Recognition System

Abstract

According to various embodiments, a user may pursue defined achievements through reading books. As the user accomplishes the achievements, the user may receive mementos that can serve as a tangible indicator of what the user has accomplished. The mementos may be visible to others on a website, such as a social networking website.

1 . A device comprising:
 a memory;   a processor, the processor operable to:
 determine a first user; 
 determine a first achievement associated with the first user, wherein the first achievement includes completing a set of reading tasks; 
 receive from the first user an indication of a first progress made towards the first achievement; 
 verify that the first user has made the indicated first progress; 
 issue instructions for the presentation to the first user of a visual indicator of the first progress; 
 determine, based on having verified the first progress, that the first user has accomplished the first achievement; 
 determine a memento associated with the first achievement; 
 issue instructions for the presentation of the memento in association with the first user; 
 receive an indication that a second user has selected the memento; 
 provide to the second user, in response to the selection of the memento by the second user, reading materials that may be utilized in the completion of the reading tasks; 
 direct that a financial account of the second user be charged in exchange for the provision of the reading materials. 
   
     
     
         2 . The device of  claim 1  in which, in issuing instructions for the presentation of the memento in association with the first user, the process is operable to issue instructions for the presentation, at the time of the next connection to an external server, of the memento in association with the first user, in which the external server is a server storing a public profile of the first user. 
     
     
         3 . The device of  claim 1  in which, in determining a memento associated with the first achievement, the processor is operable to:
 receive from the first user an indication of at least one attribute; and 
 determine a memento that incorporates the at least one attribute. 
 
     
     
         4 . The device of  claim 3  in which the at least one attribute is one of: (a) a color; (b) a shape; and (c) a phrase to be incorporated. 
     
     
         5 . The device of  claim 1  in which, in determining a memento associated with the first achievement, the processor is operable to:
 determine a description of the memento; and 
 determine, based on the description, that the memento corresponds to the achievement. 
 
     
     
         6 . The device of  claim 1  in which, in determining that the memento corresponds to the achievement, the processor is operable to determine that a first word within the description of the memento matches a second word within a description of the achievement. 
     
     
         7 . The device of  claim 1  in which the processor is further operable to determine if the first user is eligible for the first achievement. 
     
     
         8 . The device of  claim 7  in which, in determining whether the first user is eligible for the first achievement, the processor is further operable to:
 determine the age of the first user; and 
 determine whether the age falls within a predetermined range of eligible ages. 
 
     
     
         9 . The device of  claim 1  in which the processor is further operable to:
 determine a device owned by the first user, 
 in which, in determining the memento, the processor is operable to determine the appearance of the memento based on the device owned by the first user. 
 
     
     
         10 . The device of  claim 9  in which the processor is further operable to:
 determine the color of the device owned by the first user, 
 in which, in determining the memento, the processor is operable to determine the color of the memento based on the color of the device owned by the first user. 
 
     
     
         11 . The device of  claim 1  in which the processor is further operable to:
 receive an indication that the first user permits the public display of the memento. 
 
     
     
         12 . The device of  claim 1  in which the processor is further operable to:
 receive an indication that first user does not permit the public display of a second memento. 
 
     
     
         13 . The device of  claim 1  in which the processor is further operable to:
 determine a set of achievements that includes the first achievement; and 
 direct the publishing of the set of achievements. 
 
     
     
         14 . The device of  claim 1  in which, in directing the publishing of the set of achievements, the processor is operable to:
 direct that a directory of the set of achievements be published to a web site. 
 
     
     
         15 . The device of  claim 1  in which the first achievement includes reading a particular book. 
     
     
         16 . The device of  claim 1  in which the first achievement includes reading a set of books. 
     
     
         17 . The device of  claim 16  in which the set of books includes a number of books that is a multiple of a certain base number. 
     
     
         18 . The device of  claim 17  in which each book of the set of books has a common characteristic, in which the common characteristic is one of: (a) a common author; (b) a common genre; (c) a common word in the title; and (d) a common topic. 
     
     
         19 . The device of  claim 1  in which the first achievement includes reading a set of books by the same author. 
     
     
         20 . The device of  claim 1  in which the first achievement includes reading a set of books of the same genre. 
     
     
         21 . The device of  claim 1  in which the first achievement includes reading a set of books, each having a specific word in its title. 
     
     
         22 . The device of  claim 1  in which the indication of first progress is one of: (a) an indication of a number of pages read; (b) an indication of a number of chapters read; and (c) an indication of a number of books read. 
     
     
         23 . The device of  claim 1  in which, in verifying that that the first user has made the indicated first progress, the processor is operable to:
 cause a quiz to be presented to the first user, in which the quiz includes questions related to the set of reading tasks; 
 receive an indication of answers to the quiz provided by the first user; and 
 determine that more than a predetermined number of the answers are correct. 
 
     
     
         24 . The device of  claim 23  in which the processor is further operable to:
 receive a verification of the first use's identity using a biometric or password prior to causing the quiz to be presented to the first user. 
 
     
     
         25 . The device of  claim 1  in which, in verifying that that the first user has made the indicated first progress, the processor is operable to:
 receive an indication of the amount of time spent by the first user in making the indicated first progress; and 
 determine that the amount of time is longer than a predetermined amount of time. 
 
