Voice Browser system

• US 20010049604A1
• Filed: 03/27/2001
• Published: 12/06/2001
• Est. Priority Date: 03/31/2000
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha (Canon Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha (Canon Inc.)
• Inventors: Ikeda, Yuji, Fujii, Kenichi, Ito, Fumiaki, Ueda, Takaya
• Granted Patent: US 7,251,602 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 704/270.1
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 15/22 Procedures used during a speech recognition process, e.g. man-machine dialogue
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 15/30 Distributed recognition, e.g. in client-server systems, for mobile phones or network applications
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/02 based on web technology, e.g. hypertext transfer protocol [HTTP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/289 Intermediate processing functionally located close to the data consumer application, e.g. in same machine, in same home or in same sub-network
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/561 Adding application-functional data or data for application control, e.g. adding metadata
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/568 Storing data temporarily at an intermediate stage, e.g. caching
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/4938 comprising a voice browser which renders and interprets, e.g. VoiceXML

Abstract

To provide a browser apparatus with the contents of data provided on a network in a form of voice data, voice data indicating a part or the whole of the contents of the data provided on the network is formed and stored on a gateway, on the basis of the data. Data is formed by adding to the data provided on the network an identifier <VOICEOUT . . . >indicating a location where the voice data is stored. This data is provided to the browser apparatus. The browser apparatus receives the voice data from the location indicated by the identifier.

Claims

1. A data processing apparatus for providing a browser apparatus with the contents of data provided on a network in a form of voice data, comprising:

means for forming, on the basis of the data provided on said network, voice data indicating a part or the whole of the contents of the data;

means for storing the formed voice data;

means for forming data by adding to the data provided on said network an identifier indicating a location where the voice data is stored; and

means for providing said browser apparatus with the data to which the identifier is added.

22. The apparatus according to

claim 1

, wherein the data provided on said network is described in a markup language, and the identifier is added to the data as a tag corresponding to the markup language.

2. A data processing apparatus for permitting a browser apparatus to respond by voice to data provided on a network, comprising:

means for checking whether the contents of the data provided on said network include a content requiring a response from said browser apparatus;

means for forming data by adding to the data provided on said network an identifier indicating a recipient of the response sent by voice data from said browser apparatus; and

means for providing said browser apparatus with the data to which the identifier is added.

3. The apparatus according to

claim 2

, further comprising recognizing means for performing voice recognition for voice data related to the response, when the voice data is supplied from said browser apparatus to said recipient.

4. The apparatus according to

claim 3

, further comprising:

means for forming response data in a form suited to a server for receiving the response on said network, on the basis of the result of recognition by said recognizing means; and

means for providing the response data to said server.

5. The apparatus according to

claim 2

, further comprising:

means for forming a recognition grammar for recognizing voice data related to each of a plurality of predetermined items, when the response is to be selected from said plurality of items;

means for determining, on the basis of the recognition grammar, to which item the voice data related to the response from said browser apparatus corresponds;

means for forming response data in a form suited to a server for receiving the response on said network, in accordance with each item; and

means for providing the response data to said server.

6. The apparatus according to

claim 5

, wherein the response data is formed before data to which the identifier is added is provided to said browser apparatus.

23. The apparatus according to

claim 2

, wherein the data provided on said network is described in a markup language, and the identifier is added to the data as a tag corresponding to the markup language.

7. A browser system comprising a browser apparatus, a server for providing data to said browser apparatus via a network, and a data processing apparatus for providing said browser apparatus with the contents of data provided by said server in a form of voice data, wherein

said data processing apparatus comprises:

means for forming, on the basis of the data provided by said server, voice data indicating a part or the whole of the contents of the data;

means for storing the formed voice data;

means for forming data by adding to the data provided by said server an identifier indicating a location where the voice data is stored; and

means for providing said browser apparatus with the data to which the identifier is added, and

said browser apparatus comprises means for acquiring the voice data from the location indicated by the identifier and outputting a voice related to the voice data.

