[July 15, 2011] IU faculty member launches startup company to analyze public sentiment Tweet Jul 15, 2011 (Herald-Times - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- An Indiana University faculty member has formed a startup company based on his algorithm and software that analyzes Twitter feeds to measure public sentiment for the purpose of predicting fluctuations in the stock market. Guidewave Consulting, created by IU School of Informatics and Computing associate professor Johan Bollen, holds the research and findings of Bollen and Ph.D. candidate Hunia Mao. Their work gained worldwide attention last fall after they reported that with their program digital feeds such as tweets -- the 140-character entries on the Twitter social networking site -- could be used to predict fluctuations of the Dow Jones Industrial Average a few days in advance with as much as 85 percent accuracy. Guidewave Consulting has entered into a patent and software licensing agreement with the Indiana University Research & Technology Corp. and has its first customer: a European social-media-based hedge fund, Derwent Capital Markets of London. In an interview via Skype from his native Belgium, where he is visiting this month, Bollen said the new company's "sentiment analysis technology" has numerous business and investment applications. "(The software) can be used to scan large-scale feeds and extract the prevailing mood on a daily basis in any sector of the economy where it's important to gauge public sentiment," Bollen said. "Any language could be analyzed." Tony Armstrong, president and chief executive officer of the IU Research & Technology Corp., said the collaboration with Guidewave Consulting represents "the beginning of a new kind of model" for Internet technology partnerships, which often require more immediate startup than traditional biomedical enterprises that may be involved in longer-term tests and approvals. "What we're doing with Johan is hopefully the first in a number of these kinds of opportunities with faculty in the School of Informatics, to turn the great work that they're doing into commercial opportunities," Armstrong said. To see more of the Herald-Times or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.heraldtimesonline.com/. Copyright (c) 2011, Herald-Times, Bloomington, Ind. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For more information about the content services offered by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services (MCT), visit www.mctinfoservices.com. [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]