GAME FOR GENERATING EQUIVALENT PHRASES

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1). Field of the Invention

This invention relates generally to a method of playing a game and also to a method of generating equivalent phrases that can be used by a search engine.

2). Discussion of Related Art

Internet search engines are often used to obtain links to web pages, or feed data such as information about people, places or local data regarding business, events, movies, etc., in a specific geographic area. A user interface is typically stored on a server computer system and transmitted over the internet to a client computer system. The user interface typically has a search box for entering text. A user can then select a search button to transmit a search request from the client computer system to the server computer system. The server computer system then compares the text with data in a database or data source and extracts information based on the text from the database or data source. The information is then transmitted from the server computer system to the client computer system for display at the client computer system.

U.S. Pat. No. 7,181,447, which is incorporated herein in its entirety, discloses a method for transforming one query into another query. By transforming the query, more appropriate search results can often be obtained. Search engines often utilize other systems such as lists of synonyms for transforming a query into a query that can be more easily interpreted by the search engine.

Advances have also been made that allow search engines to interpret natural language phrases. The transformation from one natural language phrase to another natural language phrase requires a level of understanding that can normally not be executed by a computer. Lists of alternate phrases are typically generated by an editor. It will be appreciated that an editor may only be able to generate a small fraction of equivalent phrases that may be required by a search engine. It will also be appreciated that the generation of such lists is a cumbersome process that may take many man-hours to complete.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The invention provides a method of at least in part operating a computer system, including operating a first game including receiving a plurality of rephrases, associating each rephrase with a respective player identification, comparing each rephrase with a threshold, associating a winner with one of the player identifications, the winner being at least in part based on a comparison of the rephrases with the threshold, declaring the winner, and associating the rephrases of the first game with one another on a computer readable medium.

The game may further include receiving a plurality of signals, each signal including a respective one of the rephrases, operating a processor to associate each rephrase with a respective player, operating the processor to compare each rephrase with the threshold, operating the processor to associate the winner with one of the player identifications, and transmitting a signal declaring the winner.

The signals may be received from player computer systems and the rephrases in the signals may be text rephrases.

The method may further include operating a plurality of games, each game including receiving a plurality of rephrases, associating each rephrase with a respective player identification, comparing each rephrase with a threshold, associating a winner with one of the player identifications, the winner being at least in part based on a comparison of the rephrases with the threshold, and declaring the winner.

The method may further include providing a phrase to each, at least one rephrase associated with first of the player identifications being a patent phrase, the threshold being reached when one of the phrases associated with a second one of the player identifications matches the patent phrase.

The game may further include storing a score associated with each player identification on the computer readable medium, the scores being adjusted each time that the threshold is reached and comparing the scores to determine a winner.

The game may further including comparing each rephrase with a hidden phrase, the threshold being reached when a selected one of the rephrases matches the hidden phrase, and declaring the winner when the selected rephrase matches the hidden.

The game may further include receiving a query from a client computer system, utilizing the rephrases to determine a parsing phrase, utilizing the parsing phrase to extract a search result from a database, and transmitting the search result to the client computer system.

The invention also provides a computer-readable medium having stored thereon a set of instructions which, when executed by a processor, executes a method including operating a first game including receiving a plurality of rephrases, associating each rephrase with a respective player identification, comparing each rephrase with a threshold, associating a winner with one of the player identifications, the winner being at least in part based on a comparison of the rephrases with the threshold, declaring the winner, and associating the rephrases of the first game with one another on a computer readable medium.

