SBIR Phase I: Smart Avatars: Mining Social Networks through Avatar Customization

This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project will establish the technical and practical feasibility of a Smart Avatar adaptive search system for mining social networks based on the choices the users make while customizing online avatars. The intellectual merits of this research are in defining, developing, and evaluating an adaptive search system that uses genetic algorithms to improve a user's ability to grow their social network. Ingeeni proposes to create better tools for defining online identities and establishing social groups, based on the insight that people's personalization of their avatars can be used to help them find other compatible people. Ingeeni will build a prototype and verify it within the CreaturePark.com online character portal created by the company. The results of the Smart Avatar search will be compared with sets of search matches generated randomly, and the data will be used to conclude whether the Smart Avatar system improves the user's willingness and ability to engage in the online community by exploring and extending their networks of friends. The broader impacts of the Smart Avatar adaptive search system are scientific, economic, and educational. 800,000,000 interconnected user accounts are estimated to exist among the approximately 200 major social network websites today. The Smart Avatar research project aims to shed light on the problem of effectively mining such vast data sets and making them accessible to the target audience. This project has a potential of attracting adoption by the teen demographic and thus creating a major economic opportunity because it aims to provide tools for improving two of the key elements in teen life: defining social categories and negotiating identity and status.