     
     
         26 . The device of  claim 1  in which, in verifying that that the first user has made the indicated first progress, the processor is operable to:
 receive an indication of the amount of time spent by the first user per page read by the first user; and 
 determine that the amount of time is longer than a predetermined amount of time. 
 
     
     
         27 . The device of  claim 1  in which, in issuing instructions for the presentation to the first user of a visual indicator of the first progress, the processor is operable to:
 issue instructions for the presentation to the first user of a pie graph filled to a first percentage corresponding to a first percentage of the first achievement accomplished by the first user. 
 
     
     
         28 . The device of  claim 27  in which the instructions are issued to an electronic reading device belonging to the first user. 
     
     
         29 . The device of  claim 27  in which the processor is further operable to:
 receive from the first user an indication of a second progress made towards the first achievement; 
 issue instructions for the presentation to the first user of the pie graph filled to a second percentage corresponding to a second percentage of the achievement accomplished by the first user, in which the second percentage is greater than the first percentage. 
 
     
     
         30 . The device of  claim 1  in which, in issuing instructions for the presentation to the first user of a visual indicator of the first progress, the processor is operable to:
 issue instructions for the presentation to the first user of a text prompt indicating the fraction of the set of reading tasks completed. 
 
     
     
         31 . The device of  claim 1  in which, in issuing instructions for the presentation to the first user of a visual indicator of the first progress, the processor is operable to:
 issue instructions for the presentation to the first user of an icon of a book with a fraction of its pages turned, where such fraction corresponds to the fraction of the set of reading tasks completed. 
 
     
     
         32 . The device of  claim 1  in which, in determining a memento associated with the first achievement, the processor is operable to:
 determine a title of a book such that reading the book is among the set of reading tasks; and 
 determine a visual icon that shows the title. 
 
     
     
         33 . The device of  claim 1  in which, in determining a memento associated with the first achievement, the processor is operable to:
 determine a genre such that genre is the subject of the set of reading tasks; and 
 determine a visual icon that shows the genre. 
 
     
     
         34 . The device of  claim 1  in which, in issuing instructions for the presentation of the memento in association with the first user, the processor is operable to:
 issue instructions for the presentation of the memento on a social network page associated with the first user. 
 
     
     
         35 . The device of  claim 1  in which, in issuing instructions for the presentation of the memento in association with the first user, the processor is operable to:
 issue instructions for the presentation of the memento on an electronic reading device associated with the first user. 
 
     
     
         36 . The device of  claim 1  in which, in receiving an indication that a second user has selected the memento, the processor is operable to:
 receive an indication that the second user has clicked on the memento as displayed on a social network page associated with the first user. 
 
     
     
         37 . The device of  claim 1  in which, in receiving an indication that a second user has selected the memento, the processor is operable to:
 receive an indication that the second user has indicated a desire to purchase the reading materials. 
 
     
     
         38 . The device of  claim 1  in which, in providing the reading materials to the second user, the processor is operable to:
 direct the transmission of an electronic book to an electronic book reading device associated with the second user. 
 
     
     
         39 . The device of  claim 1  in which, in directing that a financial account of the second user be charged, the processor is operable to:
 direct that a credit card account of the second user be charged. 
 
     
     
         40 . The device of  claim 1  in which the processor is further operable to:
 determine a set of achievements, wherein the set of achievements includes the first achievement; 
 issue instructions for the display of a list of the set of achievements. 
 
     
     
         41 . The device of  claim 40  in which, in issuing instructions for the display of a list of the set of achievements, the processor is operable to issue instructions for the display of the list of the set of achievements on a web page. 
     
     
         42 . The device of  claim 1  in which the processor is further operable to:
 direct, in response to the indication that the second user has selected the memento, that a benefit be provided to the first user. 
 
     
     
         43 . A device comprising:
 a memory;   a processor, the processor operable to:
 determine a first achievement, wherein the first achievement includes completing a set of reading tasks; 
 determine an award associated with the first achievement; 
 determine that a first user has completed the first achievement; and 
 directing that the first award be provided to the first user. 
   
     
     
         44 . The device of  claim 43  in which the set of reading tasks includes purchasing a set of reading materials. 
     
     
         45 . The device of  claim 44  in which the set of reading tasks includes purchasing a set of books by the same author. 
     
     
         46 . The device of  claim 44  in which the set of reading tasks includes purchasing a set of books of the same genre. 
     
     
         47 . The device of  claim 44  in which the set of reading tasks includes purchasing a third book from a given author. 
     
     
         48 . The device of  claim 44  in which the set of reading tasks includes purchasing a third book from a given category. 
     
     
         49 . The device of  claim 43  in which, in determining the first achievement, the processor is operable to determine a set of reading tasks involving reading books sharing a common characteristic. 
     
     
         50 . The device of  claim 49  in which sharing the common characteristic includes one of:
 (a) having the same author; (b) being on the same topic; (c) being of the same genre; and 
 (d) having won the same recognition. 
 
     
     
         51 . The device of  claim 43  in which, in determining an award, the processor is operable to receive from a publisher an indication of the award. 
     
     
         52 . The device of  claim 43  in which the processor is further operable to determine that the publisher is a publisher of a book, wherein reading the book is among the set of reading tasks. 
     
     
         53 . The device of  claim 43  in which, in determining an award, the processor is operable to receive an indication of the award from one of: (a) an author; (b) a representative of a book club; (c) a book critic; and (d) a celebrity.