Attention Token Digital Asset Rewards

Abstract

The Attention Application includes a digital asset wallet. The Attention Application can estimate the attention a user has paid to media content created by publishers, advertisements sent by advertisers, etc. The Attention Application can pay publishers an amount of digital asset Attention Tokens based on the attention the user has paid, or receive digital asset payments if the user has paid enough attention to a paying advertiser. Users of the Attention Application can tip Attention Tokens to content producers, including third-party content creation accounts on the media platform.

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] This application relates to digital asset reward payments in attention applications such as web browsers.

[0002] This application is a PCT application claiming priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Applications Nos. 62 / 683,000, 62 / 683,001, and 62 / 683,012, entitled "Attention Metrics for Attention Applications," "User Classification Privacy for Attention Applications," and "Attention Token Digital Asset Rewards," respectively, all of which were filed on June 10, 2018, and are incorporated herein by reference. [Background technology]

[0003] Attention applications present media content to users. Media content can include text, websites, audio, video, and the like, and attention applications can run on computer hardware such as smartphones, tablets, gaming systems, and desktop computers. When users consume media content through attention applications, particularly when browsing the World Wide Web in a browser, they are monitored by entities other than the media content publisher. For example, trackers may follow users around the web and collect aspects of their browsing history and patterns unrelated to the media content they are viewing or searching for. Media content publishers may decide to purchase user classification profiles from trackers to improve advertising performance. This mechanism directs a large portion of the system's revenue to trackers and advertisers, away from content publishers and users. User privacy is violated by trackers and other techniques, such as fingerprinting, and intrusive (and sometimes fraudulent) advertising can detract from the user's experience. Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] Therefore, there is a need for Attention Application Digital Asset Rewards to pay content producers for media content and to pay users of Attention Applications for viewing advertisements. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0005] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a diagram of attention token reward payments between attention applications, media content creators, and other participants in the system. [Figure 2] Figure 2 is a diagram of automated digital asset attention token rewards. [Figure 3] Figure 3 is a diagram of the digital asset attention token reward cycle. [Figure 4] Figure 4 is an illustration of digital asset attention token rewards for third-party content creation platform accounts on the media platform. [Figure 5] FIG. 5 is an illustration of a microblogger feed with a digital asset attention token reward button for third-party content posts. [Figure 6] FIG. 6 is a diagram of a screen capture of a digital asset Attention Token chip on a media platform where third-party content is posted. [Figure 7] FIG. 7 is a diagram of a streaming video platform with third party content postings associated with comments and attention token reward buttons. [Figure 8] FIG. 8 is a diagram of an online forum with a third-party content post and associated attention token reward button. [Figure 9]Figure 9 is a diagram of the Attention Token Rewards Dashboard on the Attention Application. [Figure 10] FIG. 10 is a diagram of an Attention Application receiving Attention Tokens from the User Growth Pool (UGP). [Figure 11] FIG. 11 is a block diagram of an attention token reward system. [Figure 12] Figure 12 shows the workflow for generating attention token rewards. [Figure 13] FIG. 13 is a flowchart of a method for attention token rewards. [Figure 14] FIG. 14 is a flowchart of a method for handling attention token rewards among participants in the attention economy. [Figure 15] FIG. 15 is a system diagram of a device that may be useful in implementing the disclosures herein.

[0006] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that elements in the figures are illustrated for simplicity and clarity and have not necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elements in the figures may be exaggerated relative to other elements to help understand embodiments of the present invention.

[0007] Components of the apparatus and methods are represented, where appropriate, by conventional symbols in the drawings, and only specific details relevant to understanding the embodiments of the invention are shown so as to be readily apparent to those skilled in the art having the benefit of the description herein and not to obscure the disclosure in detail. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0008] Users of attention-intensive applications, especially web browsers, tend to divulge personal information when consuming media content. Web browsing, in particular, exposes users to scrutiny from trackers, which compile user classifications and interest profiles and sell them to advertisers and media publishers. Users are often unaware that trackers are following them across the web, even on media publishing sites that users believe are unaffiliated with trackers. Certain information that users should keep private, including query logs, browsing history, sharing activity, and purchase history, is exposed to anonymous strangers. Even when a user requests a website directly without using a search engine, DNS queries can reveal that the website was visited without the user's permission. Because even the most ubiquitous trackers cannot see all of a user's activities, user experiences can be unpleasant, not only due to targeted advertising but also due to the delivery of poorly targeted ads. Some websites, such as news sites, typically host dozens of trackers, which slow page load times and occupy users' bandwidth. This can be especially costly on mobile networks.

[0009] In this disclosure, the term "digital asset" is intended to include scarce, transferable assets, particularly on a blockchain. Some blockchains (e.g., the Ethereum network) allow for the execution of contracts that can be used to generate and manage the supply of digital assets, commonly referred to as "tokens." Other blockchains may have other systems for determining the supply of digital assets (e.g., diminishing coin emission schedules). The term "transfer" of a digital asset refers to the broadcast of a cryptographically signed transaction on the blockchain network, updating the shared ledger and transferring a payment of the digital asset from an address controlled by the payer to an address controlled by the payee. In this specification, "transfer" may also refer to the transfer of ownership of the digital asset from the payer to the payee by a party who controls the private cryptographic keys necessary to use or transfer the digital asset, without necessarily reviewing the shared ledger of the transaction. The terms "digital attention token" and "attention token" are used interchangeably herein.

[0010] Attention tokens are a type of digital asset that is considered to have value related to the attention of human users of an attention application. A system of incentives can encourage participants (e.g., advertisers, publishers, and consumers) to acquire attention tokens and make reward payments via attention tokens. In one embodiment, an attention token generation event generates a supply of attention tokens that can be allocated among various recipients. One of the token recipients can be a User Growth Pool (UGP), which holds attention tokens on behalf of prospective users and distributes attention token grants as part of the new user onboarding process.

