45627results about "Speech recognition" patented technology

An intelligent automated assistant system engages with the user in an integrated, conversational manner using natural language dialog, and invokes external services when appropriate to obtain information or perform various actions. The system can be implemented using any of a number of different platforms, such as the web, email, smartphone, and the like, or any combination thereof. In one embodiment, the system is based on sets of interrelated domains and tasks, and employs additional functionally powered by external services with which the system can interact.

A virtual assistant uses context information to supplement natural language or gestural input from a user. Context helps to clarify the user's intent and to reduce the number of candidate interpretations of the user's input, and reduces the need for the user to provide excessive clarification input. Context can include any available information that is usable by the assistant to supplement explicit user input to constrain an information-processing problem and / or to personalize results. Context can be used to constrain solutions during various phases of processing, including, for example, speech recognition, natural language processing, task flow processing, and dialog generation.

A method and apparatus for retrieving, accessing, and storing medical data relating to a patient during a medical procedure. The invention provides a single interface to many disparate forms of medical data, which is accessible over a local area network, wide area network, direct connection, or combinations thereof. In one embodiment, an operating room control system for use during a medical procedure on a patient includes an input device, a display device, and a controller that is coupled to the input device and the display device. The controller receives one or more user inputs, transmits a command to a server located outside of the operating room to retrieve medical data, receives the medical data from the server, and displays the medical data on the display device.

The intelligent automated assistant system engages with the user in an integrated, conversational manner using natural language dialog, and invokes external services when appropriate to obtain information or perform various actions. The system can be implemented using any of a number of different platforms, such as the web, email, smartphone, and the like, or any combination thereof. In one embodiment, the system is based on sets of interrelated domains and tasks, and employs additional functionally powered by external services with which the system can interact.

A method for recognizing an audio sample locates an audio file that most closely matches the audio sample from a database indexing a large set of original recordings. Each indexed audio file is represented in the database index by a set of landmark timepoints and associated fingerprints. Landmarks occur at reproducible locations within the file, while fingerprints represent features of the signal at or near the landmark timepoints. To perform recognition, landmarks and fingerprints are computed for the unknown sample and used to retrieve matching fingerprints from the database. For each file containing matching fingerprints, the landmarks are compared with landmarks of the sample at which the same fingerprints were computed. If a large number of corresponding landmarks are linearly related, i.e., if equivalent fingerprints of the sample and retrieved file have the same time evolution, then the file is identified with the sample. The method can be used for any type of sound or music, and is particularly effective for audio signals subject to linear and nonlinear distortion such as background noise, compression artifacts, or transmission dropouts. The sample can be identified in a time proportional to the logarithm of the number of entries in the database; given sufficient computational power, recognition can be performed in nearly real time as the sound is being sampled.

A conversational, natural language voice user interface may provide an integrated voice navigation services environment. The voice user interface may enable a user to make natural language requests relating to various navigation services, and further, may interact with the user in a cooperative, conversational dialogue to resolve the requests. Through dynamic awareness of context, available sources of information, domain knowledge, user behavior and preferences, and external systems and devices, among other things, the voice user interface may provide an integrated environment in which the user can speak conversationally, using natural language, to issue queries, commands, or other requests relating to the navigation services provided in the environment.

Mobile systems and methods that overcomes the deficiencies of prior art speech-based interfaces for telematics applications through the use of a complete speech-based information query, retrieval, presentation and local or remote command environment. This environment makes significant use of context, prior information, domain knowledge, and user specific profile data to achieve a natural environment for one or more users making queries or commands in multiple domains. Through this integrated approach, a complete speech-based natural language query and response environment can be created. The invention creates, stores and uses extensive personal profile information for each user, thereby improving the reliability of determining the context and presenting the expected results for a particular question or command. The invention may organize domain specific behavior and information into agents, that are distributable or updateable over a wide area network. The invention can be used in dynamic environments such as those of mobile vehicles to control and communicate with both vehicle systems and remote systems and devices.

A mobile system is provided that includes speech-based and non-speech-based interfaces for telematics applications. The mobile system identifies and uses context, prior information, domain knowledge, and user specific profile data to achieve a natural environment for users that submit requests and / or commands in multiple domains. The invention creates, stores and uses extensive personal profile information for each user, thereby improving the reliability of determining the context and presenting the expected results for a particular question or command. The invention may organize domain specific behavior and information into agents, that are distributable or updateable over a wide area network.

A content provider system for enabling content providers to create voice pages with audio files included for use in a network for voice page delivery through which subscribers request a voice page and a voice page server system delivers the voice page audibly to the subscriber. A content provider selects a voice page into which the audio file is to be incorporated, selects the audio file and the content provider system then transfers the audio file to a voice page server system which generates a voice page with the audio file included using XML-based tags designated for audio files. The audio files are uploaded from a number of user devices including a telephony device, a web-based system and a PDA.

