Method and apparatus for crowdsourced data gathering, extraction, and compensation
A system for customized crowd-sourced data gathering and extraction wherein a client may request that certain data be gathered, and the system will optimally provide the data through a combination of stored data, one or more remote devices with sensing capabilities, and human operators. The system has predictive capability to optimize notifications to human operators likely to be in the area of a data gathering request at the necessary time and likely to be available to gather the requested data. Human operators may be compensated for their data gathering, and may gather data, or parts thereof, as an adjunct to other activities.
1. A system for gathering or extracting data from one or more remote devices, comprising:
a network-connected computing device comprising a memory, a processor, and a non-volatile data storage device;
an operator database stored on the non-volatile data storage device comprising records for a plurality of data gathering operators, each record comprising operator attributes of the data gathering operator associated with the record, the operator attributes comprising a location of the data gathering operator and one or more types of data that the data gathering operator can gather;
a client portal comprising a first plurality of programming instructions stored in the memory and operating on the processor, wherein the first plurality of programming instructions, when operating on the processor, cause the computing device to:
receive a data gathering request from a client comprising data gathering parameters, the data gathering parameters comprising a location and a type of data to be gathered;
search the operator database to identify one or more data gathering operators who are likely to be able to complete at least a portion of the data gathering request by comparing the data gathering parameters to the operator attributes;
send the data gathering request and a list of identified data gathering operators to an operator portal;
receive notification of data gathered from an interactive data gathering coordinator;
determine whether the data gathering request is complete by comparing the notifications of data gathered with the data gathering request; and
notify the client of the status of the data gathering request; and
an operator portal comprising a second plurality of programming instructions stored in the memory and operating on the processor, wherein the second plurality of programming instructions, when operating on the processor, cause the computing device to:
receive the data gathering request and the list of identified data gathering operators from the client portal;
divide the data gathering request into portions based on the list of identified data gathering operators;
forward each portion of the data gathering request to the one or more data gathering operators identified for that portion of the data gathering request;
receive an acceptance of the data gathering request from the one or more data gathering operators; and
an interactive data gathering coordinator comprising a third plurality of programming instructions stored in the memory and operating on the processor, wherein the third plurality of programming instructions, when operating on the processor, cause the computing device to:
receive a streaming video feed from a mobile device of a first data gathering operator of the one or more data gathering operators;
transmit the streaming video feed to a computing device of the client;
receive a directional input from the client, the directional input comprising a direction and a magnitude;
transmit the directional input to the mobile device of the first data gathering operator;
display the directional input on the mobile device as an arrow on top of the streaming video feed, with a direction of the arrow determined by the direction of the directional input and a length of the arrow determined by the magnitude of the directional input;
store the streaming video on the non-volatile data storage device as data gathered in response to the data gathering request; and
send a notification of data gathered to the client portal.
2. The system of claim 1 , wherein a subjective rating is received from the client of the first data gathering operator's compliance with the client's directions.
3. The system of claim 1 , wherein the first data gathering operator's compliance with the client's directions via on-screen visualizations is rated automatically by determining a response time and accuracy of the movements of the mobile device relative to the directional input.
4. A method for gathering or extracting data from one or more remote devices, comprising the steps of:
creating an operator database comprising records for a plurality of data gathering operators, each record comprising operator attributes of the data gathering operator associated with the record, the operator attributes comprising a location of the data gathering operator and one or more types of data that the data gathering operator can gather;
storing the operator database on a non-volatile data storage medium of a computing device, the computing device comprising a memory, a processor, and the non-volatile data storage device;
receiving a data gathering request from a client via a client portal operating on the computing device, the data gathering request comprising data gathering parameters, the data gathering parameters comprising a location and a type of data to be gathered;
searching the operator database to identify one or more data gathering operators who are likely to be able to complete at least a portion of the data gathering request by comparing the data gathering parameters to the operator attributes;
determining whether the data gathering request is complete by comparing the data received from each data gathering operator with the data gathering request;
dividing the data gathering request into portions based on the list of identified data gathering operators;
forwarding each portion of the data gathering request, via an operator portal operating on the computing device, to the one or more data gathering operators identified for that portion of the data gathering request;
receiving an acceptance of the data gathering request from the one or more data gathering operators;
receiving, at an interactive data gathering coordinator, a streaming video feed from a mobile device of a first data gathering operator of the one or more data gathering operators;
transmitting the streaming video feed to a computing device of the client;
receiving a directional input from the client, the directional input comprising a direction and a magnitude;
transmitting the directional input to the mobile device of the first data gathering operator; and
displaying the directional input on the mobile device as an arrow on top of the streaming video feed, with a direction of the arrow determined by the direction of the directional input and a length of the arrow determined by the magnitude of the directional input;
storing the streaming video on the non-volatile data storage device as data gathered in response to the data gathering request;
sending a notification of data gathered to the client portal; and
notifying the client of the status of the data gathering request via the client portal.
5. The method of claim 4 , further comprising the step of receiving a subjective rating by the client of the first data gathering operator's compliance with the client's directions.
6. The method of claim 4 , further comprising the step of automatically rating the first data gathering operator's compliance with the client's directions via on-screen visualizations by determining a response time and accuracy of the movements of the mobile device relative to the directional input.