[0011] FIG. 1 illustrates an attention token reward disbursement diagram between the attention application 102, the onboard media content creator 110, and other participants in the system 100. The attention token generation event 106 can create a supply of attention tokens for use in the system 100. If the system 100 assigns a monetary value to attention tokens, a level of scarcity of new attention tokens may be desirable. Thus, the attention token generation event 106 can create only a limited supply of attention tokens. The limited supply may be a one-time generation event, an ongoing event where new attention tokens are generated according to a schedule, and / or attention tokens are generated on demand. A dedicated token generation participant (not shown in FIG. 1) can control the supply of attention tokens. In other embodiments, another participant in the system 100 (such as the attention concierge 112) can control the attention token supply. In some embodiments, the UGP 108 receives a number of tokens to be paid after the initial token creation event to prospective participants in the system 100.

[0012] The attention application 102 includes a digital asset wallet for holding attention tokens. There are multiple ways that a digital asset wallet can hold attention tokens. In one embodiment, the digital asset wallet is initialized with a process that includes generating a restoration seed. One type of restoration seed is a list of words selected from a set of words (e.g., in the case of Bitcoin, a BIP39 restoration seed) that can deterministically generate a payment address (public key or a value derived therefrom) and a spending key (private key) for any number of digital assets, including attention tokens and / or the base digital asset needed to interact with the attention tokens (e.g., ether digital assets, if the attention tokens can be used by interacting with smart contracts on the Ethereum network).

[0013] If a digital asset wallet has a payment address or set of payment addresses, these addresses can be used to uniquely identify the wallet. Blockchains typically contain a large enough address space that no two users will generate the same payment address, assuming sufficient entropy is available for wallet address generation. A recovery seed can be used to generate sets of payment addresses on multiple blockchains. Because the likelihood of address collisions is low or nonexistent, any payment address can be used to uniquely identify an application to other participants in the system 100. Identification in this manner has privacy benefits because it does not require the user 104 to provide potentially personally-identifying information (e.g., legal name, username, phone number, email address, etc.) that could reveal the user's true identity or be used to track the user 104, or to link the user's actions within the system 100 to other activities (e.g., connecting the user's 104 web browsing history to purchase history). Thus, the user 104 participates in the system 100 anonymously, in a sense. Avoiding the need to enter potentially identifiable information provides a level of privacy and security when browsing the web that is not typically available to most users, especially where financial transactions are involved.

[0014] As a user 104 consumes media content with the attention application 102, the attention application can collect indications of attention directed by the user 104 to the particular media content consumed with the attention application 102. Indications of attention may be collected automatically (e.g., measuring what percentage of the user's total time spent on a particular website to earn a proportional amount of a particular automatic donation) and / or via a signal from the user (e.g., clicking a tip button for an attention token reward may earn a one-time tip reward and / or a recurring tip reward).

[0015] Based on the collected user attention indicators, the digital asset wallet can make a reward payment in attention tokens to the onboard content creators 110. In this disclosure, "onboarded" refers to content creators who have indicated a willingness or consent to accept attention tokens. A list of onboard content creators may be maintained by a third party (e.g., the attention concierge 112) and sent to the attention application 102 for comparison with a list of websites visited by users 104 who have received attention indicators. Regardless of whether the reward payment is an automatic payment or a tip payment, the digital asset wallet executes the transfer of attention tokens to the onboard content creators 110. If the digital asset wallet is a traditional asset wallet with spending capabilities (e.g., the ability to sign blockchain transactions using a private key corresponding to a public key that has funds on the shared ledger), the digital asset wallet can initiate the transfer of funds to the onboard content creators 110 over the blockchain network, provided the onboard content creators 110 have published a payment address.

[0016] In other embodiments, the digital asset wallet on the attention application 102 does not sign reward payment transactions with the private key itself. Instead, the attention tokens are held on behalf of the user 104 by a third party, such as the payment processor 114. The attention application 102 can display payment addresses to the user 104 where the private spending keys are actually held not by the attention application 102 but by the payment processor 114. When digital asset funds are sent to these payment addresses, the payment processor 114 credits the balance to the attention application 102. Then, when the attention application 102 wants to make a payment for the attention tokens to the onboard content creator 110, the attention application 102 can simply sign a message with the private key to the payment processor 114 requesting the funds transfer. The payment processor 114 can then transfer the funds internally in its own private ledger to an account associated with the onboard content creator 110, and the content creator 110 can then have the payment processor 114 withdraw the funds directly as needed.

[0017] The Attention Concierge 112 performs functions in the system 100 by communicating with the Attention Application 102. One type of communication with the Attention Application 102 is to send a list of onboard content creators 110 so that the Attention Application knows whether media content to which a user 104 has drawn attention is eligible for attention token reward payments. The Attention Concierge 112 can receive and authenticate signals from non-onboard content creators 116 who wish to promote and onboard the system 100.

[0018] Another type of interaction between the attention concierge 112 and the attention application 102 is receiving a list of websites and / or media content creators to which the user 104 has directed their attention. For content creators that are not onboard (e.g., have not indicated a willingness to accept attention tokens), the concierge 112 can invite the non-onboard content creator 116 to join and participate in the system 100. The attention concierge 112 can aggregate attention indications from several attention applications and thus provide the non-onboard content creator with an estimate of the amount of attention tokens potentially available to them if they decide to join the system 100.

