Method for Voice Activation of a Software Agent from Standby Mode
First Claim
1. A method for voice activation of a software agent, in particular of a personal assistant system from a standby mode, comprising:
- providing a microphone (2), an output device (3, 4), an audio buffer (6), and a hardware infrastructure which is able to execute a primary voice recognition process (8), a secondary voice recognition process (7) and a dialog system (9),continually buffering an audio recording (11) picked up by said microphone (2) in said audio buffer (6), so that said audio buffer (6) always contains the audio recording (11) of the most recent past, andinputting said audio recording (11) picked up by said microphone (2) to said secondary voice recognition process (7), which, on recognizing a keyword (18) or a phrase from a previously defined keyword- and phrase-catalog starts or activates (12) from an inactive state said primary voice recognition process (8) which converts the entire or most recent content (21, 17) of said audio buffer (6) as well as the subsequent live transmission (22) to text (13) and inputs this text (13) to said dialog system (9) which likewise starts or is activated (20) from an inactive state and analyzes the content of said text (13) as to whether it contains a question, a message or a request made by the user to said software agent, in which case, if it is answered in the affirmative, said dialog system (9) triggers an appropriate action or generates an appropriate reply (14) and contacts the user via said output device (3, 4) and otherwise, if said text (13) does not contain any relevant or any evaluable content, said dialog system (9) and at the latest then also said primary voice recognition process (8) return to the inactive state or terminate and again return the control to said secondary voice recognition process (7),whereby the interplay between said secondary voice recognition process (7) and said primary voice recognition process (8) helps to maximize the idle time of said primary voice recognition process (8) while the user still can ask said software agent complex questions in standby mode and he gets instant and final replies or actions without further interposed interaction steps such that the user has the impression that said software agent listens with the same attention in the standby mode as during regular operation.
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Abstract
A method for voice activation of a software agent from a standby mode. In one embodiment, an audio recording (2) is buffered in an audio buffer (6) and at the same time, the audio recording is input to a secondary voice recognition process (7) which is economical in terms of energy and has an increased false positive rate. When a keyword is recognized, a primary voice recognition process (8) is activated from an inactive state, which converts the audio buffer to text and inputs it to a dialog system (9) which analyzes as to whether there is a relevant question made by the user. If this is the case, the user gets an acoustic reply (3), and if this is not the case, the dialog system and the primary voice recognition process immediately return to the inactive state and transfer the control to the secondary voice recognition process.
362 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A method for voice activation of a software agent, in particular of a personal assistant system from a standby mode, comprising:
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providing a microphone (2), an output device (3, 4), an audio buffer (6), and a hardware infrastructure which is able to execute a primary voice recognition process (8), a secondary voice recognition process (7) and a dialog system (9), continually buffering an audio recording (11) picked up by said microphone (2) in said audio buffer (6), so that said audio buffer (6) always contains the audio recording (11) of the most recent past, and inputting said audio recording (11) picked up by said microphone (2) to said secondary voice recognition process (7), which, on recognizing a keyword (18) or a phrase from a previously defined keyword- and phrase-catalog starts or activates (12) from an inactive state said primary voice recognition process (8) which converts the entire or most recent content (21, 17) of said audio buffer (6) as well as the subsequent live transmission (22) to text (13) and inputs this text (13) to said dialog system (9) which likewise starts or is activated (20) from an inactive state and analyzes the content of said text (13) as to whether it contains a question, a message or a request made by the user to said software agent, in which case, if it is answered in the affirmative, said dialog system (9) triggers an appropriate action or generates an appropriate reply (14) and contacts the user via said output device (3, 4) and otherwise, if said text (13) does not contain any relevant or any evaluable content, said dialog system (9) and at the latest then also said primary voice recognition process (8) return to the inactive state or terminate and again return the control to said secondary voice recognition process (7), whereby the interplay between said secondary voice recognition process (7) and said primary voice recognition process (8) helps to maximize the idle time of said primary voice recognition process (8) while the user still can ask said software agent complex questions in standby mode and he gets instant and final replies or actions without further interposed interaction steps such that the user has the impression that said software agent listens with the same attention in the standby mode as during regular operation. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification