Head mounted advertising ratings methods and systems

Abstract

A head-mountable advertising ratings method and system is disclosed. The location of an advertising media can be identified and a human eye can be located and tracked when the user of the ratings system, such as a pedestrian, is wearing eye polarity-sensing earphones. The earphones collect data when a user views media, as well as process and transmit such data through the user's communications device. Changes in the eye's polarity, perception, and reaction to viewing media are correlated to human brain reactions to acquire ratings for viewed media. The system allows for an advertiser to acquire and evaluate audience feedback and ratings related to presentation and content displayed on media (e.g., billboards, digital signage, window displays, etc.), as well as provide incentives for rating such media through use of an applications store.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A system for acquiring user signage viewing, the system comprising:
 a processor;   a data bus coupled to the processor; and   a computer-usable medium embodying computer code, the computer-usable medium being coupled to the data bus, the computer code comprising instructions executable by the processor and configured for:   determining a location, an outline, and particular content presented by at least one sign in at least three-dimensional space;   determining, utilizing data received from a user head-mountable eye-tracking device coupled to the processor, a location of a user and orientation of an eyeball of the user in the at least three-dimensional space;   determining, based on the location and orientation, a three-dimensional field of view of the eye of the user in the at least three-dimensional space;   determining whether the outline of the at least one sign is within the three-dimensional field of view of the eye of the user at the location;   determining, based on the determining whether the outline is within the field of view of the eye of the user, that the particular content presented by the at least one sign has provided an impression to the user; and   sending a determined impression as impression data to a remote computer processor communicatively coupled to the processor.   
     
     
         2 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the head-mountable eye-tracking device is located within any of: the ear, behind the ear, or at other positions on the user's head. 
     
     
         3 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the head-mountable eye-tracking device comprises earphones. 
     
     
         4 . The system of  claim 3 , wherein the earphones include a pressure transducer. 
     
     
         5 . The system of  claim 3 , wherein the earphones include one or more collocated: eye tracking sensors, location sensors, direction sensors, or brain activity sensors. 
     
     
         6 . The system of  claim 3 , wherein the earphones comprise eye polarity-sensing earphones. 
     
     
         7 . The system of  claim 6 , wherein the eye polarity-sensing earphones utilize electrooculograms electrodes to detect discrete differences in eye-polarity and perception with respect to signage displayed external to and in view of the user. 
     
     
         8 . The system of  claim 6 , wherein the eye polarity-sensing earphones utilize electroretinograms electrodes to detect discrete differences in eye-polarity and perception with respect to the signage displayed external to and in view of the user. 
     
     
         9 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the signage includes: content posted on a sign, digital signage, window displays, or traffic safety signs. 
     
     
         10 . The system of  claim 1  further comprising a near field communications device (NFC) to provide the sending of the determined impression as impression data from a user mobile communications device to a media location. 
     
     
         11 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the instructions are further configured for correlating brain activity of the user during a time frame of the impression to infer an emotional state of the user. 
     
     
         12 . The system of  claim 11 , wherein the brain activity is detected by a brain activity-sensing device located proximate to the head-mountable eye-tracking device. 
     
     
         13 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the instructions are further configured for:
 communicating a direction of movement of the user; and   determining the direction of the field of view of the eye of the user based on the direction of movement of the user.   
     
     
         14 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the instructions are further configured for:
 the head-mountable eye-tracking device, using a retained eye movement sensor to communicate eye movement data to a general motion sensor in the head-mounted eye-tracking device.   
     
     
         15 . The system of  claim 14 , wherein the instructions are further configured for:
 the general motion sensor detecting if a user is moving.   
     
     
         16 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the instructions are further configured for determining the impression based on a probability that the user views the at least one sign utilizing parameters comprising:
 the location of the at least one sign;   the location of the user;   the field of view of the eye of the user; and   the direction of the field of view of the eye of the user.   
     
     
         17 . The system of  claim 16 , wherein determining the field of view in at least three dimensional space further comprises utilizing at least one of:
 a direction of movement of the user,   a head orientation of the user,   a relative eye orientation; or   at least one predetermined distance to limit a locus of points that defines the field of view of the user.   
     
     
         18 . A system for acquiring user signage viewing, the system comprising:
 a processor;   a data bus coupled to the processor; and   a computer-usable medium embodying computer code, the computer-usable medium being coupled to the data bus, the computer code comprising instructions executable by the processor and configured for:   determining a location, an outline, and particular content presented by at least one sign in at least three-dimensional space;   determining, utilizing data received from an ear-mountable eye-tracking device coupled to the processor, a location of a user and orientation of an eyeball of the user in the at least three-dimensional space;   determining, based on the location and orientation of an eyeball of the user, a three-dimensional field of view of the eye of the user in the at least three-dimensional space;   determining whether the outline of the at least one sign is within the three-dimensional field of view of the eye of the user at the location;   determining, based on whether the outline is within the field of view of the eye of the user, that the particular content presented by the at least one sign has provided an impression to the user; and   sending a determined impression as impression data to a remote computer processor communicatively coupled to the processor.   
     
     
         19 . The system of  claim 18 , wherein the ear-mountable eye-tracking device comprises earphones or headphones including one or more of: a pressure transducer, eye tracking sensors, electrooculograms electrodes, electroretinograms electrodes, location sensors, direction sensors, or brain activity sensors. 
     
     
         20 . A method for acquiring user viewing data, the method comprising:
 determining a location, an outline, and particular content presented by at least one sign in at least three-dimensional space, by executing a program instruction in a wearable data-processing apparatus;   determining, utilizing data received from a user head-mountable eye-tracking device coupled to the wearable data-processing apparatus, a user location and relative orientation of an eyeball of the user in the at least three-dimensional space, by executing a program instruction in the wearable data-processing apparatus;   determining, utilizing at least the location and relative orientation of the eyeball of the user, a field of view of the eye of the user in the at least three dimensional space, the field of view defining a three-dimensional section of space visible to the user, by executing a program instruction in the wearable data-processing apparatus;   determining whether the outline of the at least one sign is located in the three-dimensional section of space visible to the user, by executing a program instruction in the wearable data-processing apparatus;   determining, based on a brain activity-sensing device proximate to the user head-mountable eye-tracking device, that the particular content presented by the at least one sign has provided an impression to the user, by executing a program instruction in the wearable data-processing apparatus; and   sending a number of impressions to a remote computer processor communicatively coupled to the wearable data-processing apparatus.