consumable item comprise values of traits that are associated with at least one of the following senses: taste, smell and touch.

16. The system of claim 11 , wherein:

the trait values of the identified candidate consumable item correspond to one or more indicators of preference in the preference model; and

the instructions to generate the predicted rating comprise instructions to:

enter values of the retrieved traits of the identified candidate consumable item into the preference model, and

return a result of the preference model as the prediction.

17. The system of claim 11 , wherein the instructions to process the retrieved characteristics with the user profile to generate the predicted rating comprise instructions to:

analyze dependency patterns in the preference model of the user profile; and

use the dependency patterns to generate the predicted rating.

18. The system of claim 17 , wherein the instructions to analyze the dependency patterns comprise instructions to:

analyze consistent patterns of dependency in the preference model and identifying a representative rating based on the consistent patterns; and

use the representative rating as the predicted rating.

19. The system of claim 17 , wherein the instructions to analyze the dependency patterns comprise instructions to:

analyze contrasting or polarizing patterns of dependency in the preference model;

process values of characteristics of the identified candidate item in the preference model having contrasting or polarizing patterns of dependency to yield a result; and

use the result as the predicted rating.

20. The system of claim 11 , wherein the instructions to process the retrieved characteristics with the user profile to generate the predicted rating comprise instructions to:

determine that no preference model in the user profile can be matched with, or is reflective of, the characteristics of the identified candidate consumable item; and

generate an inconclusive result as the predicted rating.