Method for matching people

Abstract

It is provided a method of matching pairs of persons. The method includes receiving from the persons personal opinions on other persons, and based on a collaborative filtering algorithm, calculating from the personal opinions a first estimated opinion of a first person on a second person and a second estimated opinion of the second person on the first person. The method also includes matching the two persons in accordance with the estimated opinions and connecting them for a predetermined time duration. The first estimated opinions may be the estimated probability that the first person wants to be matched to the second person. The matching of the two persons is done in accordance with the product of the probabilities. Matching order is determined by a difference between a highest and a second highest product of a person in two different pairs.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method of matching one or more pairs of persons out of four or more persons, the method comprising:
 a. receiving from the four or more persons three or more personal opinions, each personal opinion being an opinion of a certain person on another person of said four or more persons, such that at least one personal opinion of a first person on a second person being absent;   b. based on at least a collaborative filtering algorithm, calculating from the personal opinions at least a first estimated opinion of a first person on a second person, said collaborative filtering algorithm being a method of estimating an estimated opinion of a specific person on a certain object based on;
 (i) a first group of opinions comprising opinions of said specific person on objects other than said certain object; and 
 (ii) a second group of opinions comprising opinions of persons other than said specific person on said certain object and some of the objects other than said certain object; 
   and   c. matching said first person and said second person in accordance with the estimated opinion of said first person on said second person and a personal opinion or an estimated opinion of said second person on said first person.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising connecting the first person and the second person. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein said connecting is limited to a predetermined time duration. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein said connecting is done using a communications channel selected from a group of channels consisting of text chat over internet protocol, voice over internet protocol, video over internet protocol, and electronic mail. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein subsequent to the step of:
 connecting the first person and the second person,   the method further comprising the step of receiving a first personal opinion of the first person on the second person and a second personal opinion of the second person on the first person.   
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 5 , further comprising providing mutual communication details to said first person and to said second person in accordance with said first personal opinion and said second personal opinion. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 6 , wherein said communication details are selected from a group consisting of: electronic mail address, phone number, instant messaging address and physical address. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the method includes estimating a probability that the first person wants to be matched to the second person, and a probability that the second person wants to be matched to the first person. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 8  wherein the matching of said first person and said second person is done in accordance with the result of a multiplication of the probabilities. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 9  wherein order of matching is determined in accordance with a difference between a highest multiplication result of a person in a pair with any other person and the second highest multiplication result said person has in a different pair. 
     
     
         11 . A program storage device readable by a computerized apparatus, tangibly embodying a program of instructions executable by the computerized apparatus to perform the method of  claim 1 . 
     
     
         12 . A server connected to a wide area network, for matching one or more pairs of persons out of four or more persons, the persons communicating with the server using the wide area network, the server comprising:
 a computer;   wherein the computer is operated:   (a) to receive from the four or more persons three or more personal opinions, each personal opinion being an opinion of a certain person on another person of said four or more persons, such that at least one personal opinion of a first person on a second person being absent;   (b) to calculate from the personal opinions at least a first estimated opinion of said first person on said second person, based on at least a collaborative filtering algorithm, said collaborative filtering algorithm being a method of estimating an estimated opinion of a specific person on a certain object based on;
 (i) a first group of opinions comprising opinions of said specific person on objects other than said certain object; and 
 (ii) a second group of opinions comprising opinions of persons other than said specific person on said certain object and some of the objects other than said certain object; 
   and   (c) to match said first person and said second person in accordance with the estimated opinion of said first person on said second person and the personal or estimated opinion of said second person on said first person.   
     
     
       13. A method of matching one or more pairs of persons out of a group of persons to be matched including at least four persons, the method comprising:
 a. receiving from the at least four persons three or more personal opinions, each personal opinion being an opinion of a certain person on another person of the at least four persons, such that at least one personal opinion of a first person on a second person of the at least four persons is absent;   b. based on at least a collaborative filtering algorithm, calculating from the three or more personal opinions at least a first estimated opinion of the first person on the second person, the first estimated opinion being a likelihood that the first person will have a positive opinion on the second person, said collaborative filtering algorithm being a method of estimating an estimated opinion of a specific person on a certain object based on:
 (i) a first group of opinions comprising opinions of said specific person on objects other than said specific object, and 
 (ii) a second group of opinions comprising opinions of persons other than said specific person on said certain object and some of the objects other than said certain object; and 
   c. facilitating an increase in a number of successful matches of persons from the group of persons to be matched by at least:
 (i) matching said first person and said second person in accordance with the first estimated opinion of said first person on said second person and a personal opinion or an estimated opinion of said second person on said first person, each successful match being a one-to-one match that has or is predicted to have a high likelihood of mutual positive opinion between persons in each successful match; and 
 (ii) removing two matched users who are included in a successful match from the group of persons to be matched and making one or more additional successful matches from the group of persons to be matched until it is determined that there are no additional successful matches to be found in the group of persons to be matched.  
   
     
     
       14. The method of  claim 13  further comprising connecting the first person and second person.  
     
     
       15. The method of  claim 14 , wherein said connecting is limited to a predetermined time duration.  
     
     
       16. The method of  claim 14 , wherein said connecting is done using a communications channel selected from a group of channels consisting of text chat over internet protocol, voice over internet protocol, video over internet protocol, and electronic mail.  
     
