SBIR Phase II: An Analogous Search Engine to Accelerate Innovation

这个SBIR第二阶段项目正在开发一个新的软件平台，用于进行类似搜索，超越关键字搜索，支持科学、工程和法律领域的创新。我们正在申请专利的技术是基于这样的观察，即高达90%的新创新实际上是对现有解决方案的改编。这项研究解决的挑战是如何找到这些可适应的、现有的解决方案，这些解决方案分布在许多不同的研究领域，并使用截然不同的术语进行描述。这些努力将大大增加对无数工程问题的新的、创新的解决方案的发现。最终的结果将是许多可以极大地改善美国人的新发明？以不可预见的方式生活，创造新的就业机会和税收收入的潜力。这些努力还将使知识产权律师受益，帮助保护科学和工程各个领域的这些新发明。该项目支持国家科学基金会支持所有科学和工程基础领域的使命。拟议的研究将进一步开发类比搜索器，这是一个进行类比搜索以促进创新的新型软件平台。这项技术是基于这样的观察，即高达90%的新创新实际上是对现有解决方案的改编。这项技术使工程师和科学家能够超越关键字(字面)搜索，转向类似(语义)搜索，从其他学科找到相关的、适应性强的解决方案。类比搜索依赖于语法动词名词短语形式，它描述了解决问题所需的基本功能(例如，减少脑震荡)。然后，使用同义词、关键语义连接和专有分类将这种语法形式转换为一组相关的搜索短语。与关键字搜索相比，结果搜索输出包含对手头问题的更相关、更具适应性的解决方案。要使用的目标和方法包括：纳入一个独特的问题可视化过程；为类比搜索器的搜索能力增加更多的数据源；使类比搜索器能够基于多个动词名词短语组合进行搜索；开发新的方法来组织结果并确定优先顺序；以及开始确定衡量标准，以将类比搜索器的结果与其他搜索引擎进行比较。

This SBIR Phase II project is developing a novel software platform for conducting analogous search that moves beyond keyword search to support innovation in the fields of science, engineering, and legal. Our patent pending technology is based on the observation that as high as 90% of new innovations are really adaptations of existing solutions. The challenge addressed by this research is how to find these adaptable, existing solutions that are spread across many different fields of study and are described using vastly different jargon. These efforts will greatly increase the discovery of new, innovative solutions to a myriad of engineering problems. The end result will be many new inventions that could greatly improve Americans? lives in unforeseen ways, the potential to produce new jobs and tax revenues. These efforts also will benefit Intellectual Property attorneys to help protect these new inventions in all fields of science and engineering. This project supports the National Science Foundation's mission to support all fundamental fields of science and engineering. The proposed research will further develop Analogy Finder, a novel software platform for conducting analogous search to enhance innovation. The technology is based on the observation that as much as 90% of new innovations are really adaptations of existing solutions. The technology enables engineers and scientists to move beyond keyword (literal) search to analogous (semantic) search to find relevant, adaptable solutions from other disciplines. Analogous search relies on the grammatical verb noun-phrase form, which describes the essential function needed to solve the problem (e.g., reduce concussions). This grammatical form is then transformed into a set of related search phrases using synonyms, key semantic connections, and a proprietary taxonomy. The resulting search output contains more relevant, adaptable solutions to the problem at hand when compared to keyword search. The objectives and methods to be used include: incorporate a unique problem visualization process; add more data sources to Analogy Finder's search capabilities; enable Analogy Finder to search based on multiple verb noun-phrase combinations; develop new ways to organize and prioritize results; and begin identifying metrics to compare Analogy Finder's results with other search engines.