DATA SEARCH USER INTERFACE WITH ERGONOMIC MECHANISM FOR USER PROFILE DEFINITION AND MANIPULATION

摘要

A user interface for querying and displaying records from a database employs a physical metaphor for the process of constructing queries and viewing results. Queries are defined by selecting predefined criteria rather than entering them as search terms, the former being more compatible with lean-back applications such as searching of electronic program guides. According to the invention, user profiles are presented and manipulated to operate with queries in the same way as other criteria. For example, in one embodiment, the search criteria are shown as the beads on respective strings, the strings representing categories of criteria. One of the strings is a set of user profiles that can be added to a query in the same manner as the addition of criteria. Criteria are selected to form a query by moving corresponding beads to a query string. User preference profiles can be constructed in the same manner. Profiles are saved and represented as bead strings that can be used in further interactions in the same manner as criteria beads. Profiles can also be the result of automatic machine-analysis of user interaction. Thus, the historical usage pattern of a user is used by a machine learning device to predict user preferences. Such "implicit" profiles can also be added to a query in the same manner as the more typical preference profiles in which users incorporate their explicit preferences in the form of rules into a user profile.