The invention further provides computer system comprising a processor, a computer-readable medium having stored thereon a set of instructions which, when executed by a processor, executes a method comprising operating a first game including receiving a plurality of rephrases, associating each rephrase with a respective player identification, comparing each rephrase with a threshold, associating a winner with one of the player identifications, the winner being at least in part based on a comparison of the rephrases with the threshold, declaring the winner, and associating the rephrases of the first game with one another on a computer readable medium.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention is further described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a networked computer system in a network environment having features according to an embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an equivalent phrase data store and a game module forming part of the networked computer system of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a flow chart showing how a game is played to generate equivalent phrases;

FIG. 4 is a screen shot of a web browser having a lobby page displayed therein;

FIG. 5 is a view similar to FIG. 4, wherein the lobby page is replaced with a game view;

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating how the network environment is used to search and find information;

FIG. 7 is a block diagram of a client computer system forming part of the network environment, but may also be a block diagram of a computer in a server computer system forming an area of the network environment;

FIG. 8 is a view of a browser at a client computer system in the network environment of FIG. 1, the browser displaying a view of a user interface received from a server computer system in the network environment; and

FIG. 9 is a view of the browser in FIG. 8 displaying a results page.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

FIG. 1 of the accompanied drawings illustrates a networked computer system 10 having features according to an embodiment of the invention, including a server computer system 12 and a plurality of player computer systems 14a, 14b and 14c connected over the internet 16a to the server computer system 12. Specifically, the server computer system 12 includes a game module 18 and an equivalent phrase data store 20.

FIG. 2 illustrates the equivalent data store 20 and the game module 18 in more detail. The equivalent phrase data store 20 holds a plurality of phrase sets (phrase set 1; phrase set 2; phrase set 3). Each phrase set includes a plurality of equivalent phrases (phrase 1; phrase 2; phrase 3). One of the phrases in a particular phrase set may for example be “What is the population of Italy?” and another one of the phrases may be “How many people live in Italy?”

The game module 18 includes a new and hidden phrase generator 22 connected to the equivalent phrase data store 20, a game logic module 24 connected to the new and hidden phrase generator 22, a provided phrase data store 26, a player score data is store 28, a protocol generator 30 and a rephrase store 32 connected to the game logic module 24, and a data association module 34 connected to the rephrase store 32. The protocol generator 30 connects the game module 18 to the internet 16a. The data association module 34 connects the game module to the equivalent phrase data store 20.

In use, the game logic module 24 interacts with a new and hidden phrase generator 22 to generate a plurality of new and associated hidden phrases. The new and hidden phrase generator 22 extracts two phrases from each phrase set in the equivalent phrase data store 20, the first phrase being a new phrase and the second phrase being the hidden phrase. The provided phase data store 26 has a plurality of games stored therein. Each game has a respective new phrase and a respective hidden phrase that are stored by the game logic module 24. The game logic module 24 and the new and hidden phrase generator 22 thus extract a plurality of new phrases and hidden phrases, each from a respective phrase set in the equivalent phrase data store 20. Each game in the provided phrase data store 26 has a respective new phrase and a respective hidden phrase. Games that have been playing for some time may also have a plurality of patented phrases that are stored and associated with a respective game in the provided phase data store 26.

The player score data store 28 has a plurality of player identifications and associated scores stored therein. The game logic module 24 updates the scores associated with a player identifications as the respective games represented in the provided phrase data store 26 progress.

The protocol generator 30 is an HyperText Markup Language (HTML) protocol generator. The protocol generator 30 generates signals and transmits the signals over the internet 16a to the player computer systems 14a, 14b and 14c. A signal that is transmitted by the protocol generator includes a page with data displayed thereon. The signal is received by the respective player computer systems 14a, 14b and 14c and the page with the data is displayed on a display or screen of the respective player computer system 14a, 14b and 14c. The player computer systems 14a, 14b and 14c can also transmit signals over the internet 16a to the protocol generator 30. The signals transmitted by the player computer systems 14a, 14b and 14c are typically due to selection of a link on the page, selection of a button on the page and/or entry of text on the page.

