A speech query recognition system adapted for responding to speech-based queries system comprising: a continuous speech recognition engine for generating recognized speech data from a speech signal resulting from a speech-based query provided by a speaker; wherein said continuous speech recognition engine uses a limited speech recognition grammar of words which is loaded for a context experienced by said speaker when said speech-based query is made, said context being determined automatically by an application program executing for said speaker at a time when said speaker provides said speech-based query; a natural language engine which generates recognized speech sentence data corresponding to a meaning of said speech-based query based on said recognized speech data; one or more query/response databases for storing question/answer pairs corresponding to said speech-based query; wherein a first limited set of question/answer pairs is determined based on said context from a complete set of question/answer pairs supported by such speech query recognition system; a query formulation engine adapted for retrieving one or more question/answer pairs from said first limited set of question/answer pairs based on said recognized speech sentence data provided by said natural language engine, which natural language engine is further adapted by said context to not consider every possible word or phrase present in said complete set of question/answer pairs and only considers words and phrases present in said first limited set of question/answer pairs to determine said meaning of said recognized speech sentence data; wherein the speech query recognition system is configured so that said context controls both a limited speech recognition grammar used for speech recognition of the speech-based query and a set of one or more answers to be provided in response thereto. view more

The speech query recognition system of claim 1, wherein said one or more query/response databases are linked to said speech recognition system and include separate independent databases for identifying queries made at different hierarchical levels of an interface presented to said speaker. view more

The speech query recognition system of claim 1, further including a step of identifying said one or more answers to said speaker in real-time.

The speech query recognition system of claim 1, wherein said one or more answers are communicated in an audible form to said speaker.

A method of responding to speech-based queries system comprising the steps of: generating recognized speech data with a continuous speech recognition engine from a speech signal resulting from a speech-based query provided by a speaker; wherein said continuous speech recognition engine uses a limited speech recognition grammar of words which is loaded for a context experienced by said speaker when said speech-based query is made, said context being determined by an application program executing for said speaker at a time when said speaker provides said speech-based query; generating recognized speech sentence data corresponding to said speech- based query based on said recognized speech data; storing question/answer pairs corresponding to said speech-based query in one or more query/response databases; wherein a first limited set of question/answer pairs is selected based on said context from a complete set of question/answer pairs supported by such speech query recognition system; retrieving one or more question/answer pairs from said first limited set of question/answer pairs based on said recognized speech sentence data provided by a natural language engine, which natural language engine is further adapted by said context to not consider every possible word or phrase present in said complete set of question/answer pairs and only considers words and phrases present in said first limited set of question/answer pairs to determine a meaning of said recognized speech sentence data; wherein the system is configured so that said context controls both a limited speech recognition grammar used for speech recognition of the speech-based query and a set of one or more answers to be provided in response thereto. view more

The method of claim 9, further including a step of linking said one or more query/response databases to the speech-based queries system so that separate independent databases are used for identifying queries made at different hierarchical levels of an interface presented to said speaker. view more

The method of claim 9, further including a step of identifying said one or more answers to said speaker in real-time.

The method of claim 14, wherein said one or more answers are communicated in an audible form to said speaker.

A method of interacting with a user of a natural language query system comprising the steps of: a) providing a speech recognition engine adapted to recognize a first set of words and/or phrases from a user during an interactive speech session; wherein said first set of words and/or phrases can include a natural language query presented as continuous natural language spoken data; b) providing a database of query/answer pairs concerning one or more topics which can be responded to by the natural language query system during said interactive speech based session with a user; c) providing a natural language routine adapted to process said first set of words and/or phrases and identify a response to said natural language query based on said query/answer pairs; wherein said natural language routine is adapted to consider only a subset of said first set of words and/or phrases, and further can consider words and/or phrases in said natural language query which are not present in said query/answer pairs to determine said response; d) providing an interactive electronic agent coupled to said natural language routine and configured to: i. provide a prompt to the user during said interactive speech based session with suggestions on queries which can be made to the natural language query system; ii. provide a confirmation of a substance of said natural language query; iii. provide said response to the user from the natural language query routine. view more

The method of claim 1 wherein said subset of words and/or phrases in said natural language query can be assigned different weightings determined by said natural language routine.

The method of claim 1, wherein said speech recognition engine is distributed between a client device and a server system which receives streaming speech data having reduced latency data content before silence is detected and the utterance is complete. view more

The method of claim 1 further including providing a second natural language routine at a separate computing system adapted to assist with a response to said natural language query, such that said natural language query is recognized by said speech recognition engine, and multiple databases at different server systems can be considered in responding to natural language queries for a set of topic entries. view more

The method of claim 1 wherein the interactive electronic agent provides responses adjusted for a context experienced by the user.

A method of operating a speech-based lesson tutorial system having question and answer capability, the method comprising the steps of:</claim-text> (a) configuring a list of retrievable predefined questions and a corresponding list of predefined rs for said lesson; and (b) generating recognized speech data from a user query pertaining to said lesson; and wherein said recognized speech data is generated by a combination of both speech utterance recognition and natural language processing; (c) locating a corresponding predefined question for said user query using said recognized speech data; and (d) converting a corresponding predefined answer for said corresponding predefined question into a form perceptible to the user; and wherein at least step (b) is performed at least in part while a user is articulating said query so as to emulate a human response time in response to a user query, so that the user perceives interaction with such system in essentially the same way that would be experienced from interacting with a real human. view more

The method of claim 30, wherein step (c) occurs across multiple computing systems so that said more than one lesson file is consulted for said user query.