Personal Taste Assessment Method and System

Abstract

A personal taste assessment system recommends a consumable or other item. The system develops a preference model for the representing associations between a person's ratings of items and a set of item characteristics. The system uses the preference model and an item database that contains characteristic values for a group of items to identify a candidate item having characteristics that correspond to traits that the person found to be appealing. The system then causes an electronic device to output an identification of the candidate item.

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, and, 
 receive, via the user interface, a rating set comprising a 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 a recommendation request for the person or for a group to which the person belongs, 
 accessing a user profile for the person, wherein the user profile comprises the preference model, 
 accessing an item database comprising trait values for a plurality of candidate consumable items, 
 identifying a candidate consumable item in the item database having trait values whose properties correspond to traits for which the person has exhibited a positive preference, and 
 causing an electronic device to output an identification of the identified candidate consumable item. 
   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein identifying the candidate consumable item also comprises constraining the plurality of candidate consumable items to those having one or more characteristics that satisfy a user-supplied criterion. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the user-supplied criterion comprises a color, a price range, a maximum price or a type. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein identifying the candidate consumable item also comprises constraining the plurality of candidate consumable items to those having one or more characteristics that satisfy a situational criterion. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 4 , wherein the situational criterion comprises available inventory at a retailer. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein identifying the candidate consumable item also comprises omitting any candidate consumable item items having one or more characteristics for which the person has exhibited a negative preference. 
     
     
         7 . 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. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 generating a predicted rating for the identified candidate consumable item; and   causing the electronic device to output the predicted rating with the identification of the identified candidate consumable item.   
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 receiving a context for the person's experience with one or more of the rated consumable items; and   identifying the candidate consumable item comprises identifying an item having characteristics consistent with preferences of the person under conditions specified by a contextual criterion that corresponds to the context.   
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 accessing the item database to identify at least one additional consumable item that exhibits one or more characteristics that, if the additional consumable item is rated by the person, will improve the preference model or a preference profile for the person; and   generating a suggestion that the person rate the additional consumable item.   
     
     
         11 . A system for generating a recommendation 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 person; and   a computer-readable memory containing programming instructions that are configured to, when executed, cause one or more of the processors to:
 receive, for the person, ratings for each of a plurality of rated consumable items, 
 access an item 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 one association in the preference model, save the preference model to the user profile, 
 
 receive a recommendation request wherein the recommendation request comprises an identification of the person or of a group to which the person belongs, 
 access the item database and the user profile for the first person, to identify a candidate consumable item in the item database having trait values whose properties correspond to traits for which the person has exhibited a positive preference, and 
 cause an electronic device to output an identification of the identified candidate consumable item. 
   
     
     
         12 . The system of  claim 11 , wherein the instructions to identify a candidate consumable item also comprise instructions to constrain the candidate consumable items to those having one or more characteristics that satisfy a user-supplied criterion. 
     
     
         13 . The system of  claim 12 , wherein the user-supplied criterion comprises a color, a price range, a maximum price or a type. 
     
     
         14 . The system of  claim 11 , wherein the instructions to identify a candidate consumable item also comprise instructions to constrain the candidate consumable items to those having one or more characteristics that satisfy a situational criterion. 
     
     
         15 . The system of  claim 14 , wherein the situational criterion comprises available inventory at a retailer. 
     
     
         16 . The system of  claim 11 , wherein instructions to identify the candidate consumable item also comprise instructions to omit any candidate consumable item items having one or more characteristics for which the person has exhibited a negative preference. 
     
     
         17 . 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. 
     
     
         18 . The system of  claim 11 , further comprising instructions to:
 generate a predicted rating for the identified candidate consumable item; and   cause the electronic device to output the predicted rating with the identification of the identified candidate consumable item.   
     
     
         19 . The system of  claim 11 , further comprising instructions to:
 receive a context for the person's experience with one or more of the rated consumable items; and   identify the candidate consumable item comprises identifying an item having characteristics consistent with preferences of the person under conditions specified by a contextual criterion that corresponds to the context.   
     
     
         20 . The system of  claim 11 , further comprising instructions to:
 access the item database to identify at least one additional consumable item that exhibits one or more characteristics that, if the additional consumable item is rated by the person, will improve the preference model or a preference profile for the person; and   generate a suggestion that the person rate the additional consumable item.