Conversational software agent
First Claim
1. A computer system comprising:
- an input configured to receive voice input from a user;
an automatic speech recognition (ASR) system for identifying individual words in the voice input, the ASR system configured to generate in memory a set of one or more words it has identified in the voice input, and update the set each time it identifies a new word in the voice input by adding the new word to the set;
a speech detection module configured to detect speech activity in the voice input, prevent a speech inactivity interval from commencing until a grammatically complete sentence is detected in the voice input, cause the speech inactivity interval to commence when the grammatically complete sentence is detected in the speech input, and determine whether the ASR system has identified any more words in the voice input during the speech inactivity interval; and
a response module configured to generate a response for output based on the set of identified words, in response to the detection of an end of the speech inactivity interval, the response module configured to output the generated response after the speech inactivity interval has ended and only if the ASR system has not identified any more words in the voice input during the speech inactivity interval such that the generated response is not output if one or more words are identified in the voice input during the speech inactivity interval.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Voice input is received from a user. An ASR system generates in memory a set of words it has identified in the voice input, and update the set each time it identifies a new word in the voice input to add the new word to the set. A condition indicative of speech inactivity in the voice input is detected. A response for outputting to the user is generated based on the set of identified words, in response to the detection of the speech inactivity condition. The generated response is outputted to the user after an interval of time—commencing with the detection of the speech inactivity condition—has ended and only if no more words have been identified in the voice input by the ASR system in that interval of time.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. A computer system comprising:
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an input configured to receive voice input from a user; an automatic speech recognition (ASR) system for identifying individual words in the voice input, the ASR system configured to generate in memory a set of one or more words it has identified in the voice input, and update the set each time it identifies a new word in the voice input by adding the new word to the set; a speech detection module configured to detect speech activity in the voice input, prevent a speech inactivity interval from commencing until a grammatically complete sentence is detected in the voice input, cause the speech inactivity interval to commence when the grammatically complete sentence is detected in the speech input, and determine whether the ASR system has identified any more words in the voice input during the speech inactivity interval; and a response module configured to generate a response for output based on the set of identified words, in response to the detection of an end of the speech inactivity interval, the response module configured to output the generated response after the speech inactivity interval has ended and only if the ASR system has not identified any more words in the voice input during the speech inactivity interval such that the generated response is not output if one or more words are identified in the voice input during the speech inactivity interval. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. A computer-implemented method comprising:
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receiving voice input from a user as part of communication between the user and a data processing system; identifying individual words in the voice input and generating in memory a set of one or more words identified in the voice input, and updating the set of one or more words when a new word in the voice input is identified to add the new word to the set; detecting speech activity in the voice input, prevent a speech inactivity interval from commencing until a grammatically complete sentence is detected in the voice input, cause the speech inactivity interval to commence when the grammatically complete sentence is detected in the speech input, and determining whether any more words are identified in the voice input during the speech activity interval; generating based on the set of identified words, in response to a detected speech inactivity condition, a response for outputting; determining whether one or more additional words in the voice input during an interval of time commencing with the detection of the speech inactivity condition; and outputting the response after said interval of time has ended if one or more words are not detected in the voice input in the interval of time such that the generated response is not if one or more words are identified in the voice input in the interval of time. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. A computer-readable memory device storing instructions that, when executed by a data processing system, control the data processing system to perform operations comprising:
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receiving voice input from a user as part of communication between the user and the data processing system; identifying individual words in the voice input and generating in memory a set of one or more words identified in the voice input, and updating the set of one or more words when a new word in the voice input is identified to add the new word to the set; detecting speech activity in the voice input, prevent a speech inactivity interval from commencing until a grammatically complete sentence is detected in the voice input, cause the speech inactivity interval to commence when the grammatically complete sentence is detected in the speech input, and determining whether any more words are identified in the voice input during the speech activity interval; generating based on the set of identified words, in response to a detected speech inactivity condition, a response for outputting; determining whether one or more additional words in the voice input during an interval of time commencing with the detection of the speech inactivity condition; and outputting the response after said interval of time has ended if one or more words are not detected in the voice input in the interval of time such that the generated response is not if one or more words are identified in the voice input in the interval of time. - View Dependent Claims (20)
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Specification