In FIG. 3, at step 100, the new and hidden phrase generator 22 in FIG. 2 generates a plurality of new phrases and associated hidden phrases. The new and hidden phrase generator 22 generates the new and hidden phrases based on an instruction received from the game logic module 24. At step 102, the protocol generator 30 generates a lobby page that includes a listing of a plurality of games, each having a respective new, and an associated hidden phrase. The protocol generator 30 generates the lobby page in response to an instruction received from the game logic module 24.

FIG. 4 illustrates a browser interface 36 that resides on each one of the player computer systems 14a, 14b and 14c in FIG. 1. The browser interface 36 may, for example, be an interface of Internet Explorer®, Firefox®, Netscape® or any other browser. The browser interface 36 has an address box 38, a viewing pane 40 and various buttons such as back and forward buttons 42. A user at a respective one of the player computer systems 14a, 14b or 14c can load the browser interface 36 into memory. The browser interface 36 can be displayed on a screen or a display of the player computer system 14a, 14b or 14c.

The user enters an address in the address box 38. The user uses a mouse to move a cursor 44 into the address box 38, and then clicks a button on the mouse. After clicking the button on the mouse, the user can use a keyboard to enter text into the address box 38. The user can then press “Enter” on the keyboard. A command is sent over the internet 16a in FIG. 1 requesting a page corresponding to the address that is entered in the address box 38. The page is retrieved and transmitted to the player computer system 14a, 14b or 14c and is displayed within the viewing pane 40. An address can also be automatically entered in the address box 38 and be transmitted due to an earlier or subsequent action by the user of the respective player computer system 14a, 14b or 14c. For purposes of expediency, the transmission and reception and the contents of every signal are not described in every instance herein, but it should be understood that a communication will include at least one transaction that includes transmission and reception of a signal and what the contents of such a signal will be.

FIG. 4 also shows a lobby page that is displayed within the viewing pane 40. The lobby page 50 includes a listing of a plurality of games 52. Each game is identified by a respective number and a respective new phrase that is generated by the new and hidden phrase generator 22 in FIG. 2. The hidden phrases are not displayed within the lobby page 50. The lobby page 50 is transmitted at step 104 in FIG. 3 from the protocol generator 30 over the internet 16a and FIG. 2 to the respective player computer system 14a, 14b or 14c in FIG. 1.

At step 106 in FIG. 3, the game logic module 24 provides an instruction for the protocol generator 30 to generate game views corresponding to each one of the games 52 in FIG. 4. At step 108, the protocol generator 30 transmits a respective game view to, for example, the player computer system 14a in FIG. 1. The game view is transmitted in response to selection of a user of one of the games 52 in FIG. 4. The user may for example move the cursor 44 onto a name of one of the games 52 and then depress the button on the mouse to select the respective game. A different game view is transmitted to the player computer system 14a for each one of the games 52.

FIG. 5 illustrates a game view 54 that replaces the lobby page 50 in FIG. 4 within the browser interface 36. The game view 54 includes a new phrase 56 for the particular games 52 selected in FIG. 4, a text box 58, a “submit” button 60, and player scores 62 and 64. A cookie is stored on the player computer system 14a. The cookie includes one of the player identifications shown in the player score data store 28 and the provided phrase data store 26 in FIG. 2. The cookie is transmitted from the player computer system 14a in FIG. 1 to the game module 18 so that the game module 18 identifies the player computer system 14a. The score 62 in FIG. 5 is extracted from the player score data store 28 in FIG. 2 corresponding to the respective player identification for the player computer system 14a. In a similar manner, the player computer systems 14b and 14c are also identified at the game-module 18 in FIG. 1. The respective scores associated with the respective player computer systems 14a, 14b and 14c will thus be displayed similar to the score 62 in FIG. 5, but will differ for the respective player computer systems 14a, 14b and 14c.

A number of player computer systems 14a, 14b and 14c can join each one of the games 52 shown in FIG. 4. The scores 64 in FIG. 5 correspond to the respective player computer systems 14a, 14b or 14c that have joined one of the games 52 shown in FIG. 4 different subsets of the player computer systems 14a, 14b and 14c can join different ones of the games 52 in FIG. 4.

