System and method for facilitating real-time feedback in response to collection of real-world data

Abstract

Systems, apparatuses, processes, methods and operations for implementing and managing a data collection campaign for data regarding the observation of product or service related information. In some embodiments, the invention is directed to systems, apparatuses, processes, methods, and operations for enabling an observation campaign to be defined and executed. As part of that design and execution, a user's or prospective user's rating may be accessed and used to decide whether to make a specific opportunity or set of opportunities available to a specific user, and/or to process the data received from a certain user in a certain way. In some embodiments, a communication or instruction may be generated and provided to a user/observer participant in an observation campaign requesting that they alter some aspect of the setting or environment in which a product is being sold or offered for sale. In some embodiments, such a communication may be provided to a proprietor of a sales location or to a campaign coordinator so that they are aware of a problem with the way a product or service is being marketed or displayed and can take a remedial action if desired.

That which is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A computer-based method, comprising:
 establishing an observation campaign for the collection of real-world data regarding a product or service;   identifying one or more users for participation in the observation campaign;   receiving real-world data from the one or more users;   evaluating the received real-world data to determine if a corrective action is needed with regards to the display or presentation of the product or service; and   if a corrective action is needed, then generating a communication to one or more of a user who collected the real-world data, a proprietor of a location in which the real-world data was collected, or a coordinator of the observation campaign.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein establishing the observation campaign includes specifying one or more parameters of the campaign. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein evaluating the received real-world data to determine if a corrective action is needed with regards to the display or presentation of the product or service further comprises one or more of determining if the product or service is priced correctly, determining if the product or service is displayed correctly, or determining if the product or service is presented with the correct information. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein identifying one or more users for participation in the observation campaign further comprises:
 sending an electronic communication corresponding to an opportunity to observe real-world data to a set of users, the electronic communication sent to one or more remote computing devices associated with each user and sent from a data observation computing platform; and   receiving a response to the electronic communication from one or more of the users to which the communication was sent.   
     
     
         5 . The method of claim wherein the collected real-world includes one or more of
 an image of a product being displayed at a specific location;   an image of an area around a product being displayed at a specific location; or   a user's comments or observations regarding a product being displayed at a specific location.   
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein generating a communication further comprises generating one or more of a telephone call, a text message, an email, or an image. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising using a user rating to identify one or more users who are qualified to act as an agent for purposes of implementing the corrective action. 
     
     
       B. The method of  claim 1 , further comprising making a list of available observation campaign opportunities available to one or more prospective users on a webpage. 
     
     
         9 . A computing system, comprising:
 a user-based mobile computing device configured to execute an observation application to coordinate observing and collecting of real-world data;   an observation server computer configured to push a notification that includes one or more opportunities for observations of real-world data to the user-based mobile computing device and configured to receive real-world data observed and collected by the user-based mobile computing device;   a computer-based method executing on the observation server computer to process the real-world data observed and collected by the user-based mobile computing device, the processing of the real-world data including
 evaluating the received real-world data to determine if a corrective action is needed with regards to the display or presentation of the product or service; and 
 if a corrective action is needed, then generating a communication to one or more of the user-based mobile computing device, a proprietor of a location in which the real-world data was collected, or a coordinator of the observation campaign; and 
   a computing device communicatively coupled to the observation server computer and configured to generate and control a campaign of opportunities pushed by the observation server computer.   
     
     
         10 . The computing system of  claim 9 , wherein the real-world data includes one or more of
 an image of a product being displayed at a specific location;   an image of an area around a product being displayed at a specific location; or   a user's comments or observations regarding a product being displayed at a specific location.   
     
     
         11 . The computing system of  claim 9 , wherein the observation server computer further comprises a module configured to evaluate the data received from the user-based mobile computing device in comparison to one or more campaign parameters or metrics. 
     
     
         12 . The computing system of  claim 9 , wherein the user-based mobile computing device comprises one of the group comprised of: a mobile phone, a smart phone, a laptop computer, a handheld computer, a wearable computing device, and an augmented reality device. 
     
     
         13 . The computing system of  claim 9 , wherein evaluating the received real-world data to determine if a corrective action is needed with regards to the display or presentation of the product or service further comprises determining if the product or service is priced correctly, determining if the product or service is displayed correctly, or determining if the product or service is presented with the correct information. 
     
     
         14 . The computing system of  claim 9 , wherein identifying one or more users for participation in the observation campaign further comprises:
 sending an electronic communication corresponding to an opportunity to observe real world data to a set of users, the electronic communication sent to one or more remote computing devices associated with each user and sent from a data observation computing platform; and   receiving a response to the electronic communication from one or more of the users to which the communication was sent.   
     
     
         15 . The computing system of  claim 9 , further comprising using a user rating to identify one or more users who are qualified to act as an agent for purposes of implementing the corrective action. 
     
     
         16 . A cloud-based multi-user observation computing system, comprising:
 a plurality of user-based mobile computing devices each executing an observation application configured to communicate with a server computer hosting one or more observation opportunities;   a cloud-based observation platform that includes the server computer for hosting the observation opportunities, the observation platform configured to communicate one or more opportunities to one or more user-based mobile computing devices and configured to receive real-world data collected by one or more of the one or more user-based mobile computing devices;   a computer-based method executing on the observation platform to process the real-world data observed and collected by the one or more user-based mobile computing devices, the processing of the real-world data including
 evaluating the received real-world data to determine if a corrective action is needed with regards to the display or presentation of the product or service; and 
 if a corrective action is needed, then generating a communication to one or more of a user-based mobile device that collected the real-world data, a proprietor of a location in which the real-world data was collected, or a coordinator of the observation campaign; and 
   a plurality of computing devices communicatively coupled to the observation platform and configured to generate and alter opportunities as part or one or more observation campaigns, each observation campaign having configurable parameters configurable by at least one of the computing devices.   
     
     
         17 . The computing system of  claim 16 , further comprising a retail-location or point of sale location based computer communicatively coupled to the observation platform and configured to receive one or more communications about the real-world data collected. 
     
     
         18 . The computing system of  claim 16 , wherein each of the plurality of computing devices is configured to generate an observation campaign opportunity that includes one or more of the parameters from the group comprised of: financial compensation for data collection, non-financial compensation for data collection, time limit for data collection, variable compensation for collected data based on time, variable compensation for collected data based on user reputation, variable compensation for collected data based on geographic location, and data limit for collected data. 
     
     
         19 . The computing system of  claim 16 , wherein evaluating the received real-world data to determine if a corrective action is needed with regards to the display or presentation of the product or service further comprises determining if the product or service is priced correctly, determining if the product or service is displayed correctly, or determining if the product or service is presented with the correct information. 
     
     
         20 . The computing system of  claim 16 , further comprising using a user rating to identify one or more users who are qualified to act as an agent for purposes of implementing the corrective action.