     
       17. The method of  claim 14 , wherein subsequent to connecting the first person and the second person, the method further comprising receiving a first personal opinion of the first person on the second person and a second personal opinion of the second person on the first person.  
     
     
       18. The method of  claim 17 , further comprising providing mutual communication details to said first person and to said second person in accordance with said first personal opinion and said second personal opinion.  
     
     
       19. The method of  claim 18 , wherein said communication details are selected from the group consisting of: electronic mail address, phone number, instant messaging address and physical address.  
     
     
       20. The method of  claim 13 , wherein said first estimated opinion is an estimated probability that the first person wants to be matched to the second person, and said second estimated opinion is the estimated probability that the second person wants to be matched to the first person.  
     
     
       21. The method of  claim 20 , wherein the matching of said first person and said second person is done in accordance with a result of one or more multiplications of said probabilities.  
     
     
       22. The method of  claim 21 , wherein order of matching is determined in accordance with a difference between a highest multiplication result of a person in a pair with any other person and a second highest multiplication result said person has in a different pair.  
     
     
       23. A program storage device readable by a computerized apparatus, tangibly embodying a program of instructions executable by the computerized apparatus to perform the method of  claim 13 .  
     
     
       24. A server connected to a wide area network, for matching one or more pairs of persons out of a group of persons, the group of persons comprising at least four persons, the persons communicating with the server using the wide area network, the server comprising:
 a computer;   wherein the computer is operated:
 (a) to divide the group of persons to be matched into two or more smaller groups, each of the two or more smaller groups comprising four persons; and 
 (b) for each of the two or more smaller groups, to perform the following:
 receive from the four persons three or more personal opinions, each personal opinion being an opinion of a certain person on another person of said four persons, such that at least one personal opinion of a first person on a second person is absent; 
 to calculate from the personal opinions at least a first estimated opinion of said first person on said second person, based on at least a collaborative filtering algorithm, said collaborative filtering algorithm being a method of estimating an estimated opinion of a specific person on a certain object based on:
 (i) a first group of opinions comprising opinions of said specific person on objects other than said certain object, and 
 (ii) a second group of opinions comprising opinions of persons other than said specific person on said certain object and some of the objects other than said certain object; and 
 
 to match said first person and said second person in accordance with the first estimated opinion of said first person on said second person and a personal opinion or an estimated opinion of said second person on said first person, 
 wherein a processing time for matching pairs of persons for the two or more smaller groups is less than a comparative processing time required for matching the pairs of persons for the group of persons to be matched without first dividing the group of persons into the two or more smaller groups.  
 
   
     
     
       25. The server of  claim 24 , wherein dividing the group of persons to be matched into the two or more smaller groups includes putting at least one person of the group of persons into two or more different smaller groups to be processed separately.  
     
     
       26. The server of  claim 24 , wherein the dividing the group of persons into the smaller groups is based on age such that the at least one smaller group comprises one or more persons of similar age.  
     
     
       27. The server of  claim 24 , wherein the dividing the group of persons into the smaller groups is based on location such that the at least one smaller group comprises one or more persons of similar location.  
     
     
       28. A method implemented by a server connected to a wide area network, for matching one or more pairs of persons out of a group of persons, the group of persons comprising four persons, the persons communicating with the server using the wide area network, the method comprising the server performing the following:
 (a) dividing the group of persons to be matched into two or more smaller groups, each of the two or more smaller groups comprising four persons; and   (b) for at least one of the two or more smaller groups, performing the following:
 receiving from the four persons three or more personal opinions, each personal opinion being an opinion of a certain person on another person of said four persons, such that at least one personal opinion of a first person on a second person is absent; 
 calculating from the personal opinions at least a first estimated opinion of said first person on said second person, based on at least a collaborative filtering algorithm, said collaborative filtering algorithm being a method of estimating an estimated opinion of a specific person on a certain object based on:
 (i) a first group of opinions comprising opinions of said specific person on objects other than said certain object, and 
 (ii) a second group of opinions comprising opinions of persons other than said specific person on said certain object and some of the objects other than said certain object; and 
 
 matching said first person and said second person in accordance with the first estimated opinion of said first person on said second person and a personal opinion or an estimated opinion of said second person on said first person, 
   wherein a processing time for matching pairs of persons for the two or more smaller groups is less than a comparative processing time required for matching the pairs of persons for the group of persons to be matched without first dividing the group of persons into the two or more smaller groups.    
     
     
       29. The method of  claim 28 , wherein dividing the group of persons to be matched into the two or more smaller includes putting at least one person of the group of persons into two or more different smaller groups to be processed separately.  
     
     
       30. The method of  claim 28 , wherein the dividing the group of persons into the smaller groups is based on age such that the at least one smaller group comprises one or more persons of similar age.  
     
     
       31. The method of  claim 28 , wherein the dividing the group of persons into the smaller groups is based on location such that the at least one smaller group comprises one or more persons of similar location.  
     
     
       32. The method of  claim 13 , wherein said matching is at least partially based on a determination that said first person and said second person have expressed an interest in at least one of: a romantic relationship, a non-romantic social relationship, or a business relationship.