Each one of the scores 64 also has a player name 66 associated therewith. The respective player name 66 may be a respective one of the player identifications shown in the player score data store 28 of FIG. 2, or may be separately associated with a respective player identification. The player names 66 are entered on the player computer systems 14a, 14b and 14c during a registration process.

The user can enter a text rephrase in the text box 58. The text rephrase is a different interpretation given by the player for the new phrase 56. The player then selects the “submit” button 60, which causes transmission of a signal that includes the text rephrase from the player computer system 14a over the internet 16a to the game module 18 in FIG. 1. Referring again to FIG. 3, the text rephrase is received at step 110 by the game module 18.

At steps 112,114 and 116 the rephrase is compared with a number of thresholds to either determine a winner or to proceed the game towards determination of a winner. At step 112, a determination is made whether the rephrase matches a hidden phrase. The hidden phrase is not displayed in the game view 54 or the lobby page 50 of FIGS. 5 and 4. If the rephrase matches the hidden phrase, the respective player is said to have hit the “jackpot” and is declared a winner at step 118. The winner is declared by replacing the game view 54 with a view (not shown) that indicates that a respective player is declared a winner.

If, at step 112, the rephrase does not match the hidden phrase, the rephrase is compared with all patented phrases for the game. The patented phrases for the game are stored in the provided phrase data store 26 in FIG. 2. If the rephrase is a unique phrase, i.e., the rephrase is not listed as one of the patented phrases for the respective game in the provided phrase data store, then the rephrase will become a patented phrase at step 120 and the rephrase provided at step 110 is added to the respective game in the provided phrase data store as an additional patented phrase.

If, at step 114, it is determined that the rephrase is not a patented phrase, a determination is made at step 116 whether the rephrase matches a patented phrase already in the provided phrase data store 26. If the rephrase matches one of the patented phrases, then step 122 is carried out. At step 122, the score in the player score data store 28 corresponding to a player identification having a patented phrase in the provided phrase data store 26 is increased. The score of another player thus increases if the rephrase matches a patented phrase of such another player. For example, with reference to FIG. 1, the player computer system 14b may previously have provided a rephrase that was turned into a patented phrase. When the player computer system 14a is used to provide a rephrase and the rephrase matches the patented phrase provided by the player computer system 14b, then the score of the player computer system 14b is increased.

Following step 122, step 124 is carried out. In its present example, a maximum score limit is provided and at step 124, the scores of all the players are compared to the maximum score. If one of the players has a score that reaches the maximum score then such a player is declared a winner at step 118.

Following steps 120, or if steps 116 and 124 are answered in the negative, the player is again directed to step 110. The player can then again type a further rephrase within the text box 58 in FIG. 5.

At step 126, all the rephrases are associated with one another. Referring to FIG. 2, the rephrase store 32 includes the new phrase and all rephrases for all of the games. The rephrases are collected by the game logic module 24 as each games progresses and are then provided to the rephrase store 32. Each game within the rephrase store 32 thus includes not only the new phrase and the bidden phrase that are generated for the respective game by the new and hidden phrase generator 22, but also all the rephrases that are entered by all the players in the text box FIG. 5 displayed by each one of the player computer systems 14a, 14b and 14c in FIG. 1 that have joined the game represented in FIG. 5. The data association module 34 then imports the rephrases from the rephrase store 32 into the equivalent phrase data store 20. The new and hidden phrase generator 22 has extracted a new and hidden phrase from a particular phrase set within the equivalent phrase data store 20 and the data association module 34 places the rephrases within the same set. The rephrases for different games within the rephrase store 32 are thus imported into different ones of the phrase sets within the equivalent phrase data store 20.

Referring again to FIG. 1, the network environment 10 further includes a server computer system 12, the internet 16B, 16C and 16D, a plurality of client computer systems 218, and a plurality of remote sites 220, according to an embodiment of the invention.