[0019] Another type of interaction between the Attention Concierge 112 and the Attention Application 102 is managing the release of funds from UGP. In one embodiment, the Attention Concierge 112 holds signing keys to one or more addresses (e.g., whitelisted addresses in an Ethereum smart contract) where Attention Tokens can be minted and / or written. In other embodiments, the supply of Attention Tokens is managed in other ways (e.g., a predetermined issuance schedule). The Attention Concierge 112 can disburse UGP funds based on selected criteria. Because the Attention Application is uniquely identified by the digital asset wallet address and not other identifying information about the user 104, the Attention Concierge 112 can disburse UGP funds without compromising the privacy of the user 104, as is the case with typical financial or asset transactions.

[0020] Payment of UGP funds, such as reward payments to onboard content creators 110, can be direct (e.g., confirmed blockchain transactions) and / or indirect via the payment processor 114. In the case of UGP funds deposited with the payment processor 114 and credited to the digital asset wallet of the attention application 102, these funds can be transferred to the onboard content creators 110 via an internal transfer at the payment processor, thus avoiding potential issues related to blockchain network congestion, transaction fees, and other costs of transacting on-chain. Payment of UGP funds can be ad hoc to users 104 of the attention application 102 to provide proof of humanity (e.g., completing a challenge designed to detect non-human attempts to receive attention tokens).

[0021] When the Attention Concierge 112 receives the list of non-onboard content creators 116 from the Attention Application, the Attention Concierge 112 can send the non-onboard content creators an invitation message to onboard to the system 100 and “claim” attention tokens. The invitation message may include an estimate by the Attention Concierge 112 of the value of attention tokens that may be requested by the non-onboard content creators 116. On the other hand, revealing the list of visited content creators to the Attention Concierge 112 would be detrimental to the overall privacy of the user 104. The user 104 may not want to reveal to anyone, whether inside or outside the system 100, information regarding which media content creators have been directed to their attention by the Attention Application 102. Therefore, invitation messages from the Attention Concierge 112 to the non-onboard content creators may not be generated.

[0022] Periodically (e.g., monthly), the Attention Application performs transfers of digital assets from the Attention Application wallet to publishers and advertisers according to the percentage of total attention captured by each advertiser / publisher. In some embodiments, users of the Attention Application decide on a fixed periodic (e.g., monthly) transfer amount that is distributed among content producers according to the attention directed. A minimum amount of attention may be required to trigger the periodic transfer of digital assets.

[0023] Figure 2 is a diagram 200 of automatic attention token digital asset rewards. In the example shown in Figure 2, an attention application 202 includes a digital asset wallet that holds attention tokens. The attention application 202 measures indications of attention when presenting media content to a user 204 to measure an attention ratio 210. In the embodiment shown in Figure 2, attention token reward payments are automatically made ("autocontribute") to on-board content producers 206 according to the attention ratio 210. In an embodiment, reward payments are made periodically (e.g., monthly) as autocontributes to on-board content producers 206.

[0024] Donations made through the system 200 respect the privacy of users of the attention application 202 in several ways: Publishers cannot associate visits to the publisher with donations; the attention application can only match donations with publisher visits on an aggregate basis, so that individual visits are not tied to visits to specific websites.

[0025] Under typical web browsing workloads, the attention application 202 is likely to display a long list of websites and domains to the user 204 during the period between automatic donations of attention token reward payments to onboarded content producers 206. Therefore, content creators who receive attention from the user 204 may be assigned what amounts to a "dust" level of tokens. If a minimum automatic donation attention token reward payment threshold is set, a few of the most popular sites may dominate donations. This is problematic for onboarding new, especially small, niche content producers. Therefore, donation systems other than strictly proportional donations (e.g., if site A has twice as many publisher views as site B for a given donation, site A will receive twice as many donations as site B) may be desirable.

[0026] One way to determine contributions is through the use of "statistical voting." Statistical voting involves the Attention Application 202 making a contribution and associating it with a unique browsing ID. The browsing ID is used to create credentials with a browsing registrar, giving the ID of one or more voting registrars that allow the browsing ID to vote. Each vote includes a single issuer ID.

[0027] Similar to fractional voting, the client calculates the relative weight of each site's publisher views. Then, for each voting registrar it is authorized to use, the Attention Application 202 selects publisher identities using an unpredictable but weighted algorithm. For example, if site A has twice as many publisher views as site B for a particular post, it will not necessarily receive twice as many contributions.

[0028] To perform statistical voting, the registrar returns its public key, allowing the Attention Application 202 to construct a credential request. The registrar then returns intermediate results, allowing the client to create a string credential representing its identity, along with the identity of one or more voting surveyors. The return of public keys and intermediate results can occur on a regular cycle, such as every 30 days.

[0029] The surveyor then returns intermediate results, allowing the attention application 202 to construct an authentication credential, which is also anonymous. The attention application 202 then generates an authorization token that proves that the report is from an authorized user without providing information about the viewing ID. If successful, the surveyor adds a vote for the publisher to the associated contributing surveyor. Anonymous credential types of the type disclosed in U.S. Patent Application No. 16 / 435,808 (filed June 10, 2019, entitled "Attention Metrics for Attention Applications," the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference) may be used as an example.

[0030] 3 is a diagram of a digital asset attention token reward cycle 300. Users of an attention application 302 acquire attention tokens 306 for storage in the attention application's 302 digital asset wallet. The users reward on-board content producers 308 with attention tokens 306 in exchange for generating content that captures the user's 304 attention, as measured by the attention application 302. If the attention tokens are deemed valuable and the content producers 308 do not wish to use them directly, the attention tokens can be sold to advertisers 310, thus generating attention revenue for the on-board content producers 308.

[0031] In embodiments, the only type of ad allowed in the catalog of ads is a "privacy-preserving ad." Privacy-preserving ads protect the privacy of users of attention applications and often improve performance by reducing content load times. Privacy-preserving ads prevent access to personally identifiable information (e.g., a user's real name, address, email, payment and / or purchase history, browser query logs, browser history, contact list, displayed ads, the advertising market segment into which the user falls, previously used cryptocurrency wallet addresses, credit card numbers, information protected by the EU General Data Protection Regulation, etc.).

