Consumptible identification system and method

Abstract

A consumptible identification system for use with a computer network includes a need prioritization module adapted to obtain a prioritization of consumer needs associated with a consumptible category from a particular consumer, wherein the prioritization expresses a preference of the particular consumer pertaining to at least one need associated with the category relative to at least one other need associated with the category. It further includes a matching module adapted to match a comsumptible identity to the particular consumer based on the prioritization of consumer needs and relationships between consumer needs and consumptible identities associated with the consumptible category. In addition, it has a user interface adapted to communicate the consumptible identity to the particular consumer.

1 . A system for recommending a product identity to a user from a plurality of product identities, comprising:
 a product database storing quantifiable product attributes for a category of goods, the category of goods having a plurality of product identities belonging thereto, each product identity having a set of quantifiable product attributes associated therewith, wherein each quantifiable product attribute has a quantification;   a relationship data structure defining a plurality of relationships between the quantifiable product attributes belonging to the category of goods and subjective properties relating to the category of goods, wherein a relationship represents a correlation of one of the quantifiable product attributes to one of the subjective properties relating the category of goods, wherein a plurality of different predefined subjective properties relate to the category of good;   a user interface that displays the subjective properties relating to the category of goods and that receives from the user an amount of importance for at least two of the subjective properties relating to the category of good; and   a prioritization module that determines a product identity recommendation for the user based on the inputted amount of importance of subjective properties relating to category of goods by:   calculating prioritization scores of the product attributes using the inputted amount of importance of the at least two subjective properties and the relationship data structure; and   calculating rankings of the different product identities using the calculated prioritization scores of the product attributes and the quantifications of the product attributes of the product identities stored in said product database; and   determining a product identity recommendation based on the rankings of the different product identities.   
     
     
         2 . The system of  claim 1  wherein the user interface displays the subjective properties to the user and the user indicates an amount of importance of at least two of the subjective properties with respect to other subjective properties relating to the category of goods. 
     
     
         3 . The system of  claim 2  wherein the prioritization module calculates prioritization score for each product attribute by:
 a) determining a percentage of importance of the subjective properties using the amounts of importance of the subjective properties with respect to the other subjective properties;   b) multiplying the percentage of importance of each of the subjective properties with the corresponding correlation between the subjective property and the product attribute whose prioritization score is being calculated; and   c) summing up the products calculated in step b) for each product attribute.   
     
     
         4 . The system of  claim 1  wherein for each product identity, the prioritization scores for the quantifiable product attributes are multiplied by the corresponding quantifications of the quantifiable product attribute of the product identity and the resulting products are summed, wherein the resulting sums for the product identities are compared to one another to determine a ranking of product identities. 
     
     
         5 . The system of  claim 1  further comprising a property-attribute relationship acquisition module that communicates subjective property and quantifiable product attribute pairs to an expert and that receives the correlation between the communicated subjective property and the quantifiable product attribute pair from the expert, wherein the relationships between the quantifiable product attributes and subjective properties are defined by the expert. 
     
     
         6 . The system of  claim 5  wherein the relationship data structure is a matrix whose elements represent the correlations of the quantifiable product attributes to the subjective properties. 
     
     
         7 . The system of  claim 1  further comprising a product identity acquisition module that receives a potential product identity from a source of a product having said potential product identity and receives the at least some of the quantifiable product attributes of said potential product identity from said producer, wherein said potential product identity becomes one of the product identities of the plurality of product identities. 
     
     
         8 . The system of  claim 1  further comprising an attribute-identity acquisition module that communicates at least one product identity and a quantifiable product attribute associated with said communicated product identities to an expert and receives quantifications for the quantifiable product attributes of the communicated product identities, wherein said quantifications are stored in said product database. 
     
     
         9 . The system of  claim 8  wherein the quantification is a numerical rating indicating an absolute or relative performance value for the product identity with respect to other product identities. 
     
     
         10 . The system of  claim 8  wherein the quantifications of the quantifiable product attributes of the product identities within the category of goods are defined by utility curves. 
     
     
         11 . The system of  claim 1  wherein the category goods is selected by the user from a plurality of categories of goods. 
     
     
         12 . A method for recommending a product identity having quantifiable product attributes from a plurality of different product identities to a consumer comprising:
 presenting, on a display unit, a plurality of different subjective properties relating to a category of goods to a user, wherein the plurality of different product identities belong to the category of goods and the plurality of different subjective properties are properties of the plurality of different product identities;   receiving, via a user interface, user input indicating amounts of importance of the subjective properties to the user;   calculating, on a processor, prioritization scores of quantifiable product attributes for the user using on the inputted amount of importance of each subjective property and a plurality of relationships between the quantifiable product attributes associated with the plurality of different product identities and the subjective properties relating to the category of goods, wherein a relationship represents a correlation of one of the quantifiable product attributes to one of the subjective properties;   calculating, on the processor, a product ranking for each product in the plurality of different products using on the prioritization scores of product attributes and quantifications of the product attributes for each product identity of the plurality of different product identities; and   presenting to the user a recommended product based on the product rankings for each product.   
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 12  wherein the user interface displays the subjective properties to the user and the user indicates an amount of importance of at least two of the subjective properties with respect to other subjective properties relating to the category of goods. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 12  wherein calculating the prioritizations scores further comprises:
 a) determining a percentage of importance of the subjective properties from the amounts of importance;   b) multiplying the percentage of importance of each of the subjective properties with the corresponding correlation between the subjective property and the product attribute whose prioritization score is being calculated; and   c) summing up the products calculated in step b) for each quantifiable attribute product attribute.   
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 14  wherein for each product identity, the prioritization scores for the quantifiable product attributes are multiplied by the corresponding quantifications of the quantifiable product attribute of the product identity and the resulting products are combined, wherein the resulting values for the product identities are compared to one another to determine a product ranking of product identities. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 12  further comprising communicating a plurality of categories of goods to the user and receiving the category of goods from the plurality of categories of goods from the user, via the user interface. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 12  further comprising communicating pairs of subjective properties and quantifiable product attributes to an expert and receiving the correlation between the communicated subjective property and the quantifiable product attribute from the expert, wherein the relationships between the quantifiable product attributes belonging to the category of goods and subjective properties relating to the category of goods are defined by the expert and loaded onto a computer readable medium associated with said system. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 12  further comprising receiving a product identity from a producer of a product having said product identity and receiving at least some of the quantifiable product attributes of the product identity from said producer. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 12  wherein the quantification is a numerical rating indicating a relative performance value for the product identity with respect to other product identities. 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 12  wherein the user is presented with the means to transact a purchase for the product identities which receive a ranking.