The server computer system 12 has stored thereon a crawler 222, a collected data store 224, an indexer 226, a plurality of search databases 228, a plurality of structured databases and data sources 230, a search engine 232, the user interface 212, and a natural language interpretation module 234.

The crawler 222 is connected over the internet 16B to the remote sites 220. The collected data store 224 is connected to the crawler 222, and the indexer 226 is connected to the collected data store 224. The search databases 228 are connected to the indexer 226. The search engine 232 is connected to the search databases 228 and the structured databases and data sources 230. The client computer systems 218 are located at respective client sites and are connected over the internet 16D and the user interface 212 to the search engine 232.

Reference is now made to FIGS. 1 and 6 in combination to describe the functioning of the network environment 10. The crawler 222 periodically accesses the remote sites 220 over the internet 16B (step 330). The crawler 222 collects data from the remote sites 220 and stores the data in the collected data store 224 (step 332). The indexer 226 indexes the data in the collected data store 224 and stores the indexed data in the search databases 228 (step 334). The search databases 228 may, for example, be a “Web” database, a “News” database, a “Blogs & Feeds” database, an “Images” database, etc. Some of the structured databases or data sources 230 are licensed from third-party providers and may, for example, include an encyclopedia, a dictionary, maps, a movies database, etc.

A user at one of the client computer systems 218 accesses the user interface 212 over the internet 16D (step 336). The user can enter a search query in a search box in the user interface 212, and either hit “Enter” on a keyboard or select a “Search” button or a “Go” button of the user interface 212 (step 338).

The search engine 232 receiving a query instructs the natural language interpretation model 234 to extract a parsing phrase from the equivalent phrase data store 20. The natural language interpretation model 234 utilizes the utilizes the query to extract a parsing phrase from the equivalent phrase data store 20. The parsing phrase is typically the same as the new phrase generated at step 100 in FIG. 3 and corresponds to a rephrase that is the same as the query. The natural language interpretation model 234 thus finds a rephrase in the equivalent phrase data store 20 that is the same as the query and extracts a new phrase corresponding to the rephrase and passes the new phrase to the search engine 232 as a parsing phrase. The natural language interpretation model 234 thus determines an equivalent parsing phrase for the query (step 339). The search engine 232 then utilizes the parsing phrase to extract a search result from a database.

The search engine 232 then uses the “Search” query to parse the search databases 228 or the structured databases or data sources 230. In the example of where a “Web” search is conducted, the search engine 232 parses the search database 228 having general Internet Web data (step 340). Various technologies exist for comparing or using a search query to extract data from databases, as will be understood by a person skilled in the art.

The search engine 232 then transmits the extracted data over the internet 16D to the client computer system 218 (step 342). The extracted data typically includes uniform resource locator (URL) links to one or more of the remote sites 220. The user at the client computer system 218 can select one of the links to one of the remote sites 220 and access the respective remote site 220 over the internet 16C (step 344). The server computer system 12 has thus assisted the user at the respective client computer system 218 to find or select one of the remote sites 220 that have data pertaining to the query entered by the user.

FIG. 7 shows a diagrammatic representation of a machine in the exemplary form of one of the client computer systems 218 within which a set of instructions, for causing the machine to perform any one or more of the methodologies discussed herein, may be executed. In alternative embodiments, the machine operates as a standalone device or may be connected (e.g., networked) to other machines. In a network deployment, the machine may operate in the capacity of a server or a client machine in a server-client network environment, or as a peer machine in a peer-to-peer (or distributed) network environment. The machine may be a personal computer (PC), a tablet PC, a set-top box (STB), a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), a cellular telephone, a web appliance, a network router, switch or bridge, or any machine capable of executing a set of instructions (sequential or otherwise) that specify actions to be taken by that machine. Further, while only a single machine is illustrated, the term “machine” shall also be taken to include any collection of machines that individually or jointly execute a set (or multiple sets) of instructions to perform any one or more of the methodologies discussed herein. The client computer system 218, or any other computer system of FIG. 1 may also include one or more machines as shown in FIG. 3.