[0032] Advertisers 310 may spend attention tokens 306 by placing advertisements with content producers (e.g., via a catalog of advertisements sent to the attention application 302 for local matching). In an embodiment, attention tokens 306 are allocated between content producers 312 and users 304 as a reward for the user's 304 attention.

[0033] FIG. 4 is a diagram 400 of digital asset attention token rewards for third-party content creation platform accounts on a media platform. The media platform may include, for example, a microblogging platform 402, where third parties create accounts and provide content in the form of posts that other users can subscribe to. The third parties are independent of the platform itself, except for posting content using accounts on the platform. If the attention application does not distinguish between third-party accounts that post content and the microblogging platform 402 itself, attention token rewards may not be paid to the owners of the third-party accounts who are the original creators of the content. Thus, the attention application 402 can treat the third-party accounts as individual content publishers and, therefore, as attention token recipients.

[0034] Embodiments of the system 400 include crediting the third party with attention based on dwell time on the homepage or feed of the third-party content generation platform account. Other embodiments include paying a reward based on the user's 404 interaction with the third-party content (e.g., liking a post, sharing a post, commenting on a post, etc.). Rewards may also depend on other factors, such as the likelihood of a user interacting with a particular third-party content creation account or an indication that the third-party account is a favorite of the user 404 (e.g., a high rate of user interaction with content created by the third-party account on the platform). In some embodiments, a tip button can be used to credit a one-time or recurring tip to the third-party content creation platform.

[0035] Streaming platform 408 is another example of a third-party content creation platform. Other examples include social media networking sites, music and audio content sites, video sites, online forums, blogs, and comment sections on newspaper and magazine sites. As with microblogger platform 402, digital asset rewards flow to the third-party account holders themselves, rather than the streaming platform, because attention is directed to the content created by the third parties, rather than the platform 408 itself.

[0036] 5 is a diagram 500 of a microblogger feed with digital asset attention token reward buttons for third-party content posts. Various third-party content posts 504 (e.g., microblog posts) are each associated with several action buttons (e.g., reply, reblog, like, and tip 506) that are displayed in an attention application 502. The third-party content is confined to an area 504 of the feed 500. Within the area 504 is a tip button 506. Clicking the tip button 506 causes a digital asset wallet in the attention application 502 to reward the account that posted the content 504 with digital asset tokens, rather than the operator of the microblog platform.

[0037] Other buttons within the content area 504 can also trigger digital asset reward payments. For example, a user of the attention application 502 can select a preference for the amount of digital asset reward payouts to the account that created the content in area 504 for all blog and / or like buttons. In some embodiments, a tip button rewards a third-party content creator by adding the third-party content creator to a list of content creators who share reward payments (e.g., periodic reward payments allocated according to the proportion of tips compared to all tips made by users of the attention application 502 during a reward period, according to a “statistical voting” scheme, a fixed amount per tip, etc.). Clicking on a third-party user account name to request a feed consisting only of content posted by the third-party account can also be an action that is credited with a reward allocation to the third-party content creator.

[0038] 6 is an illustration of a digital asset attention token tipping screen 600 on a media platform where third-party content is hosted. Window 604 is an example of a tip amount selection for a third-party content creator, which can be a one-time tip or a recurring tip based on the user's selection of the attention application 602.

[0039] FIG. 7 is a diagram 700 of a streaming video platform with a third-party content post having a comment 708 and an attention token reward button 704 associated therewith. The streaming video platform consists of content added by third-party account holders, such as the content in area 706 of FIG. 7. There is a button associated with the content area 706 that includes a tip button 704. When a user of the attention application 702 clicks on the tip button 704, a digital asset reward tip is assigned to the third-party content creator. In embodiments, the digital asset reward tip can be a one-time tip, a recurring tip, or the addition of the third-party content creator to a list of content creators with whom they share a periodic reward contribution (e.g., proportionally depending on a "statistical vote," etc.).

[0040] Diagram 700 also includes an area 708 for content submissions from third parties other than the third party that created the content in area 706. Area 708 typically presents a comments section where many participants of the streaming platform can post comments. There are also buttons for interacting with the comments, including a tip button 704 that functions similarly to the tip button 704 associated with area 706.

[0041] FIG. 8 is a diagram of an online forum 800 with a third-party content post 806 and an associated attention token reward button 804. The online forum platform is comprised of content added by third-party account holders, such as the content in area 806 of FIG. 8. There is a button associated with the content area 806, including a tip button 804. Clicking on the tip button 804 by a user of the attention application 802 allocates a digital asset reward tip to the third-party content creator. In embodiments, the digital asset reward tip can be a one-time tip, a recurring tip, or the addition of the third-party content creator to a list of content creators sharing a periodic reward contribution (e.g., proportionally, depending on a "statistical voting" scheme, etc.). The tip button 804 is also available to other third-party content in the form of comments on the content in area 806.

[0042] 9 is a diagram of an Attention Token Rewards Dashboard 900 on the Attention Application. The dashboard includes an advertising section 904 that displays rewards earned by users of the Attention Application 902 by viewing advertisements on the Attention Application 902 (e.g., by viewing privacy-preserving advertisements).

[0043] The automatic donations section 906 displays the recurring monthly donations of 85 attention tokens to the 47 onboard content producers, allocated according to the attention percentage. The attention percentages can be displayed proportionally (e.g., 12% of the user's total attention to onboard content producers earns 12% of the monthly automatic donation reward payout). If it is known where the attention application user directed their attention during the reward payout donation period, the attention percentage can also be calculated in a non-proportional manner to favor smaller content producers and in a manner that reduces the potential privacy violation of tying reward payouts to the attention application user. The tipping section 908 displays the total number of tips made during the period and whether the tips were one-time or recurring.

[0044] 10 is a diagram 1000 of an Attention Application 1002 receiving Attention Tokens from a User Growth Pool (UGP). A UGP message 1004 notifies the user that the Attention Application 1002 is eligible to receive UGP funds (e.g., based on registration of the Attention Application's 1002 digital asset wallet address). The Attention Application 1002 includes a human challenge to test whether the user of the Attention Application 1002 is responding to requests programmatically or whether the user is a real human.

[0045] Another aspect of diagram 1000 is a notification regarding non-onboard content producers 1008. At least a portion of the user's attention may be directed to content producers who have not indicated a willingness to accept attention tokens. Rewards allocated to such non-onboard content creators may be held in the attention application 1002 for a period of time (e.g., 90 days) before being returned to the digital asset-backed wallet for distribution of reward payments to other onboard content producers. Notification 1010 displays the user's tip history in the attention application 1002.

[0046] 11 is a block diagram of an attention token reward system 1100. The system 1100 includes an attention application 1102 with several components for performing the functions described herein. One component of the attention application 1102 is an attention measurement component 1104. The attention measurement includes measuring the attention a user directs to media content displayed in the attention application 1102 and attention metrics for allocating digital asset reward payments accordingly. Digital asset reward payments can be made according to a percentage of the total attention a user directs to onboarded content producers and can be a one-time tip, a recurring tip, or any combination thereof.

[0047] Another component of the attention application 1102 is the attention token collector 1106. Collected attention tokens may receive tokens from external sources into the digital asset wallet. One potential external source is attention tokens obtained by a user and sent to the attention application 1102, such as from an online digital asset exchange. Another potential source of attention tokens for the attention token collector 1106 is payments from UGP. Yet another potential source of attention tokens for the attention token collector 1106 is reward payments for viewing an advertisement with an associated reward.

[0048] Another component of the attention application 1102 is the attention token dispenser 1108. The attention token dispenser 1108 can distribute attention tokens from the digital asset wallet 1110 to content creators via automatic payments, tipping, and / or any combination thereof. The attention token dispenser can be “triggered” to make digital asset reward payments by another party, such as an attention manager that monitors the success of advertising campaigns and the status of attention credited to the attention application 1102. The digital asset wallet 1110 can be used to generate payment addresses (e.g., blockchain payment addresses) specific to the attention application 1102, sign messages attesting to attention originating from the attention application 1102, and sign transactions that move digital assets from the attention application 1102 (e.g., broadcast transactions to the blockchain network for the digital asset to be sent from a sender address to a recipient address).

[0049] 12 illustrates a workflow 1200 for awarding attention tokens to onboard content creators. After start block 1202, the Attention Application designates attention tokens from a digital asset wallet for payment to a list of one or more media content creators. In embodiments, the list of one or more media content creators is based on the attention that users of the Attention Application have directed to media content from the one or more media content creators.

[0050] At block 1206, workflow 1200 determines whether each media content creator on the list is authenticated (also referred to herein as being onboarded). One way this is verified is by a user of the attention application indicating a willingness to accept attention tokens in exchange for the content they have attracted attention to. If a media content creator on the list is authenticated, the attention application transfers the attention token to the authenticated issuer at 1208, and if there are no more content creators on the list, the workflow returns to step 1204. If the next media content creator on the list is not authenticated at 1206, workflow 1200 proceeds to block 1210. Block 1210 determines whether a retry threshold has been reached. An example retry threshold for paying attention token rewards to a content creator is 90 days from the content creator's initial allocation of tokens. If the retry threshold has not been reached at 1210, workflow 1200 waits a period of time (e.g., a period of time less than the retry threshold) at block 1212 and returns to block 1206. In this way, tokens assigned to non-onboard content creators are recycled to onboard content creators, encouraging more content creators to onboard and avoiding attention tokens being redirected to third parties or entities outside of the attention application 1202.

[0051] 13 is a flowchart of an attention token reward method 1300. A receive operation 1302 receives media content from an issuer at an attention application including an attention token wallet. A display operation 1304 displays the media content by the attention application to a user of the attention application. A collect operation 1306 collects, by the attention application, indications of the user's attention to the media content during an attention session. An attention session may be a periodic timeframe (e.g., every 30 days) during which attention metrics are collected and digital asset reward payments are made by the attention application. An execute operation 1308 executes a transfer of the digital asset reward from the digital asset wallet to the issuer based, at least in part, on the indications of the user's attention.

[0052] 14 is a flowchart of a method 1400 for processing attention token rewards among participants in the attention economy. A receive operation 1402 receives, from an Attention Application with a digital asset wallet for attention tokens, indications of user attention to media content on the Attention Application created by multiple media content publishers. A receive operation 1404 receives an indication of whether each media content creator meets the conditions for willingness to accept attention tokens (e.g., willingness to become a "verified" or "onboard" publisher). An add operation 1406 adds a media content publisher to a list of authenticated publishers if the media content publisher meets the conditions for willingness to accept attention tokens.

[0053] A receive operation 1408 receives a request from the Attention Application for a list of authenticated issuers. The receive operation 1408 may respond to anonymized client requests from the Attention Application to limit the risk of personally identifiable information or user information being associated with the Attention Application. For example, the polling time of the request received by operation 1408 may be modified to anonymize the geographic location of the Attention Application. Other approaches include routing the request through a third party and / or not logging request metadata, such as HTTP header fields or IP addresses. A send operation 1410 sends the list of authenticated issuers to the Attention Application in response to the request.

