Simulated Conversation by Pre-Recorded Audio Navigator

• US 20130226588A1
• Filed: 02/28/2012
• Published: 08/29/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 02/28/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Disney Enterprises Incorporated (The Walt Disney Company)
• Original Assignee: Disney Enterprises Incorporated (The Walt Disney Company)
• Inventors: Irmler, Holger, Kalama, Asa K., Rouse, Cory J., Scanlon, Raymond J., Strong, Brent D., Johnson, Rene M., Stone, Andrew
• Granted Patent: US 8,874,444 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 704/275
• CPC Class Codes: A63H 30/00 Remote-control arrangements specially adapted for toys, e.g. for toy vehicles steering mechanisms for toy vehicles A63H17/36; for model railways A63H19/24, A63H19/28
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3608 using speech input, e.g. using speech recognition
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 13/00 Speech synthesis; Text to speech systems
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 13/027 Concept to speech synthesisers; Generation of natural phrases from machine-based concepts generation of parameters for speech synthesis out of text G10L13/08

Abstract

A method is provided for a simulated conversation by a pre-recorded audio navigator, with particular application to informational and entertainment settings. A monitor may utilize a navigation interface to select pre-recorded responses in the voice of a character represented by a performer. The pre-recorded responses may then be queued and sent to a speaker proximate to the performer. By careful organization of an audio database including audio buckets and script-based navigation with shifts for tailoring to specific guest user profiles and environmental contexts, a convincing and dynamic simulated conversation may be carried out while providing the monitor with a user-friendly navigation interface. Thus, highly specialized training is not necessary and flexible scaling to large-scale deployments is readily supported.

Claims

1. A computing device for providing a simulated conversation with a guest using a pre-recorded audio, the computing device comprising:

a processor configured to;

initialize a present state according to a script in a database;

receive a navigation input;

modify the present state using the script and the navigation input;

determine an audio segment of the pre-recorded audio to add to a queue based on the present state;

process the queue to output the audio segment to a speaker proximate to a performer for the simulated conversation.

2. The computing device of claim 1, wherein the navigation input is received in response to an audiovisual monitoring of the guest.

3. The computing device of claim 1, wherein the navigation input is received by a selection from a joystick or a user interface on a display.

4. The computing device of claim 1, wherein the navigation input comprises a movement to a next or previous state of the script.

5. The computing device of claim 1, wherein the navigation input comprises a shift of the script based on a user profile information of the guest.

6. The computing device of claim 5, wherein the user profile information is referenced from a RFID tag of the guest.

7. The computing device of claim 1, wherein the navigation input comprises a shift of the script based an event environment where the simulated conversation takes place.

8. The computing device of claim 1, wherein the audio segment is referenced from an audio bucket containing a plurality of lines each representing a variation of a conversation theme.

9. The computing device of claim 1, wherein the present state includes a present loop state for the determining of the audio segment.

10. A method for providing a simulated conversation with a guest using a pre-recorded audio, the method comprising:

initializing a present state according to a script in a database;

receiving a navigation input;

modifying the present state using the script and the navigation input;

determining an audio segment of the pre-recorded audio to add to a queue based on the present state;

processing the queue to output the audio segment to a speaker for the simulated conversation.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the navigation input is received in response to an audiovisual monitoring of the guest.

12. The method of claim 10, wherein the navigation input is received by a selection from a joystick or a user interface on a display.

13. The method of claim 10, wherein the navigation input comprises a movement to a next or previous state of the script.

14. The method of claim 10, wherein the navigation input comprises a shift of the script.

15. The method of claim 10, wherein the audio segment is referenced from an audio bucket containing a plurality of lines each representing a variation of a conversation theme.

16. The method of claim 10, wherein the present state includes a present loop state for the determining of the audio segment.

17. A system for providing a simulated conversation with a guest using a pre-recorded audio, the system comprising:

a speaker proximate to a performer;

a computing device comprising a processor configured to;

initialize a present state according to a script in a database;

receive a navigation input;

modify the present state using the script and the navigation input;

determine an audio segment of the pre-recorded audio to add to a queue based on the present state;

process the queue to output the audio segment to the speaker for the simulated conversation.

18. The system of claim 17, further comprising a camera, wherein the navigation input is received in response to an audiovisual monitoring of the guest using the camera.

19. The system of claim 17, wherein the navigation input comprises a shift of the script based on a user profile information of the guest.

20. The system of claim 17, further comprising a joystick input device, wherein the navigation input is received from the joystick input device.