Interactive audio task system with interrupt recovery and confirmations

• US 20080120616A1
• Filed: 11/17/2006
• Published: 05/22/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 11/17/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: SAP SE
• Original Assignee: SAP AG (SAP SE)
• Inventors: Klemba, Keith S., Chen, Shuyuan, James, Frankie, Kaiser, Matthias U.
• Granted Patent: US 7,984,440 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 718/100
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/16 Sound input; Sound output speech processing G10L
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 15/22 Procedures used during a speech recognition process, e.g. man-machine dialogue

Abstract

Embodiments of the present invention improve interactive audio task execution in mobile systems such as vehicles, for example. In one embodiment, task interrupt handling is provided to allow user'"'"'s to resume task execution at or near the point in the task where the interrupt occurred. In one embodiment, a user'"'"'s confidence that secondary tasks are being performed accurately is improved by providing confirmation and help for users to be more accurate on their secondary tasks. Accordingly, users can increase their confidence and trust in the system and focus more attention on primary tasks, such as driving a vehicle. Some embodiments of the invention further provide for more comprehensive confirmation following an interruption.

Claims

1. A method of performing tasks using interactive audio comprising:

executing a task using an audio interactive interface on a mobile system;

detecting one or more task boundaries in the task;

receiving an interrupt during task execution;

storing task state information;

receiving an indication that task execution is to be resumed;

loading the stored task state information; and

generating one or more audio confirmations specifying one or more completed portions of the task,

wherein the audio confirmations are selected based on a first task boundary proximate to a point in task execution when the interrupt is received.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the first task boundary is the next task boundary in task execution.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein the first task boundary is the most recently detected task boundary.

4. The method of claim 1 further comprising generating one or more audio confirmations at each task boundary.

5. The method of claim 1 further comprising generating a first audio confirmation if the interrupt occurs at a first task boundary and generating another audio confirmation if the interrupt does not occur at a boundary.

6. The method of claim 1 further comprising generating a first audio confirmation if the interrupt occurs at a first task boundary and generating another audio confirmation if the interrupt occurs at another boundary.

7. The method of claim 1 further comprising asserting the interrupt only at a task boundary.

8. The method of claim 1 further comprising storing information corresponding to one or more partially completed steps of a task if the interrupt does not occur at a task boundary.

9. The method of claim 1 wherein the interrupt comprises receiving another task having a higher priority than the task being executed.

10. The method of claim 1 wherein the interrupt comprises receiving mobile system state information.

11. The method of claim 1 wherein said mobile system is a vehicle, and wherein the interrupt comprises receiving vehicle state information.

12. The method of claim 1 further comprising before loading the task state information, generating an audio prompt to a user to select between a previously executing task and another task.

13. The method of claim 1 wherein the task is represented as a template.

14. The method of claim 1 further comprising storing a plurality of documents, wherein each document has an associated task and associated task priority information.

15. The method of claim 1 further comprising before loading the task state information, accessing task priority information and generating an audio prompt to a user to select between a previously executing task and another task having a higher priority.

16. The method of claim 1 further comprising generating a summary of partially completed or interrupted tasks.

17. The method of claim 1 further comprising automatically downloading one or more partially completed or interrupted tasks when the mobile device is activated.

18. The method of claim 1 further comprising storing a record of interrupted tasks in the mobile device and generating an audio summary of the interrupted tasks.

19. An interactive audio system on a mobile system comprising:

a text-to-speech translator;

a speech recognizer; and

a task execution engine for executing a task and detecting one or more task boundaries,

wherein if an interrupt is received during task execution, task state information is stored, and wherein the stored task state information is loaded after the interrupt,

wherein said system generates one or more audio confirmations specifying one or more completed portions of the task when the task is resumed,

and wherein the audio confirmations are selected based on a first task boundary proximate to a point in task execution when the interrupt is received.

20. The system of claim 19 wherein one or more audio confirmations are generated at each task boundary.

21. The system of claim 19 wherein information corresponding to one or more partially completed steps of a task is stored if the interrupt does not occur at a task boundary.

22. The system of claim 19 wherein the interrupt is generated if another task having a higher priority than the task being executed is received by the system.

23. The system of claim 19 wherein the interrupt is generated if the mobile system receives predefined state information.

24. The system of claim 19 wherein said mobile system is a vehicle, and wherein the interrupt comprises receiving vehicle state information.

25. The system of claim 19 wherein, before the task state information is loaded, an audio prompt is generated to a user to select between a previously executing task and another task.

26. The system of claim 19 wherein the task is represented as a template.

27. The system of claim 19 wherein each task includes associated task priority information, and wherein an audio prompt to a user is generated to select between a previously executing task and another task having a higher priority.

28. A computer-readable medium containing instructions for controlling a computer system to perform a method of performing tasks using interactive audio, the method comprising:

executing a task using an audio interactive interface on a mobile system;

detecting one or more task boundaries in the task;

receiving an interrupt during task execution;

storing task state information;

receiving an indication that task execution is to be resumed;

loading the stored task state information; and

generating one or more audio confirmations specifying one or more completed portions of the task,

wherein the audio confirmations are selected based on a first task boundary proximate to a point in task execution when the interrupt is received.

29. The computer-readable medium of claim 28 further comprising generating one or more audio confirmations at each task boundary.

30. The computer-readable medium of claim 28, the method further comprising generating a first audio confirmation if the interrupt occurs at a first task boundary and generating another audio confirmation if the interrupt does not occur at a boundary.

31. The computer-readable medium of claim 28, the method further comprising generating a first audio confirmation if the interrupt occurs at a first task boundary and generating another audio confirmation if the interrupt occurs at another boundary.

32. The computer-readable medium of claim 28, the method further comprising storing information corresponding to one or more partially completed steps of a task if the interrupt does not occur at a task boundary.

33. The computer-readable medium of claim 28, the method further comprising specifying a number of prompts to be generated after completing a portion of a task.

34. The computer-readable medium of claim 28, the method further comprising specifying a number of prompts to be generated after resuming an interrupted task.

35. The computer-readable medium of claim 28 wherein the interrupt comprises receiving another task having a higher priority than the task being executed.

36. The computer-readable medium of claim 28 wherein the interrupt comprises receiving mobile system state information.

37. The computer-readable medium of claim 28, the method further comprising, before loading the task state information, generating an audio prompt to a user to select between a previously executing task and another task.

38. The computer-readable medium of claim 28, the method further comprising storing a plurality of documents, wherein each document has an associated task and associated task priority information.

39. The computer-readable medium of claim 28, the method further comprising, before loading the task state information, accessing task priority information and generating an audio prompt to a user to select between a previously executing task and another task having a higher priority.