[0054] FIG. 15 is a system diagram of a device 1500 that may be useful for implementing the disclosures herein. FIG. 15 illustrates an exemplary system (labeled as processing system 1500) that may be useful for implementing the described techniques. Processing system 1500 may be a client device, such as a smart device, a connected device, an Internet of Things (IoT) device, a laptop, a mobile device, a desktop, a tablet, or a server / cloud device. Processing system 1500 includes one or more processors 1502 and memory 1504. Memory 1504 generally includes both volatile memory (e.g., RAM) and non-volatile memory (e.g., flash memory). An operating system 1510 resides in memory 1504 and is executed by processor 1502.

[0055] One or more application program 1512 modules or segments, such as a digital asset wallet 1544 and an attention application 1546, are resident in memory 1504 and / or storage 1520 and executed by the processor 1502. In some embodiments, the digital asset wallet 1544 is stored in read-only memory (ROM) 1514 or write-once-read-many (WORM) memory. Data, such as exogenous event data sources, may be stored in memory 1504 or storage 1520 and may be retrievable by the processor 1502 for use by the digital asset wallet 1544 and the blockchain manager 1546, etc. Storage 1520 may be local to the processing system 1500 or remote, communicatively connected to the processing system 1500, and may include another server. Storage 1520 may store resources requestable by a client device (not shown). Storage 1520 may include secure storage such as one or more platform configuration registers (PCRs) managed by one or more trusted platform modules (TPMs), which may be implemented by a chip or a trusted execution environment (TEE).

[0056] Processing system 1500 includes a power supply 1516 that is powered by one or more batteries or other power sources and provides power to other components of processing system 1500. Power supply 1516 can also be connected to an external power source to disable or recharge an internal battery, or to other power sources.

[0057] The processing system 1500 may include one or more communications transceivers 1530 that may be connected to one or more antennas 1532 to provide a network connection (e.g., a cellular network, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, etc.) to one or more other servers and / or client devices (e.g., mobile devices, desktop computers, laptop computers). The processing system 1500 may further include a network adapter 1536, which is a type of communications device. The processing system 1500 may use the network adapter 1536 and any other type of communications device to establish connections over a wide area network (WAN) or a local area network (LAN). It should be understood that the network connections shown are exemplary, and that other communications devices and means for establishing a communications link between the processing system 1500 and other devices may be used.

[0058] The processing system 1500 may include one or more input devices 1534 (e.g., a keyboard or mouse) to allow a user to input commands and information. The input devices 1534 may further include other types of input, such as multimodal input, voice input, handwriting input, motion detection, facial recognition, physical fingerprints, etc. These and other input devices may be connected to the server by one or more interfaces 1538, such as a serial port interface, a parallel port, a universal serial bus (USB), etc. The processing system 1500 may further include a display 1522, such as a touchscreen display.

[0059] Processing system 1500 may include a variety of tangible processor-readable storage media and intangible processor-readable communication signals, including virtual and / or cloud computing environments. Tangible processor-readable storage may be embodied by any available medium that can be accessed by processing system 1500, including both volatile and nonvolatile storage media, removable and non-removable storage media. Tangible processor-readable storage media do not include intangible communication signals and include volatile and nonvolatile, removable and non-removable storage media implemented in any method or technology for storage of information such as processor-readable instructions, data structures, program modules, or other data. Tangible processor-readable storage media include, but are not limited to, RAM, ROM, EEPROM, flash memory or other memory technology, CD-ROM, digital versatile disk (DVD) or other optical disk storage, magnetic cassettes, magnetic tape, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other tangible medium that can be used to store the desired information and that can be accessed by processing system 1600. In contrast to tangible processor-readable storage media, intangible processor-readable communication signals may embody computer-readable instructions, data structures, program modules, or other data present in a modulated data signal, such as a carrier wave or other signal transmission mechanism. The term "modulated data signal" means a signal that has one or more of its characteristics set or changed in such a manner as to encode information in the signal. By way of non-limiting example, intangible communication signals include signals that pass over wired media, such as a wired network or direct-wired connection, and wireless media, such as acoustic, RF, infrared, and other wireless media.

[0060] One embodiment disclosed herein includes a method of attention token rewards, the method including receiving media content from an issuer at an attention application including an attention token digital asset wallet; displaying the media content by the attention application to a user of the attention application; collecting by the attention application indications of the user's attention to the media content during an attention session; and performing a transfer of digital asset rewards from the digital asset wallet to the issuer based at least in part on the indications of the user's attention.

[0061] In one embodiment of any of the above embodiments, the transfer of the digital asset reward may further include a series of payments to issuers, the amount of each payment in the series of payments being based on the proportion of attention directed by users of the attention application to each issuer.

[0062] In one embodiment of any of the above embodiments, the transfer of the digital asset reward from the digital asset wallet may further include a one-time tip payment to the issuer.

[0063] In one embodiment of any of the above embodiments, further, the transfer of the digital asset reward from the digital asset wallet may be a recurring tip.

[0064] In one embodiment of any of the above embodiments, the publisher may further be a third-party account on the user content media platform.

[0065] In one embodiment of any of the above embodiments, the indication of user attention to the media content may further be social media interaction with the publisher by a user of the attention application.

[0066] In one embodiment of any of the above embodiments, the indication of user attention to the media content may further be a click on a tip button integrated on a post on a social media platform.

[0067] In one embodiment of any of the above embodiments, the amount of the digital asset reward may further depend on the type of social media interaction with the publisher by the user of the attention application.

[0068] In one embodiment of any of the above embodiments, the indication of user attention to the media content may further be dwell time on the media content.

[0069] In one embodiment of any of the above embodiments, the media content may further include a toast notification with a hyperlink, and the indication of user attention may be clicking on the toast notification.

