Assisted Media Presentation

• US 20120116778A1
• Filed: 11/04/2010
• Published: 05/10/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 11/04/2010
• Status: Active Application

• Current Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Original Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Inventors: Fleizach, Christopher B., Hudson, Reginald Dean, Seymour, Eric Taylor
• Granted Patent: US 10,276,148 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 704/271
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 13/0335 Pitch control

Abstract

A system and method is disclosed that uses screen reader like functionality to speak information presented on a graphical user interface displayed by a media presentation system, including information that is not navigable by a remote control device. Information can be spoken in an order that follows a relative importance of the information based on a characteristic of the information or the location of the information within the graphical user interface. A history of previously spoken information is monitored to avoid speaking information more than once for a given graphical user interface. A different pitch can be used to speak information based on a characteristic of the information. Information that is not navigable by the remote control device can be spoken after time delay. Voice prompts can be provided for a remote-driven virtual keyboard displayed by the media presentation system. The voice prompts can be spoken with different voice pitches.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

causing a graphical user interface to be displayed by a media presentation system;

identifying navigable and non-navigable information presented on the graphical user interface;

converting the navigable and non-navigable information into speech; and

outputting the speech in an order that follows a relative importance of the converted information based on a characteristic or a location of the converted information within the graphical user interface,

where the method is performed by one or more computer processors.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

identifying information that has been spoken and information that has not been spoken; and

outputting speech corresponding to information that has not been spoken.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

outputting speech corresponding to a first portion of information with a first pitch and outputting speech corresponding to a second portion of information with a second pitch that is higher or lower than the first pitch.

4. The method of claim 1, where outputting the speech in an order, further comprises:

speaking a screen label for the graphical user interface.

5. The method of claim 1, where outputting the speech in an order, further comprises:

waiting a time period before outputting speech converted from non-navigable information displayed on the graphical user interface.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving input from a remote control device; and

responsive to the input, repeating outputting speech for converted information on the graphical user interface.

7. The method of claim 2, where identifying information that has not been spoken, further comprises:

monitoring a history of information displayed on the graphical user interface that has been spoken; and

determining information that has not been spoken based on the history.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

prior to performing the method;

displaying a setup graphical user interface on the media presentation system;

causing a time delay for a predetermined time period; and

after the time period expires, outputting a voice prompt requesting entry of input from a remote control device to start the method.

9. The method of claim 1, where the speech is outputted in a voice pitch that varies based on the information type.

10. A method comprising:

causing a virtual keyboard to be displayed by a media presentation system;

receiving input from a remote control device selecting a key of the virtual keyboard; and

outputting speech corresponding to the selected key,

where the method is performed by one or more computer processors.

11. The method of claim 10, further comprising:

causing an input field to be displayed by the media presentation system;

outputting speech corresponding to contents of the input field in a continuous manner; and

after the contents are spoken, causing each character, number, symbol or command in the content to be spoken.

12. The method of claim 10, further comprising:

prior to receiving the first input, outputting speech describing the virtual keyboard.

13. The method of claim 10, where outputting speech corresponding to a key of the virtual keyboard, further comprises:

outputting speech corresponding to a first key with a first voice pitch; and

outputting speech corresponding to a second key with a second voice pitch, where the first voice pitch is higher or lower than the second voice pitch.

14. A system comprising:

one or more processors;

memory coupled to the one or more processors and storing instructions, which, when executed by the one or more processors, causes the one or more processors to perform operations comprising;

causing a graphical user interface to be displayed by a media presentation system;

identifying navigable and non-navigable information presented on the graphical user interface;

converting the navigable and non-navigable information into speech; and

outputting the speech in an order that follows a relative importance of the converted information based on a characteristic or a location of the converted information within the graphical user interface,

where the method is performed by one or more computer processors.

15. The system of claim 14, further comprising instructions for:

identifying information that has been spoken and information that has not been spoken; and

outputting speech corresponding to information that has not been spoken.

16. The system of claim 14, further comprising instructions for:

outputting a first portion of information with a first pitch and a second portion of information with a second pitch that is different than the first pitch.

17. The system of claim 14, where outputting the speech in an order, further comprises:

responsive to the change, speaking a screen label for the graphical user interface.

18. The system of claim 14, where outputting the speech in an order, further comprises:

waiting a period of time before outputting speech converted from non-navigable information displayed on the graphical user interface.

19. The system of claim 14, further comprising instructions for:

receiving input from a remote control device; and

responsive to the input, repeating outputting speech for converted information on the graphical user interface.

20. The system of claim 15, where identifying information that has not been spoken, further comprises:

monitoring a history of information displayed on the graphical user interface that has been spoken; and

determining information that has not been spoken based on the history.

21. The system of claim 14, further comprising instructions for:

displaying a setup graphical user interface on the media presentation system;

causing a time delay for a predetermined time period; and

after the time period expires, outputting a voice prompt requesting entry of input from a remote control device to start the method.

22. The system of claim 14, where the speech is outputted in a voice pitch that varies based on a characteristic of the information.

23. A system comprising:

one or more processors;

memory coupled to the one or more processors and storing instructions, which, when executed by the one or more processors, causes the one or more processors to perform operations comprising;

causing a virtual keyboard to be displayed by a media presentation system;

receiving input from a remote control device selecting a key of the virtual keyboard; and

outputting speech corresponding to the selected key,

where the method is performed by one or more computer processors.

24. The system of claim 23, further comprising instructions for:

causing an input field to be displayed by the media presentation system;

outputting speech corresponding to contents of the input field in a continuous manner; and

after the contents are spoken, causing each character, number, symbol or command in the content to be spoken one at a time.

25. The system of claim 23, further comprising instructions for:

prior to receiving the first input, outputting speech describing the virtual keyboard.

26. The system of claim 23, where speaking a key of the virtual keyboard, further comprises:

outputting speech corresponding to a first key with a first voice pitch; and

outputting speech corresponding to a second key with a second voice pitch, where the first voice pitch is higher or lower than the second voice pitch.