24. The system according to

claim 7

, wherein the data provided by said server is described in a markup language, and the identifier is added to the data as a tag corresponding to the markup language.

8. A browser system comprising a browser apparatus, a server for providing data to said browser apparatus via a network, and a data processing apparatus for permitting the browser apparatus to respond by voice to data provided by said server, wherein

said data processing apparatus comprises:

means for checking whether the contents of the data provided on said network include a content requiring a response from said browser apparatus;

means for forming data by adding to the data provided by said server an identifier indicating a recipient of the response sent by voice data from said browser apparatus;

means for providing said browser apparatus with the data to which the identifier is added;

recognizing means for performing voice recognition for voice data related to the response, when the voice data is supplied from said browser apparatus to said recipient;

means for forming response data in a form suited to said server for receiving the response, on the basis of the result of recognition by said recognizing means; and

means for providing the response data to said server, and

said browser apparatus comprises;

means for inputting a voice;

means for forming voice data on the basis of the input voice; and

means for supplying the formed voice data to a recipient indicated by the identifier.

25. The system according to

claim 8

, wherein the data provided by said server is described in a markup language, and the identifier is added to the data as a tag corresponding to the markup language.

9. A browser system comprising a browser apparatus, a server for providing data to said browser apparatus via a network, and a data processing apparatus for providing the contents of data provided by said server in a form of voice data to said browser apparatus, and permitting said browser apparatus to respond by voice to data provided by said server, wherein

said data processing apparatus comprises:

means for forming, on the basis of the data provided by said server, voice data indicating a part or the whole of the contents of the data;

means for storing the formed voice data;

means for forming data by adding to the data provided by said server a first identifier indicating a location where the voice data is stored;

means for providing said browser apparatus with the data to which the first identifier is added;

means for checking whether the contents of the data provided by said server include a content requiring a response from said browser apparatus;

means for forming data by adding to the data provided by said server a second identifier indicating a recipient of the response sent by voice data from said browser apparatus;

means for providing said browser apparatus with the data to which the identifier is added;

recognizing means for performing voice recognition for voice data related to the response, when the voice data is supplied from said browser apparatus to said recipient;

means for forming response data in a form suited to said server for receiving the response, on the basis of the result of recognition by said recognizing means; and

means for providing the response data to said server, and

said browser apparatus comprises;

means for acquiring the voice data from the location indicated by the first identifier and outputting a voice related to the voice data;

means for inputting a voice;

means for forming voice data on the basis of the input voice; and

means for supplying the formed voice data to a recipient indicated by the second identifier.

26. The system according to

claim 9

, wherein the data provided by said server is described in a markup language, and the identifier is added to the data as a tag corresponding to the markup language.

32. The apparatus according to

claim 26

, further comprising means for acquiring voice data from a location indicated by a given second identifier, and outputting a voice related to the voice data.

10. A data processing method of providing a browser apparatus with the contents of data provided on a network in a form of voice data, comprising the steps of:

forming, on the basis of the data provided on the network, voice data indicating a part or the whole of the contents of the data;

storing the formed voice data;

forming data by adding to the data provided on the network an identifier indicating a location where the voice data is stored; and

providing the browser apparatus with the data to which the identifier is added.

27. The method according to

claim 10

, wherein the data provided on said network is described in a markup language, and the identifier is added to the data as a tag corresponding to the markup language.

11. A data processing method of permitting a browser apparatus to respond by voice to data provided on a network, comprising the steps of:

checking whether the contents of the data provided on the network include a content requiring a response from the browser apparatus;

forming data by adding to the data provided on the network an identifier indicating a recipient of the response sent by voice data from the browser apparatus; and

providing the browser apparatus with the data to which the identifier is added.

12. The method according to

claim 11

, further comprising the recognition step of performing voice recognition for voice data related to the response, when the voice data is supplied from the browser apparatus to the recipient.

