"Max,
rumoured to be the child of Siri and HAL 9000, asks a few questions
about your mood or movie and TV show tastes to arrive at a suggestion,"
Netflix vice president of product innovation Todd Yellin said in a blog
post.
"Of course, (suggestions are) based on
your tastes and taking advantage of the Netflix algorithms that predict
what you'd enjoy watching."
Siri is what Apple
calls the virtual assistant it added to its popular mobile devices,
while HAL is a fictional, self-aware computer made famous in the 1968
film 2001: A Space Odyssey.
California-based
Netflix has an array of applications that let subscribers access the
service major videogame consoles as well as mobile devices.
Max
is making its debut on Sony's PS3 consoles in the United States and, if
the conversational recommendation service performs as expected, it will
spread to more devices with Apple's iPad likely to be next, according
to Yellin.
Netflix created a "ratings game" to
playfully teach Max what viewersby picking genres that fit their moods
and then rating a few titles in the categories on a five-star scale.
"Sometimes,
when Max feels particularly confident, he will offer a fun,
personalized suggestion after asking only one simple question," Yellin
said.
"Other times, when intoxicated by past
success, Max will get a little cocky and offer a suggestion right away,
no questions required."
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