Disclosed are methods, apparatuses and computer instructions for generating groups of articles for ensembles based on an anchor article. In one aspect, the method includes adding attributes of the anchor article to a set of selected attributes, defining a sequence of buckets in an order where each of the buckets includes available items in one or more categories based on a category of an anchor article, and generating a current group of articles by performing the following steps until each bucket has been selected: selecting a bucket in the sequence, applying a filter to remove items having attributes incompatible with the set of selected attributes, calculating weights for articles based on one or more rules and the set of selected attributes, selecting an article from the bucket for a group of articles based on its weight, and adding attributes of the selected article to the set of selected attributes.

Advertisements are generated and selected for display to users, wherein the advertisements include representations of subject individuals. These subject individuals can be friends with whom the user interacts on the Internet and/or any other contributors who may or may not have expertise with regard to the subject matter of the advertisement. A subject individual can be portrayed in an advertisement by including any type of representation of the individual.

Ranks for the subject individuals are determined based on the subject individuals' interactions with advertisements and/or on other factors. An advertisement is selected and presented to a user based on a score derived from friends' and/or contributors' interactions with the advertisement. According to various embodiments of the invention, a method is provided for choosing which advertisement(s) to show to a user and which subject individuals to portray in the advertisements.

An multistep guided system for mobile devices that facilitates the creation and dissemination of multistep guided activities from a source computer/device to a plurality of other recipient mobile devices, wherein the multistep guided activities is disseminated to the recipient mobile devices in a form that is compatible with the capabilities of the respective recipient mobile devices. The audio guided system comprises the source computer/device, the plurality of other recipient mobile devices and a server.

This paper presents a practical method for measuring the impact of multiple marketing events on sales, including marketing events that are not traditionally trackable. The technique infers which of several competing media events are likely to have caused a given conversion. The method is tested using hold-out sets, and also a live media experiment for determining whether the method can accurately predict television-generated web conversions.

A method, system and computer-usable medium for performing cognitive computing operations comprising receiving streams of data from a plurality of data sources; processing the streams of data from the plurality of data sources, the processing the streams of data from the plurality of data sources performing data enriching for incorporation into a cognitive graph; defining a cognitive persona within the cognitive graph, the cognitive persona corresponding to an archetype user model, the cognitive persona comprising a set of nodes in the cognitive graph; associating a user with the cognitive persona; defining a cognitive profile within the cognitive graph, the cognitive profile comprising an instance of the cognitive persona that references personal data associated with the user; associating the user with the cognitive profile; and, performing a cognitive computing operation based upon the cognitive profile associated with the user.

According to an embodiment, a computer-implemented method stores a set of historical transaction records pertaining to past consumer transactions, contextual transaction data, and offer activation and redemption tracking logs; receives a request to generate a new item offer; and uses a parameter optimizer to create suggested additional parameters. The parameter optimizer receives the stored records and data and determines a potential impact of the suggested additional parameters on sales of the item. In an embodiment, a visualization of the impact of the set of the parameters is presented on an offer definition interface. In an embodiment, the suggested additional parameters are automatically sent to the offer provider based in part on previous offer data associated with the offer provider.

Methods and systems are disclosed for prompting a patient to take a blood glucose management action. A diabetes management application on a mobile device can receive diabetes-related information from the mobile device. The diabetes management application can identify a blood glucose management action prompt based on a comparison of the received diabetes-related information to one or more predetermined prompt criteria. The diabetes management application can generate a blood glucose management action prompt based on the blood glucose management action prompt condition. The diabetes management application can present the blood glucose management action prompt to the patient on a user interface of the mobile device.

The disclosure includes a system and method for generating virtual reality content. For example, the disclosure includes a method for generating virtual reality content that includes a stream of three-dimensional video data and a stream of three-dimensional audio data with a processor-based computing device programmed to perform the generating, providing the virtual reality content to a user, detecting a location of the user's gaze at the virtual reality content, and suggesting an advertisement based on the location of the user's gaze. Another example includes receiving virtual reality content that includes a stream of three-dimensional video data and a stream of three-dimensional audio data to a first user with a processor-based computing device programmed to perform the receiving, generating a social network for the first user, and generating a social graph that includes user interactions with the virtual reality content.

Targeted Content solutions can be provided using a variety of techniques. Targeted Content can be provided in place of generic advertisements on a first device or on personal computing devices. Targeted Content can be presented during, or in place of, generic advertisements in Content (e.g., television content, streaming content, etc.). Targeted Content can include customized video content to improve a user's viewing experience and thereby provide increased revenue opportunities for advertisers and content providers. The video content and/or customized content that is provided to a user can be paused or substituted to permit customized content to be delivered to the user. The video content and/or customized content can be of sporting events, and can facilitate and improve participation in a Fantasy Sports league.

Systems and methods are described which provide targeted advertisements to a charging station for electric vehicles. A data collector records data associated with individuals near a charging station. A meter determines whether the charging station is being used to charge an electric vehicle. When the charging station is being used, a display displays advertisements targeted to the individuals. The targeted advertisements are selected from a database according to the data recorded by the data collector, and the database stores advertising content with discrete advertising segments that are electronically accessible. A processor is coupled to the data collector, the meter, and the display. The processor transmits the data recorded by the data collector, and receives the targeted advertisements.