Context-aware recommender systems

Abstract

Context-aware recommender systems (CARS) generate more relevant recommendations by adapting them to the specific contextual situation of the user. This article explores how contextual information can be used to create intelligent and useful recommender systems. It provides an overview of the multifaceted notion of context, discusses several approaches for incorporating contextual information in the recommendation process, and illustrates the usage of such approaches in several application areas where different types of contexts are exploited. The article concludes by discussing the challenges and future research directions for context-aware recommender systems. Copyright © 2011, Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence. All rights reserved.