The exemplary client computer system 218 includes a processor 430 (e.g., a central processing unit (CPU), a graphics processing unit (GPU), or both), a main memory 432 (e.g., read-only memory (ROM), flash memory, dynamic random access memory (DRAM) such as synchronous DRAM (SDRAM) or Rambus DRAM (RDRAM), etc.), and a static memory 434 (e.g., flash memory, static random access memory (SRAM, etc.), which communicate with each other via a bus 436.

The client computer system 218 may further include a video display 438 (e.g., a liquid crystal display (LCD) or a cathode ray tube (CRT)). The client computer system 218 also includes an alpha-numeric input device 440 (e.g., a keyboard), a cursor control device 442 (e.g., a mouse), a disk drive unit 444, a signal generation device 446 (e.g., a speaker), and a network interface device 448,

The disk drive unit 444 includes a machine-readable medium 450 on which is stored one or more sets of instructions 452 (e.g., software) embodying any one or more of the methodologies or functions described herein. The software may also reside, completely or at least partially, within the main memory 432 and/or within the processor 430 during execution thereof by the client computer system 218, the memory 432 and the processor 430 also constituting machine readable media. The software may further be transmitted or received over a network 454 via the network interface device 448.

While the instructions 452 are shown in an exemplary embodiment to be on a single medium, the term “machine-readable medium” should be taken to understand a single medium or multiple media (e.g., a centralized or distributed database or data source and/or associated caches and servers) that store the one or more sets of instructions. The term “machine-readable medium” shall also be taken to include any medium that is capable of storing, encoding, or carrying a set of instructions for execution by the machine and that cause the machine to perform any one or more of the methodologies of the present invention. The term “machine-readable medium” shall accordingly be taken to include, but not be limited to, solid-state memories, optical and magnetic media, and carrier wave signals.

FIG. 8 of the accompanying drawings illustrates a browser 512 that displays a user interface 522 at a client computer system 218 in FIG. 1. The browser 512 may, for example, be an Internet Explorer™, Firefox™, Netscape™, or any other browser. The browser 512 has an address box 514, a viewing pane 516, and various buttons such as back and forward buttons 518 and 518. The browser 512 is loaded on a computer at the client computer system 218 of FIG. 1. A user at the client computer system 218 can load the browser 512 into memory, so that the browser 512 is displayed on a screen such as the video display 438 in FIG. 7.

The user enters an address (in the present example, the internet address http://www.ask.com) in the address box 514. A mouse (i.e., the cursor control device 442 of FIG. 7) is used to move a cursor 520 into the address box 514, and a left button is depressed or “clicked” on the mouse. After clicking on the left button of the mouse, the user can use a keyboard to enter text into the address box 514. The user then presses “Enter” on the keyboard. A command is then sent over the internet requesting a page corresponding to the address that is entered into the address box 514, or a page request is transmitted from the client computer system 218 to the server computer system 12. The page that is retrieved at the server computer system 12 is a first view of the user interface 212 and is transmitted from the server computer system 12 to the client computer system 218 and displayed in the viewing pane.

FIG. 9 shows a results page after a user enters the query “How many people live in Italy?” in the address box 514 in FIG. 8. The results page includes results for a equivalent phrase “What is the population of Italy?” due to generation of equivalent phrases in the game described with reference to FIG. 2.

While certain exemplary embodiments have been described and shown in the accompanying drawings, it is to be understood that such embodiments are merely illustrative and not restrictive of the current invention, and that this invention is not restricted to the specific constructions and arrangements shown and described since modifications may occur to those ordinarily skilled in the art.

GAME FOR GENERATING EQUIVALENT PHRASES

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