[0070] One embodiment disclosed herein includes a digital asset reward system, the system including an attention application including a digital asset wallet of attention tokens for displaying media content to a user, an attention token dispenser for distributing attention tokens from the digital asset wallet to media content creators, and an attention token collector for receiving attention tokens into the digital asset wallet based at least in part on attention the user directs to media content associated with a digital asset reward.

[0071] In one embodiment of any of the above embodiments, the media content associated with the digital asset reward may further be an advertisement.

[0072] In one embodiment of any of the above embodiments, the attention token dispenser may further automatically distribute tokens to the media content creator according to a proportion of the total attention directed by the user.

[0073] In one embodiment of any of the above embodiments, the attention token dispenser may further return the attention token to the digital asset wallet if the delivery to the media content creator is not successful after the timeout period has elapsed.

[0074] In one embodiment of any of the above embodiments, an attention manager may further trigger the attention token dispenser to distribute attention tokens to the media content creator.

[0075] One embodiment disclosed herein includes a method for managing an attention economy using digital asset attention tokens, the method including receiving, from an attention application having a digital asset wallet for attention tokens, indications of attention by users to media content on the attention application created by media content publishers; receiving an indication of whether each media content creator satisfies a condition for willingness to accept attention tokens; if the media content publisher satisfies a condition for willingness to accept attention tokens, adding the media content publisher to a list of authenticated publishers; receiving a request from the attention application for the list of authenticated publishers; and, in response to the request, sending the list of authenticated publishers to the attention application.

[0076] In one embodiment of any of the above embodiments, the method may further include periodically sending notifications to the plurality of media content publishers indicating available attention tokens if the willingness to accept the conditions of the attention tokens is not met.

[0077] In one embodiment of any of the above embodiments, the periodic sending operation may further terminate upon expiration of a timeout period, and the available attention tokens may be returned to the digital asset wallet of the attention application.

[0078] In one embodiment of any of the above embodiments, the method may further include triggering a payment of attention tokens from a User Growth Pool (UGP) to one or more digital asset wallets on the attention application.

[0079] In one embodiment of any of the above embodiments, the method may further include triggering a return of at least a portion of the attention tokens from the one or more digital asset wallets to the UGP if the attention application does not satisfy a reward condition with respect to at least a portion of the attention tokens.

[0080] In the foregoing specification, particular embodiments have been described. However, those skilled in the art will understand that various modifications and changes can be made without departing from the scope of the invention, as set forth in the following claims. Accordingly, the specification and figures are to be regarded in an illustrative rather than a restrictive sense, and all such modifications are intended to be included within the scope of the present disclosure.

[0081] Benefits, advantages, solutions to problems, and elements that may cause or make more noticeable a benefit, advantage, or solution should not be construed as critical, essential, or essential features or elements of any or all claims. The present invention is defined solely by the appended claims, including any amendments made during the pendency of this application and all equivalents of those claims as issued.

[0082] Furthermore, in this document, relational terms such as first and second, upper and lower, etc., may be used solely to distinguish one entity or act from another, without necessarily requiring or implying an actual relationship or order. Terms such as "comprises," "has," "comprises," etc., or other variations thereof, are intended to imply a non-exclusive inclusion. A process, method, article, or apparatus that includes a list of elements does not include only those elements, but may include other elements not expressly listed or inherent to such process, method, article, or apparatus. Elements followed by "comprises," "has," or "comprises" do not, without further constraints, exclude the presence of additional identical elements in the process, method, article, or apparatus that includes, has, or comprises the element. The terms "a" and "an" are defined herein as one or more, unless otherwise stated. The terms "substantially," "essentially," "approximately," "about," or other forms thereof, are defined as close as would be understood by one of ordinary skill in the art, and in one non-limiting embodiment, these terms are defined as within 10%, within 5%, within 1%, and within 0.5%. As used herein, the term "connected" is defined as coupled, although not necessarily directly, and not necessarily mechanically. A device or structure that is "configured" in a particular way is configured in at least that way, but may also be configured in unrecited ways.

[0083] It will be appreciated that some embodiments may consist of one or more general-purpose or specialized processors (or "processing devices"), such as microprocessors, digital signal processors, customized processors, field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), etc., in combination with specific non-processor circuitry and stored program instructions (including both software and firmware) that control the one or more processors to implement some, most, or all of the functionality of the methods and / or apparatuses described herein. Alternatively, some or all functionality may be implemented by state machines without stored program instructions, or in one or more application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs) in which each function, or some combination of specific functions, is implemented as custom logic. Of course, these two approaches may also be used in combination.

[0084] Furthermore, an embodiment may be embodied as a computer-readable storage medium having computer-readable code stored thereon for programming a computer (e.g., including a processor) to perform the methods described and claimed herein. Examples of such computer-readable storage include, but are not limited to, hard disks, CD-ROMs, optical storage devices, magnetic storage devices, ROMs (read-only memories), PROMs (programmable read-only memories), EPROMs (erasable programmable read-only memories), EEPROMs (electrically erasable programmable read-only memories), and flash memories. Furthermore, it is expected that those skilled in the art will be readily able to generate such software instructions and programs, as well as ICs, with minimal experimentation once guided by the concepts and principles disclosed herein, albeit perhaps with great effort and many design choices motivated, for example, by available time, current technology, and economic considerations.

