GENERIC VIRTUAL PERSONAL ASSISTANT PLATFORM

• US 20130152092A1
• Filed: 12/08/2011
• Published: 06/13/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 12/08/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: SRI International, Inc.
• Original Assignee: SRI International, Inc.
• Inventors: YADGAR, OSHER
• Granted Patent: US 9,082,402 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 718/102
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/40 Processing or translation of natural language natural language analysis G06F40/20; semantic analysis G06F40/30
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 15/1815 Semantic context, e.g. disambiguation of the recognition hypotheses based on word meaning
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 15/1822 Parsing for meaning understanding
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 15/19 Grammatical context, e.g. disambiguation of the recognition hypotheses based on word sequence rules
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 15/22 Procedures used during a speech recognition process, e.g. man-machine dialogue
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 2015/223 Execution procedure of a spoken command
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/4936 Speech interaction details speech recognition per se G10L15/00

Abstract

A method for assisting a user with one or more desired tasks is disclosed. For example, an executable, generic language understanding module and an executable, generic task reasoning module are provided for execution in the computer processing system. A set of run-time specifications is provided to the generic language understanding module and the generic task reasoning module, comprising one or more models specific to a domain. A language input is then received from a user, an intention of the user is determined with respect to one or more desired tasks, and the user is assisted with the one or more desired tasks, in accordance with the intention of the user.

Claims

1. A method, using a computer processing system, for assisting a user with one or more desired tasks within a domain, comprising:

providing an executable, generic language understanding module for execution in the computer processing system;

providing an executable, generic task reasoning module for execution in the computer processing system;

providing a set of run-time specifications to the generic language understanding module and the generic task reasoning module, comprising one or more models specific to the domain;

receiving a language input from the user;

determining an intention of the user with respect to the one or more desired tasks from the language input, by the generic language understanding module utilizing the models specific to the domain; and

assisting the user with the one or more desired tasks, in accordance with the intention of the user, by the generic task reasoning module utilizing the models specific to the domain.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the language input of the user comprises a portion of a dialog with the computer processing system having multiple rounds, and wherein the determining the intention of the user includes considering, during a given round of the dialog, a previous intention of the user determined during one or more previous rounds of the dialog.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the models specific to the domain utilized by the generic language understanding module include a language model.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the language model comprises a grammar and an ontology.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the models specific to the domain that are utilized by the generic task reasoning module include a task flow model.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the intention of the user includes considering feedback from the task reasoning module.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the generic language understanding module comprises an utterance-level understanding component.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the generic language understanding module comprises a context-level understanding component.

9. The method of claim 1, further including providing an executable speech recognition engine for execution on the computer processing system;

and wherein receiving the language input from the user includes receiving voice input from the user, and converting the voice input to text using the speech recognition engine.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the language input comprises a natural language input.

11. The method of claim 1, further including receiving an additional input including at least one of:

a current geographical location of the user, an interaction context of the user within a web page, an image input or a non-natural language command; and

wherein determining the intention of the user includes considering the additional input.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the desired tasks include at least one of:

content search;

content retrieval; and

transaction completion.

13. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

executing the one or more desired tasks with the computer processing system.

14. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

generating the one or more models specific to the domain via a computer-assisted development tool to convert a graphical representation of at least one task flow into the set of run-time specifications.

15. A non-transitory computer-readable medium having stored thereon a plurality of instructions, the plurality of instructions including instructions which, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform a method for assisting a user with one or more desired tasks within a domain, comprising:

providing an executable, generic language understanding module for execution in the computer processing system;

providing an executable, generic task reasoning module for execution in the computer processing system;

providing a set of run-time specifications to the generic language understanding module and the generic task reasoning module, comprising one or more models specific to the domain;

receiving a language input from the user;

determining an intention of the user with respect to the one or more desired tasks from the language input, by the generic language understanding module utilizing the models specific to the domain; and

assisting the user with the one or more desired tasks, in accordance with the intention of the user, by the generic task reasoning module utilizing the models specific to the domain.

16. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15, wherein the language input of the user comprises a portion of a dialog with the computer processing system having multiple rounds, and wherein the determining the intention of the user includes considering, during a given round of the dialog, a previous intention of the user determined during one or more previous rounds of the dialog.

17. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15, wherein the models specific to the domain utilized by the generic language understanding module include a language model.

18. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 17, wherein the language model comprises a grammar and an ontology.

19. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15, wherein the models specific to the domain that are utilized by the generic task reasoning module include a task flow model.

20. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15, wherein determining the intention of the user includes considering feedback from the task reasoning module.

21. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15, wherein the generic language understanding module comprises an utterance-level understanding component.

22. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15, wherein the generic language understanding module comprises a context-level understanding component.

23. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15, wherein the method further includes providing an executable speech recognition engine for execution on the computer processing system;

and wherein receiving the language input from the user includes receiving voice input from the user, and converting the voice input to text using the speech recognition engine.

24. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15, wherein the language input comprises a natural language input.

25. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15, further including receiving an additional input including at least one of:

a current geographical location of the user, an interaction context of the user within a web page, an image input or a non-natural language command; and

wherein determining the intention of the user includes considering the additional input.

26. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15, wherein the desired tasks include at least one of:

content search;

content retrieval; and

transaction completion.

27. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15, further comprising:

generating the one or more models specific to the domain via a computer-assisted development tool to convert a graphical representation of at least one task flow into the set of run-time specifications.

28. An apparatus for assisting a user with one or more desired tasks within a domain, comprising:

a processor configured to;

execute a generic language understanding module;

execute a generic task reasoning module;

implement a set of run-time specifications in the generic language understanding module and in the generic task reasoning module, comprising one or more models specific to the domain;

receive a language input from the user;

determine an intention of the user with respect to the one or more desired tasks from the language input, via the generic language understanding module utilizing the models specific to the domain; and

assist the user with the one or more desired tasks, in accordance with the intention of the user, via the generic task reasoning module utilizing the models specific to the domain.