13. The method according to

claim 12

, further comprising the steps of:

forming response data in a form suited to a server for receiving the response on the network, on the basis of the result of recognition in the recognition step; and

providing the response data to the server.

14. The method according to

claim 11

, further comprising the steps of:

forming a recognition grammar for recognizing voice data related to each of a plurality of predetermined items, when the response is to be selected from the plurality of items;

determining, on the basis of the recognition grammar, to which item the voice data related to the response from the browser apparatus corresponds;

forming response data in a form suited to a server for receiving the response on the network, in accordance with each item; and

providing the response data to the server.

15. The method according to

claim 14

, wherein the response data is formed before data to which the identifier is added is provided to the browser apparatus.

28. The method according to

claim 11

, wherein the data provided on said network is described in a markup language, and the identifier is added to the data as a tag corresponding to the markup language.

16. A recording medium recording a program which, in order to provide a browser apparatus with the contents of data provided on a network in a form of voice data, allows a computer to function as:

means for forming, on the basis of the data provided on said network, voice data indicating a part or the whole of the contents of the data;

means for storing the formed voice data;

means for forming data by adding to the data provided on said network an identifier indicating a location where the voice data is stored; and

means for providing said browser apparatus with the data to which the identifier is added.

29. The medium according to

claim 16

, wherein the data provided on said network is described in a markup language, and the identifier is added to the data as a tag corresponding to the markup language.

17. A recording medium recording a program which, in order to permit a browser apparatus to respond by voice to data provided on a network, allows a computer to function as:

means for checking whether the contents of the data provided on said network have contents requiring a response from said browser apparatus;

means for forming data by adding to the data provided on said network an identifier indicating a recipient of the response sent by voice data from said browser apparatus; and

means for providing said browser apparatus with the data to which the identifier is added.

18. The medium according to

claim 17

, wherein said program comprises a program which allows a computer to function as recognizing means for performing voice recognition for voice data related to the response, when the voice data is supplied from said browser apparatus to said recipient.

19. The medium according to

claim 18

, wherein said program comprises a program which allows a computer to function as:

means for forming response data in a form suited to a server for receiving the response on said network, on the basis of the result of recognition by said recognizing means; and

means for providing the response data to said server.

20. The medium according to

claim 17

, wherein said program comprises a program which allows a computer to function as:

means for forming a recognition grammar for recognizing voice data related to each of a plurality of predetermined items, when the response is to be selected from said plurality of items;

means for determining, on the basis of the recognition grammar, to which item the voice data related to the response from said browser apparatus corresponds;

means for forming response data in a form suited to a server for receiving the response on said network, in accordance with each item; and

means for providing the response data to said server.

21. The medium according to

claim 20

, wherein the response data is formed before data to which the identifier is added is provided to said browser apparatus.

30. The medium according to

claim 17

, wherein the data provided on said network is described in a markup language, and the identifier is added to the data as a tag corresponding to the markup language.

31. A browser apparatus comprising:

means for inputting a voice;

means for forming voice data on the basis of the input voice; and

means for supplying the formed voice data to a recipient indicated by a given identifier.

33. A data processing apparatus capable of communicating with a server and a browser apparatus via a network, comprising:

means for forming, on the basis of data provided by said server, voice data indicating a part or the whole of the contents of the data;

means for storing the formed voice data;

means for adding to the data provided by said server a first identifier indicating a location where the voice data is stored;

means for checking whether the contents of the data provided by said server include a content requiring a response from said browser apparatus;

means for further adding, when the contents of the data provided by said server have contents requiring a response, a second identifier indicating a recipient of the response to the data to which the first identifier is added;

means for providing said browser apparatus with the data to which the first identifier or the first and second identifiers are added;

recognizing means for performing voice recognition for voice data related to the response, when the voice data is supplied from said browser apparatus to said recipient;

means for forming response data in a form suited to said server for receiving the response, on the basis of the recognition result by said recognizing means; and

means for providing the response data to said server.