Recommendation for experiences based on measurements of affective response that are backed by assurances
Some aspects of this disclosure include systems, methods, and/or computer programs that may be used to collect measurements of affective response of users and to utilize the collected measurements to generate a crowd-based result, such as a score for an experience which the users had. Some embodiments described herein involve sending requests for measurements of affective response to software agents operating on behalf of the users. The requests may provide details regarding the type of measurements requested and may also provide assurances. The assurances may relate to various aspects such as the number of users whose measurements are to be used to generate the crowd-based result, the disclosure of the crowd-based result (e.g., regarding the recipients of the crowd-based result), and the compensation for providing the measurements. Software agents that accept the assurances and have relevant measurements may provide the measurements, which are then utilized to generate the crowd-based result.
1. A system configured to compute a score for an experience while providing privacy-related assurances, comprising:
sensors configured to take measurements of affective response of users to the experience;
a computer configured to:
send, to software agents operating on behalf of the users, requests for the measurements of affective response of the users to the experience;
receive the measurements of affective response of users to the experience, which were sent by the software agents; wherein each measurement is associated with an assurance that assures at least one of the following when the measurement is used to compute a score for the experience: (i) the score is computed based on measurements of at least a certain number of the users, which is at least three, and (ii) the score is computed based on measurements that have a variance that reaches a certain threshold;
select a subset of the measurements and compute the score based on the subset; wherein the subset comprises measurements of at least three of the users, the assurance associated with each of the measurements in the subset is not violated, and the subset does not include a certain measurement, from among the measurements, whose inclusion in the subset would violate the assurance associated with the certain measurement; and
recommend the experience, responsive to the score reaching a predetermined threshold.
2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the assurance associated with each measurement further assures at least one of the following: a type of user-identifiable information that is provided in a disclosure of the score, and a maximal extent of a risk to privacy due to a disclosure of the score.
3. The system of claim 1 , wherein the assurance associated with each measurement further assures a certain compensation for contributing a measurement to the subset used to compute the score for the experience.
4. The system of claim 1 , wherein the measurements comprise first and second measurements of affective response of first and second users, respectively; and wherein a first request sent to a first software agent operating on behalf of the first user is indicative of a different assurance than an assurance indicated in a second request sent to a second software agent operating on behalf of the second user.
5. The system of claim 1 , wherein the computer is further configured to provide a compensation to one or more users who contributed measurements used to compute the score for the experience.
6. The system of claim 1 , wherein the computer is further configured to evaluate multiple subsets of the measurements; wherein evaluation of each evaluated subset comprises determining whether an assurance associated with a request corresponding to each measurement in the evaluated subset is not violated by disclosing a score computed based on the evaluated subset.
7. The system of claim 1 , wherein the computer is further configured to receive, prior to sending the requests, offers for measurements of affective response of the users, sent by the software agents operating on behalf of the users; wherein each offer is indicative of a specific assurance related to how a measurement of affective response of a user is to be utilized; and wherein the computer is further configured to base at least some of the requests on the offers.
8. The system of claim 1 , wherein the computer is further configured to determine whether a risk to privacy due to disclosure of the score for the experience reaches a threshold risk indicated in the assurance associated with each of the measurements in the subset.
9. A method for computing a score for an experience while providing privacy-related assurances, comprising:
sending, by a computer, to software agents operating on behalf of users, requests for measurements of affective response of the users to the experience;
taking, by sensors, the measurements of affective response of the users to the experience;
sending, by the software agents, the measurements of affective response of the users to the experience;
receiving, by the computer, the measurements of affective response of users to the experience; wherein each measurement is associated with an assurance that assures at least one of the following when the measurement is used to compute a score for the experience: (i) the score is computed based on measurements of at least a certain number of users, which is at least three, and (ii) the score is computed based on measurements that have a variance that reaches a certain threshold;
selecting a subset of the measurements and computing the score based on the subset; wherein the subset comprises measurements of at least three of the users, the assurance associated with each of the measurements in the subset is not violated, and the subset does not include a certain measurement, from among the measurements, whose inclusion in the subset would violate the assurance associated with the certain measurement; and
responsive to the score reaching a predetermined threshold, recommending the experience.
10. The method of claim 9 , further comprising receiving, prior to sending the requests, offers sent by the software agents operating on behalf of the users; wherein each offer comprises a specific assurance related to how a measurement of affective response of a user is to be utilized; and further comprising basing at least some of the requests on the offers.
11. The method of claim 9 , further comprising determining a risk to privacy due to disclosure of the score for the experience does not reach a threshold risk indicated in an assurance associated with a measurement belonging to the subset.
12. The method of claim 9 , further comprising providing a compensation to one or more users who contributed measurements used to compute the score for the experience.
13. The method of claim 9 , further comprising evaluating multiple subsets of the measurements; wherein evaluation of each evaluated subset comprises determining whether the assurance associated with a request corresponding to a measurement in the evaluated subset is not violated by disclosing a score computed based on the evaluated subset.
14. The method of claim 9 , wherein the assurance associated with each measurement further assures at least one of the following: a type of user-identifiable information that is provided in a disclosure of the score, and a maximal extent of a risk to privacy due to a disclosure of the score.
15. The method of claim 9 , wherein the assurance associated with each measurement further assures a certain compensation for contributing a measurement to the subset used to compute the score for the experience.
16. A non-transitory computer-readable medium having instructions stored thereon that, in response to execution by a system including a processor and memory, causes the system to perform operations comprising:
sending, by a computer, to software agents operating on behalf of users, requests for measurements of affective response of the users to an experience;
taking, by sensors, the measurements of affective response of the users to the experience;
sending, by the software agents, the measurements of affective response of the users to the experience;
receiving, by the computer, the measurements of affective response of users to the experience; wherein each measurement is associated with an assurance that assures at least one of the following when the measurement is used to compute a score for the experience: (i) the score is computed based on measurements of at least a certain number of users, which is at least three, and (ii) the score is computed based on measurements that have a variance that reaches a certain threshold;
selecting a subset of the measurements and computing the score based on the subset; wherein the subset comprises measurements of at least three of the users, the assurance associated with each of the measurements in the subset is not violated, and the subset does not include a certain measurement, from among the measurements, whose inclusion in the subset would violate the assurance associated with the certain measurement; and
responsive to the score reaching a predetermined threshold, recommending the experience.
17. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 16 , further comprising instructions defining a step of evaluating multiple subsets of the measurements; wherein evaluation of each evaluated subset comprises determining whether the assurance associated with a request corresponding to a measurement in the evaluated subset is not violated by disclosing a score computed based on the evaluated subset.
18. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 16 , further comprising instructions defining a step of receiving, prior to sending the requests, offers sent by software agents operating on behalf of the users; wherein each offer comprises a specific assurance related to how a measurement of affective response of a user is to be utilized; and further comprising basing at least some of the requests on the offers.
19. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 16 , further comprising instructions defining a step of determining a risk to privacy due to disclosure of the score for the experience does not reach a threshold risk indicated in the assurance associated with each of the measurements in the subset.
20. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 16 , further comprising instructions defining a step of providing a compensation to one or more users who contributed measurements used to compute the score for the experience.