[0085] The Abstract of the Disclosure is provided to allow the reader to quickly ascertain the nature of the technical disclosure. It is submitted with the understanding that it will not be used to interpret or limit the scope or meaning of the claims. Moreover, in the foregoing Detailed Description, various features are grouped together in various embodiments for the purpose of streamlining the disclosure. This method of disclosure is not to be interpreted as reflecting an intention that the claimed embodiments require more features than are expressly recited in each claim. Rather, as the following claims reflect, inventive subject matter lies in less than all features of a single disclosed embodiment. Accordingly, the following claims are hereby incorporated into the Detailed Description, with each claim standing on its own as separately claimed subject matter. In one aspect, the present disclosure includes the following inventions. (Invention 1) 1. A method for attention token rewards, comprising: receiving media content from publishers in an Attention Application that includes a digital asset wallet for Attention Tokens; displaying, by the attention application, the media content to a user of the attention application; collecting, by the attention application, indications of a user's attention to the media content during an attention session; and and effecting a transfer of digital asset rewards from the digital asset wallet to the issuer based at least in part on the indication of user attention. A method comprising: (Invention 2) The method of invention 1, wherein the transfer of the digital asset reward includes a series of payments to issuers, the amount of each payment in the series being based on the proportion of attention directed by users of the attention application to each issuer. (Invention 3) The method of claim 1, wherein the transfer of the digital asset reward from the digital asset wallet comprises a one-time tip payment to the issuer. (Invention 4) The method of claim 2, wherein the transfer of the digital asset reward from the digital asset wallet is a recurring tip. (Invention 5) The method of invention 1, wherein the publisher is a third-party account on a user content media platform. (Invention 6) The method of claim 1, wherein the indication of user attention to the media content is social media interaction with the publisher by a user of the attention application. (Invention 7) 7. The method of claim 6, wherein the indication of a user's attention to the media content is a click on a tip button integrated on a post on a social media platform. (Invention 8) 7. The method of claim 6, wherein the amount of the digital asset reward depends on the type of social media interaction with the publisher by the user of the attention application. (Invention 9) The method of claim 5, wherein the indication of the user's attention to the media content is dwell time on the media content. (Invention 10) The method of invention 1, wherein the media content includes a toast notification with a hyperlink, and the indication of the user's attention is clicking on the toast notification. (Invention 11) A digital asset reward system, comprising: an attention application including a digital asset wallet of attention tokens for displaying media content to a user; an attention token dispenser that distributes attention tokens from the digital asset wallet to media content creators; an attention token collector for receiving attention tokens into the digital asset wallet based at least in part on the attention the user directs to media content associated with a digital asset reward; A system including: (Invention 12) The system of invention 11, wherein the media content associated with the digital asset reward is an advertisement. (Invention 13) 12. The system of claim 11, wherein the attention token dispenser automatically distributes tokens to the media content creators according to a proportion of the total attention directed by the user. (Invention 14) The system of invention 11, wherein the attention token dispenser returns the attention token to the digital asset wallet if delivery to the media content creator is not successful after a timeout period has elapsed. (Invention 15) 12. The system of claim 11, wherein an attention manager triggers the attention token dispenser to distribute attention tokens to the media content creators. (Invention 16) 1. A method of managing an attention economy using a digital asset attention token, comprising: receiving, from an Attention Application comprising a digital asset wallet for Attention Tokens, an indication of attention representing a user's attention to media content created by a media content publisher on the Attention Application; receiving an indication of whether each media content creator satisfies the conditions for willingness to accept attention tokens; adding a media content publisher to a list of authenticated publishers if the media content publisher qualifies for willingness to accept attention tokens; receiving a request from an attention application for the list of authenticated publishers; and In response to the request, transmitting the list of authenticated publishers to the attention application. A method comprising: (Invention 17) 17. The method of claim 16, further comprising periodically sending notifications to said plurality of media content publishers indicating available attention tokens if the willingness to accept the conditions of said attention tokens is not met. (Invention 18) 18. The method of claim 17, wherein, upon expiration of a timeout period, the periodic sending operation terminates and the available attention tokens are returned to the digital asset wallet of the attention application. (Invention 19) 17. The method of claim 16, further comprising triggering a payment of attention tokens from a User Growth Pool (UGP) to one or more digital asset wallets on the attention application. (Invention 20) The method of invention 19 further comprises triggering a return of at least a portion of the attention tokens from the one or more digital asset wallets to the UGP if the attention application does not satisfy a reward condition with respect to at least a portion of the attention tokens.

Claims

1. 1. A method for attention token rewards, comprising: receiving, by a processor, media content combined with advertisements from publishers through an Attention Application including a digital asset wallet of Attention Tokens, wherein the Attention Application is uniquely identifiable within the system using a payment address or set of payment addresses without using any personally identifying information; displaying, by a processor, the media content and the advertisement to a user of the attention application through the attention application; receiving, by a processor through the attention application, a digital asset reward as a reward for the user's attention to the advertisement; collecting, by a processor through the attention application, indications of a user's attention to the media content during an attention session; and performing, by a processor, a transfer of the digital asset reward from the digital asset wallet to the issuer based at least in part on the indication of user attention. A method comprising:

2. 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the transfer of the digital asset reward includes a series of payments to issuers, the amount of each payment in the series being based on a percentage of attention directed by users of the attention application to each issuer.

3. 10. The method of claim 1, wherein the transfer of the digital asset reward from the digital asset wallet comprises a one-time tip payment to an issuer.

4. 10. The method of claim 1, wherein the transfer of the digital asset reward from the digital asset wallet is a recurring tip.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the publisher is a third-party account on a user content media platform.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the indication of user attention to the media content is social media interaction with the publisher by a user of the attention application.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein the indication of user attention to the media content is a click on a tip button integrated on a post on a social media platform.

8. The method of claim 6 , wherein the amount of the digital asset reward depends on the type of social media interaction with the publisher by the user of the attention application.

9. The method of claim 5 , wherein the indication of user attention to the media content is dwell time on the media content.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the media content includes a toast notification with a hyperlink, and the indication of user attention is clicking on the toast notification.

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