Method and device for providing speech-enabled input in an electronic device having a user interface

• US 20050027538A1
• Filed: 04/07/2004
• Published: 02/03/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 04/07/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Nokia Technologies Oy (Nokia Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Nokia Corporation
• Inventors: Halonen, Katriina, Salminen, Henri
• Granted Patent: US 7,383,189 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 704/275
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/167 Audio in a user interface, e.g. using voice commands for navigating, audio feedback
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 15/26 Speech to text systems G10L15/08 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72445 for supporting Internet browser applications
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2250/60 logging of communication history, e.g. outgoing or incoming calls, missed calls, messages or URLs logging of telephone numbers H04M1/56, H04M1/57
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2250/74 with voice recognition means voice activated dialling H04M1/271; voice recognition algorithms G10L15/00

Abstract

The present invention provides a method, a device and a system for multimodal interactions. The method according to the invention comprises the steps of activating a multimodal user interaction, providing at least one key input option and at least one voice input option, displaying the at least one key input option, checking if there is at least one condition affecting said voice input option, and providing voice input options and displaying indications of the provided voice input options according to the condition. The method is characterized by checking if at least one condition affecting the voice input is fulfilled and providing the at least one voice input option and displaying indications of the voice input options on the display, according to the condition.

Claims

1. A method for indicating speech-enabled input for multimodal interaction in an electronic device having a user interface, comprising:

activating a multimodal user interaction feature of said user interface in which at least one key input option and at least one voice input option is provided,

displaying the at least one key input option on a display of said electronic device,

characterized by

checking, if at least one condition generally affecting voice input is fulfilled, and

providing said at least one voice input option and displaying indications of said voice input options on said display according to said condition.

2. A method according to claim 1, wherein said displayed indications of voice input options comprise keywords.

3. A method according to claim 2, wherein said displaying of indications of said voice input options on said display further comprises displaying if a speech recognition is actually possible.

4. A method according to claim 1, wherein said displaying of indications of voice input options comprises displaying said voice input options.

5. A method according to claim 1, wherein said displaying of indications of said voice input options on said display, is provided with a hysteresis.

6. A method according to claim 1, wherein said displaying of indications of said voice input options on said display is provided with a backlog function.

7. A software tool comprising program code means stored on a computer readable medium for carrying out the method of claim 1, when said software tool is run on a computer or network device.

8. A computer program product comprising program code means stored on a computer readable medium for carrying out the method of claim 1, when said program product is run on a computer or network device.

9. A computer program product comprising program code, downloadable from a server for carrying out the method of claim 1, when said program product is run on a computer or network device.

10. An electronic device capable of executing multimodal interactive browsing, comprising:

a central processing unit CPU (80),

a display (82) connected to said CPU (80), to display visual content received from said CPU (80) on said display (82),

a key-based input system (84, 84′

) operably connected to said CPU (80), to provide a key input feature providing key input options displayed on said display,

a microphone (86) operably connected to said CPU (80), to provide a voice input feature, and

a data bus (90), operably connected to said CPU (80), to handle data and to exchange data required for the operation of the CPU (80),

wherein said CPU (80) is configured to control multimodal interaction via said display (82), said key based input system (84, 84′

) and said microphone (86), and

wherein said CPU (80) is configured to monitor conditions that affect said voice input, and to provide said voice input feature and display an indication of a voice input option of said voice input feature on said display (82) according to said condition.

11. An electronic device according to claim 10, further comprising a mobile communication device.

12. A speech recognition system capable of multimodal interaction and having a user interface, comprising:

at least one central processing unit CPU (80),

a display (82) connected to said CPU (80),

a key-based input system (84, 84′

) operably connected to said CPU (80), to provide a key input feature providing key input options displayed on said display,

a microphone (86) operably connected to said at least one central processing unit (80),

a data bus (91), operably connected to said at least one CPU (80), to handle data and to exchange data required for the operation of the said at least one CPU (80)

wherein a first central processing unit (81) of said at least one CPU (80) is configured to control multimodal interaction via said display (82), said key based input system (84, 84′

) and said microphone (86) and to monitor conditions that affect said voice input and to control and display an indication of a voice input option of said voice input feature on said display (82) according to said condition, and

wherein a second central processing unit (81′

) of said at least one CPU (80) is configured to provide said voice input feature.

13. A system according to claim 12, wherein the first central processing unit (81) and the second central processing unit (81′

) are comprised in the same device (77).

14. A system according to claim 12, wherein the first central processing unit (81) and the second central processing unit (81′

) are comprised in different interconnected devices (78, 79).