Synchronous reproduction in a speech recognition system

• US 20010018653A1
• Filed: 12/19/2000
• Published: 08/30/2001
• Est. Priority Date: 12/20/1999
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Nuance Communications Austria Gmbh (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. (Koninklijke Philips N.V.)
• Inventors: Wutte, Heribert
• Granted Patent: US 6,792,409 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 704/256
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/166 Editing, e.g. inserting or deleting
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 15/22 Procedures used during a speech recognition process, e.g. man-machine dialogue
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 2015/223 Execution procedure of a spoken command

Abstract

In a speech recognition system, the received speech and the sequence of words, recognized in the speech by a recognizer (100), are stored in a memory (320, 330). Markers are stored as well, indicating a correspondence between the word and a segment of the received signal in which the word was recognized. In a synchronous reproduction mode, a controller (310) ensures that the speech is played-back via speakers (350) and that for each speech segment a word, which has been recognized for the segment, is indicated (e.g. highlighted) on a display (340) can detect whether the user has provided an editing instruction, while the synchronous reproduction is active. If so, the synchronous reproduction is automatically paused and the editing instruction executed.

Claims

1. A speech recognition system comprising:

an input for receiving a speech representative signal;

a first memory for storing a representation of the received signal suitable for audible reproduction;

a speech recognizer operative to represent the received signal as a sequence of recognized words;

a second memory for storing the sequence of recognized words, where each recognized word is stored in association with a marker indicating a correspondence between the word and a segment of the received signal in which the word was recognized;

a controller operative to;

enable a user to review at least part of the sequence of recognized words by causing a synchronous reproduction of an audible and visible representation of the part of the sequence of recognized words, the synchronous reproduction including audibly reproducing a corresponding part of the received signal stored in the first memory and for each segment of the corresponding part of the received signal, at the moment when the segment is being audibly reproduced, indicating on a display a textual representation of a recognized word which corresponds to the segment;

the correspondence being given by the markers stored in the second memory;

detect whether the user has provided an editing instruction, while the synchronous reproduction is active; and

pause the synchronous reproduction in response to having detected an editing instruction during the synchronous reproduction, and cause the editing instruction to be performed.

2. A system as claimed in

claim 1

, wherein the controller is operative to:

detect when a user has finished editing; and

automatically restart the synchronous reproduction in response to having detected that the user has finished editing.

3. A system as claimed in

claim 2

, wherein the controller is operative to automatically restart a paused synchronous reproduction in response to not having received input from the user for a predetermined time-out period.

4. A system as claimed in

claim 3

, wherein the predetermined time-out period is user-configurable.

5. A system as claimed in

claim 2

, wherein the controller is operative to automatically restart a paused synchronous reproduction at a word that was being reproduced at the moment of pausing the synchronous reproduction.

6. A system as claimed in

claim 2

, wherein the controller is operative to automatically restart a paused synchronous reproduction at a word which in the sequence of recognized words immediately follows a word that has been edited last by the user.

7. A system as claimed in

claim 2

, wherein the controller is operative to, during synchronous reproduction:

detect that the user has indicated on the display a position different from a position of a word being indicated during the synchronous reproduction at that moment; and

continue the synchronous reproduction with a word corresponding to the position indicated by the user.

8. A system as claimed in

claim 3

, wherein the controller is operative to:

detect that, while the synchronous reproduction is paused, the user has supplied editing instructions for more than a predetermined period, without an interruption of more than the time-out period; and

to enter a dictation mode.

10. A computer program product where the program product is operative to cause a computer to perform the method of

claim 8

.

9. A method of enabling reviewing a sequence of words recognized by a speech recognizer in a speech representative input signal;

the method including;

storing a representation of the received signal suitable for audible reproduction;

using a speech recognizer to represent the received signal as a sequence of recognized words;

storing the sequence of recognized words, where each recognized word is stored in association with a marker indicating a correspondence between the word and a segment of the received signal in which the word was recognized;

enabling a user to review at least part of the sequence of recognized words by causing a synchronous reproduction of an audible and visible representation of the part of the sequence of recognized words, the synchronous reproduction including audibly reproducing a corresponding part of the received signal stored in the first memory and for each segment of the corresponding part of the received signal, at the moment when the segment is being audibly reproduced, indicating on a display a textual representation of a recognized word which corresponds to the segment;

the correspondence being given by the markers stored in the second memory;

detecting whether the user has provided an editing instruction, while the synchronous reproduction is active; and

pausing the synchronous reproduction in response to having detected an editing instruction during the synchronous reproduction, and causing the editing instruction to be performed.