Method and system for capturing and exploiting user intent in a conversational interaction based information retrieval system
Systems and methods are disclosed for processing a search request received from a user. A method includes providing access to content items associated with metadata. The method includes providing information about at least one search previously performed for a user, and providing access to information describing relationships between at least one of the content items and the metadata. The method includes receiving a present input from the user intended to identify a desired content item. Upon determining that results from the previous search did not satisfy the search request from the user, the method includes determining an intent shared by the previous search and the present input based on comparing (i) the relationship information, (ii) the previous search, and (iii) the present input. The method also includes selecting and presenting a subset of content items based on comparing the shared intent and the metadata.
1. A method of presenting search results matching a determined user intent, the method comprising:
receiving a first search query and a second search query, wherein one of the first search query or the second search query indicates a window of time during which a user intends to view a media asset;
determining whether any media assets that match the first search query or the second search query are available in the window of time by determining whether any media assets that match the first search query or the second search query are scheduled for delivery during the window of time; and
in response to determining that no media assets that match the first search query or the second search query are available in the window of time:
calculating one or more distances in a relationship graph between a first attribute of a first search result that matches the first search query and a second attribute of a second search result that matches the second search query;
selecting one or more connections between the first attribute and the second attribute based on the calculated distances;
generating a set of media assets based on the selected connections in the relationship graph, wherein each of the set of media assets has at least one of the first attribute or the second attribute and wherein each of the set of media assets is available within the window of time; and
generating one or more listings for media assets of the set of media assets.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the relationship graph has a collection of nodes and edges, the edges representing direct connections between nodes, and wherein each of the calculated distances indicate the distance between two nodes in the relationship graph.
3. The method of claim 2 , wherein each of the calculated distances is measured in a number of hops between two nodes.
4. The method of claim 2 , wherein each edge has a weight and wherein each of the calculated distances is a combination of weights of edges connecting two nodes.
5. The method of claim 2 , wherein the calculated distance is based further on how often the nodes were used together according to the historical inputs.
6. The method of claim 1 , wherein at least one of the calculated distances is modified by user preferences acquired over time.
7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first attribute comprises a first smart tag, a first category, or a first microcategory, and wherein at least one of the first smart tag, the first category, and the first microcategory are determined by applying a set of predetermined rules to the first search query.
8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first attribute comprises a first smart tag, a first category, or a first microcategory, and wherein at least one of the first smart tag, the first category, and the first microcategory are determined by applying a nave Bayes classifier to the first search query.
9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first attribute comprises a first smart tag, a first category, or a first microcategory, wherein the second attribute comprises a second smart tag, a second category, or a second microcategory, and wherein selecting the one or more connections between one or more of (a) the first smart tag and the second smart tag, (b) the first category and the second category, and (c) the first microcategory and the second microcategory based on the calculated distances comprises:
comparing the calculated distances between one or more of (a) the first smart tag and the second smart tag, (b) the first category and the second category, and (c) the first microcategory and the second microcategory;
determining whether one or more of the calculated distances is within a relationship distance threshold; and
in response to determining that one or more of the calculated distances is within a relationship distance threshold, selecting the one or more connections that are associated with calculated distances within the relationship distance threshold.
10. A system for presenting search results matching a determined user intent, the system comprising:
an electronic computing device configured to:
receive a first search query and a second search query, wherein one of the first search query or the second search query indicates a window of time during which a user intends to view a media asset;
determine whether any media assets that match the first search query or the second search query are available in the window of time by determining whether any media assets that match the first search query or the second search query are scheduled for delivery during the window of time; and
in response to determining that no media assets that match the first search query or the second search query are available in the window of time:
calculate one or more distances in a relationship graph between a first attribute of a first search result that matches the first search query and a second attribute of a second search result that matches the second search query;
select one or more connections between the first attribute and the second attribute based on the calculated distances;
generate a set of media assets based on the selected connections in the relationship graph, wherein each of the set of media assets has at least one of the first attribute or the second attribute and wherein each of the set of media assets is available within the window of time; and
generate one or more listings for media assets of the set of media assets.
11. The system of claim 10 , wherein the relationship graph has a collection of nodes and edges, the edges representing direct connections between nodes, and wherein each of the calculated distances indicate the distance between two nodes in the relationship graph.
12. The system of claim 11 , wherein each of the calculated distances is measured in a number of hops between two nodes.
13. The system of claim 11 , wherein each edge has a weight and wherein each of the calculated distances is a combination of weights of edges connecting two nodes.
14. The system of claim 11 , wherein the calculated distance is based further on how often the nodes were used together according to the historical inputs.
15. The system of claim 10 , wherein at least one of the calculated distances is modified by user preferences acquired over time.
16. The system of claim 10 , wherein the first attribute comprises a first smart tag, a first category, or a first microcategory, and wherein at least one of the first smart tag, the first category, and the first microcategory are determined by applying a set of predetermined rules to the first search query.
17. The system of claim 10 , wherein the first attribute comprises a first smart tag, a first category, or a first microcategory, and wherein at least one of the first smart tag, the first category, and the first microcategory are determined by applying a naïve Bayes classifier to the first search query.
18. The system of claim 10 ,
wherein the first attribute comprises a first smart tag, a first category, or a first microcategory,
wherein the second attribute comprises a second smart tag, a second category, or a second microcategory, and
wherein the electronic computing device is further configured, when selecting the one or more connections, to:
compare the calculated distances between one or more of (a) the first smart tag and the second smart tag, (b) the first category and the second category, and (c) the first microcategory and the second microcategory;
determine whether one or more of the calculated distances is within a relationship distance threshold; and
in response to determining that one or more of the calculated distances is within a relationship distance threshold, select the one or more connections that are associated with calculated distances within the relationship distance threshold.
19. A non-transitory machine-readable medium comprising non-transitory machine-readable instructions encoded thereon for presenting search results matching a determined user intent, the instructions comprising:
instructions for receiving a first search query and a second search query, wherein one of the first search query or the second search query indicates a window of time during which a user intends to view a media asset;
instructions for determining whether any media assets that match the first search query or the second search query are available in the window of time by determining whether any media assets that match the first search query or the second search query are scheduled for delivery during the window of time; and
instructions for, in response to determining that no media assets that match the first search query or the second search query are available in the window of time:
calculating one or more distances in a relationship graph between a first attribute of a first search result that matches the first search query and a second attribute of a second search result that matches the second search query;
selecting one or more connections between the first attribute and the second attribute based on the calculated distances;
generating a set of media assets based on the selected connections in the relationship graph, wherein each of the set of media assets has at least one of the first attribute or the second attribute and wherein each of the set of media assets is available within the window of time; and
generating one or more listings for media assets of the set of media assets.
20. The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 19 , wherein the first attribute comprises a first smart tag, a first category, or a first microcategory, wherein the second attribute comprises a second smart tag, a second category, or a second microcategory, and wherein the non-transitory machine-readable medium further comprises instructions, when selecting the one or more connections, for:
comparing the calculated distances between one or more of (a) the first smart tag and the second smart tag, (b) the first category and the second category, and (c) the first microcategory and the second microcategory;
determining whether one or more of the calculated distances is within a relationship distance threshold; and
in response to determining that one or more of the calculated distances is within a relationship distance threshold, selecting the one or more connections that are associated with calculated distances within the relationship distance threshold.