Audio output apparatus, document reading method, and mobile terminal

• US 20060271371A1
• Filed: 05/26/2006
• Published: 11/30/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 05/30/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Kyocera Corporation
• Original Assignee: Kyocera Corporation
• Inventors: Tsuboi, Kazuhiro
• Granted Patent: US 8,065,157 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 704/277
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 13/10 Prosody rules derived from text; Stress or intonation

Abstract

An audio output apparatus comprises an audio output unit which outputs an audio; a storage unit which stores a predetermined word and a type associated with the word; a controller which, upon outputting an electronic document as an audio from the audio output unit using a speed synthesis, when the electronic document contains the word stored in the storage unit, controls the audio output from the audio output according to the type associated with the word.

Claims

1. An audio output apparatus comprising:

an audio output unit which outputs an audio;

a storage unit which stores a predetermined word and a type associated with the word;

a controller which, upon outputting an electronic document as an audio from the audio output unit using a speed synthesis, when the electronic document contains the word stored in the storage unit, controls the audio output from the audio output unit according to the type associated with the word.

2. The audio output apparatus according to claim 1, wherein

the storage unit stores a plurality of words associated with different types, and

when the electronic document contains a plurality of any of the words associated with the different types, the controller determines occurrences of the words used in the electronic document for each type and controls the audio output from the audio output unit according to a type having the greatest occurrence.

3. The audio output apparatus according to claim 2, wherein, upon determining the occurrence, when there is a plurality of types having the greatest occurrence, the controller outputs a standard audio output.

4. The audio output apparatus according to claim 1, wherein

the storage unit stores a weighted constant of the type for each word, and

when the electronic document contains a plurality of any of the words associated with different types, the controller calculates a sum of the weighted constants of the types of the words used in the electronic document for each type, and controls the audio output from the audio output unit according to the type having the largest sum.

5. The audio output apparatus according to claim 1, wherein

the storage unit stores emotion types as the types associated with the words, and

the controller controls a sound quality of the audio output according to the emotion type.

6. The audio output apparatus according to claim 1, wherein

the storage unit stores urgency levels as the types associated with the words, and

the controller controls a reading speed of the audio output according to the urgency levels.

7. The audio output apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a communication unit which connects to a communication network and transmits and receives messages,

wherein when outputting in an audio a first message which is an electronic document, the controller controls the audio output from the audio output unit according to a type associated a second message which is related to the first message.

8. The audio output apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a communication unit which connects to a communication network and transmits and receives messages,

wherein, when outputting in an audio a first message which is an electronic document, if the first message and a second message are mutually related by a transmission/reception relationship, the controller controls the audio output in accordance with a time interval between the time when the first message was generated and the time when the second message was generated.

9. The audio output apparatus according to claim 1, wherein,

when controlling the audio output, the controller controls at least one of a pitch, a volume, and an intonation of the sound.

10. The audio output apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising

a display unit which displays the electronic document.

11. A document reading method in an audio output apparatus comprising an audio output unit which outputs an audio, the method comprising the steps of:

storing predetermined words and types associated with the words beforehand; and

outputting in an audio an electronic document from the audio output unit using a speed synthesis;

wherein, when the electronic document contains any of the words stored in the storing step, the audio output from the audio output unit is controlled according to the type associated with the word.

12. A mobile terminal, comprising:

a communication unit which connects to a communication network and sends and/or receives data for an electronic document;

a speech synthesizer for converting text in the electronic document, which is sent and/or received by communication unit, to speech;

an audio output unit which outputs an audio for the speech converted by the speech synthesizer;

a storage unit which stores a predetermined word and a type associated with the word;

a controller which, upon outputting the electronic document as an audio from the audio output unit, when the electronic document contains the word stored in the storage unit, controls the audio output from the audio output unit according to the type associated with the word.

13. A mobile terminal according to claim 12, wherein

the storage unit stores emotion types as the types associated with the words, and

the controller controls a sound quality of the audio output according to the emotion types.

14. A mobile terminal according to claim 12, wherein

the storage unit stores urgency levels as the types associates with the words, and the controller controls a reading speed of the audio output according to the urgency levels.

15. A mobile terminal according to claim 12, further comprising

a display unit which displays the electronic document.