A multi-party conversation analyzer and logger uses a variety of techniques including spectrographic voice analysis, absolute loudness measurements, directional microphones, and telephonic directional separation to determine the number of parties who take part in a conversation, and segment the conversation by speaking party. In one aspect, the invention monitors telephone conversations in real time to detect conditions of interest (for instance, calls to non-allowed parties or calls of a prohibited nature from prison inmates). In another aspect, automated prosody measurement algorithms are used in conjunction with speaker segmentation to extract emotional content of the speech of participants within a particular conversation, and speaker interactions and emotions are displayed in graphical form. A conversation database is generated which contains conversation recordings, and derived data such as transcription text, derived emotions, alert conditions, and correctness probabilities associated with derived data. Investigative tools allow flexible queries of the conversation database.

A self-contained wireless interactive speech recognition control device and system that integrates with automated systems and appliances to provide totally hands-free speech control capabilities for a given space. Preferably, each device comprises a programmable microcontroller having embedded speech recognition and audio output capabilities, a microphone, a speaker and a wireless communication system through which a plurality of devices can communicate with each other and with one or more system controllers or automated mechanisms. The device may be enclosed in a stand-alone housing or within a standard electrical wall box. Several devices may be installed in close proximity to one another to ensure hands-free coverage throughout the space. When two or more devices are triggered simultaneously by the same speech command, real time coordination ensures that only one device will respond to the command.

A voice-enabled document system facilitates execution of service delivery operations by eliminating the need for manual or visual interaction during information retrieval by an operator. Access to voice-enabled documents can facilitate operations for mobile vendors, on-site or field-service repairs, medical service providers, food service providers, and the like. Service providers can access the voice-enabled documents by using a client device to retrieve the document, display it on a screen, and, via voice commands initiate playback of selected audio files containing information derived from text data objects selected from the document. Data structures that are components of a voice-enabled document include audio playback files and a logical association that links the audio playback files to user-selectable fields, and to a set of voice commands.

A speech recognition technique is described that has the dual benefits of not requiring collection of recordings for training while using computational resources that are cost-compatible with consumer electronic products. Methods are described for improving the recognition accuracy of a recognizer by developer interaction with a design tool that iterates the recognition data during development of a recognition set of utterances and that allows controlling and minimizing the computational resources required to implement the recognizer in hardware.

An apparatus for collecting data from a plurality of diverse data sources, the diverse data sources generating input data selected from the group including text, audio, and graphics, the diverse data sources selected from the group including real-time and recorded, human and mechanically-generated audio, single-speaker and multispeaker, the apparatus comprising: means for dividing the input data into one or more data segments, the dividing means acting separately on the input data from each of the plurality of diverse data sources, each of the data segments being associated with at least one respective data buffer such that each of the respective data buffers would have the same number of segments given the same data; means for selective processing of the data segments within each of the respective data buffers; and means for distributing at least one of the respective data buffers such that the collected data associated therewith may be used for further processing.

A user interface for a system such as a virtual assistant is automatically adapted for hands-free use. A hands-free context is detected via automatic or manual means, and the system adapts various stages of a complex interactive system to modify the user experience to reflect the particular limitations of such a context. The system of the present invention thus allows for a single implementation of a complex system such as a virtual assistant to dynamically offer user interface elements and alter user interface behavior to allow hands-free use without compromising the user experience of the same system for hands-on use.

A system for conversant interaction includes a recognizer for receiving and processing input information and outputting a recognized representation of the input information. A dialog manager is coupled to the recognizer for receiving the recognized representation of the input information, the dialog manager having task-oriented forms for associating user input information therewith, the dialog manager being capable of selecting an applicable form from the task-oriented forms responsive to the input information by scoring the forms relative to each other. A synthesizer is employed for converting a response generated by the dialog manager to output the response. A program storage device and method are also provided.

Method and apparatus that dynamically adjusts operational parameters of a text-to-speech engine in a speech-based system. A voice engine or other application of a device provides a mechanism to alter the adjustable operational parameters of the text-to-speech engine. In response to one or more environmental conditions, the adjustable operational parameters of the text-to-speech engine are modified to increase the intelligibility of synthesized speech.

A distributed voice user interface system includes a local device which receives speech input issued from a user. Such speech input may specify a command or a request by the user. The local device performs preliminary processing of the speech input and determines whether it is able to respond to the command or request by itself. If not, the local device initiates communication with a remote system for further processing of the speech input.

In embodiments of the present invention improved capabilities are described for controlling a mobile communication facility utilizing ancillary information comprising accepting speech presented by a user using a resident capture facility on the mobile communication facility while the user engages an interface that enables a command mode for the mobile communications facility; processing the speech using a resident speech recognition facility to recognize command elements and content elements; transmitting at least a portion of the speech through a wireless communication facility to a remote speech recognition facility; transmitting information from the mobile communication facility to the remote speech recognition facility, wherein the information includes information about a command recognizable by the resident speech recognition facility and at least one of language, location, display type, model, identifier, network provider, and phone number associated with the mobile communication facility; generating speech-to-text results utilizing the remote speech recognition facility based at least in part on the speech and on the information related to the mobile communication facility; and transmitting the text results for use on the mobile communications facility.

Candidate interpretations resulting from application of speech recognition algorithms to spoken input are presented in a consolidated manner that reduces redundancy. A list of candidate interpretations is generated, and each candidate interpretation is subdivided into time-based portions, forming a grid. Those time-based portions that duplicate portions from other candidate interpretations are removed from the grid. A user interface is provided that presents the user with an opportunity to select among the candidate interpretations; the user interface is configured to present these alternatives without duplicate elements.

Apparatus and method that improves speech recognition accuracy, by monitoring the position of a user's headset-mounted speech microphone, and prompting the user to reconfigure the speech microphone's orientation if required. A microprocessor or other application specific integrated circuit provides a mechanism for comparing the relative transit times between a user's voice, a primary speech microphone, and a secondary compliance microphone. The difference in transit times may be used to determine if the speech microphone is placed in an appropriate proximity to the user's mouth. If required, the user is automatically prompted to reposition the speech microphone.

Systems and methods are provided for performing focus detection, referential ambiguity resolution and mood classification in accordance with multi-modal input data, in varying operating conditions, in order to provide an effective conversational computing environment for one or more users.

Embodiments of the invention address the deficiencies of the prior art by providing a method, apparatus, and program product to of converting components of a web page to voice prompts for a user. In some embodiments, the method comprises selectively determining at least one HTML component from a plurality of HTML components of a web page to transform into a voice prompt for a mobile system based upon a voice attribute file associated with the web page. The method further comprises transforming the at least one HTML component into parameterized data suitable for use by the mobile system based upon at least a portion of the voice attribute file associated with the at least one HTML component and transmitting the parameterized data to the mobile system.

Systems and processes are disclosed for controlling television user interactions using a virtual assistant. A virtual assistant can interact with a television set-top box to control content shown on a television. Speech input for the virtual assistant can be received from a device with a microphone. User intent can be determined from the speech input, and the virtual assistant can execute tasks according to the user's intent, including causing playback of media on the television. Virtual assistant interactions can be shown on the television in interfaces that expand or contract to occupy a minimal amount of space while conveying desired information. Multiple devices associated with multiple displays can be used to determine user intent from speech input as well as to convey information to users. In some examples, virtual assistant query suggestions can be provided to the user based on media content shown on a display.

A conversational computing system that provides a universal coordinated multi-modal conversational user interface (CUI) (10) across a plurality of conversationally aware applications (11) (i.e., applications that “speak” conversational protocols) and conventional applications (12). The conversationally aware maps, applications (11) communicate with a conversational kernel (14) via conversational application APIs (13). The conversational kernel (14) controls the dialog across applications and devices (local and networked) on the basis of their registered conversational capabilities and requirements and provides a unified conversational user interface and conversational services and behaviors. The conversational computing system may be built on top of a conventional operating system and APIs (15) and conventional device hardware (16). The conversational kernel (14) handles all I / O processing and controls conversational engines (18). The conversational kernel (14) converts voice requests into queries and converts outputs and results into spoken messages using conversational engines (18) and conversational arguments (17). The conversational application API (13) conveys all the information for the conversational kernel (14) to transform queries into application calls and conversely convert output into speech, appropriately sorted before being provided to the user.

A cooperative conversational voice user interface is provided. The cooperative conversational voice user interface may build upon short-term and long-term shared knowledge to generate one or more explicit and / or implicit hypotheses about an intent of a user utterance. The hypotheses may be ranked based on varying degrees of certainty, and an adaptive response may be generated for the user. Responses may be worded based on the degrees of certainty and to frame an appropriate domain for a subsequent utterance. In one implementation, misrecognitions may be tolerated, and conversational course may be corrected based on subsequent utterances and / or responses.

A system and method for implementing conversational protocols for distributed conversational networking architectures and / or distributed conversational applications, as well as real-time conversational computing between network-connected pervasive computing devices and / or servers over a computer network. The implementation of distributed conversational systems / applications according to the present invention is based, in part, on a suitably defined conversational coding, transport and control protocols. The control protocols include session control protocols, protocols for exchanging of speech meta-information, and speech engine remote control protocols.

The present invention provides a speech recognition system combined with one or more alternate input modalities to ensure efficient and accurate text input. The speech recognition system achieves less than perfect accuracy due to limited processing power, environmental noise, and / or natural variations in speaking style. The alternate input modalities use disambiguation or recognition engines to compensate for reduced keyboards, sloppy input, and / or natural variations in writing style. The ambiguity remaining in the speech recognition process is mostly orthogonal to the ambiguity inherent in the alternate input modality, such that the combination of the two modalities resolves the recognition errors efficiently and accurately. The invention is especially well suited for mobile devices with limited space for keyboards or touch-screen input.