SYSTEM AND METHOD OF PROVIDING TASK-BASED SOLICITATION OF REQUEST RELATED USER INPUTS

• US 20160078773A1
• Filed: 09/16/2015
• Published: 03/17/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 09/17/2014
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: VoiceBox Technologies Corporation (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: VoiceBox Technologies Corporation (Microsoft Corporation)
• Inventors: Carter, Daniel B., Kennewick, Michael R.
• Application Number:
  US14/855,598
• Publication Number:
  US 20160078773A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G09B 7/02 of the type wherein the student is expected to construct an answer to the question which is presented or wherein the machine gives an answer to the question presented by a student

Abstract

In certain implementations, a training environment is provided. A task that is to be performed is provided. The task may relate to a user request that is invokeable in one or more other environments different than the training environment. One or more user inputs may be received for the training environment. A determination of whether performance of the task has been satisfied may be effectuated based on the one or more user inputs. A reward may be provided for a user in response to a determination that performance of the task has been satisfied. In some implementations, the determination of whether performance of the task has been satisfied may comprise a determination of whether the user request would have been invoked in the one or more other environments if the user inputs had been received for the one or more other environments.

Claims

1. A method of providing task-based solicitation of request-related user inputs in a training environment to facilitate natural language processing of request-related user inputs in an environment different than the training environment, the method being implemented on a computer system that includes one or more physical processors executing computer program instructions which, when executed by the one or more physical processors, perform the method, the method comprising:

providing, by the computer system, a training environment;

providing, by the computer system, a task that is to be performed, wherein the task is related to a user request that is invokeable in one or more other environments different than the training environment;

receiving, at the computer system, one or more user inputs for the training environment;

determining, by the computer system, whether performance of the task has been satisfied based on the one or more user inputs; and

providing, by the computer system, a reward for a user in response to a determination that performance of the task has been satisfied.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein determining whether performance of the task has been satisfied comprises determining whether the user request would have been invoked in the one or more other environments if the one or more user inputs had been received for the one or more other environments, and wherein providing the reward comprises providing the reward for the user in response to a determination that the user request would have been invoked in the one or more other environments if the one or more user inputs had been received for the one or more other environments.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving the one or more user inputs comprises receiving a representation of one or more words that are not specified by the task, and wherein determining whether performance of the task has been satisfied comprises determining whether performance of the task has been satisfied based on the one or more words.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the task specifies a set of words related to the user request, and wherein the set of words do not comprise the one or more words.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the task comprises a specified user action that is to be performed and that is related to the user request, wherein receiving the one or more user inputs comprises receiving a representation of the specified user action for the training environment, the method further comprising:

determining, by the computer system, a level of accuracy of the representation of the specified user action with respect to the specified user action;

determining, by the computer system, whether the level of accuracy satisfies a threshold level of accuracy associated with the training environment,

wherein the determination that performance of the task has been satisfied is based on the determination that the level of accuracy satisfies the threshold level of accuracy associated with the training environment, and

wherein the threshold level of accuracy associated with the training environment is different than a threshold level of accuracy for invoking the user request in the one or more other environments.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the threshold level of accuracy for invoking the user request in the one or more other environments is greater than the threshold level of accuracy associated with the training environment.

7. The method of claim 5, wherein the threshold level of accuracy for invoking the user request in the one or more other environments is less than the threshold level of accuracy associated with the training environment.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the user request is not invoked in the one or more other environments despite the determination that performance of the task has been satisfied.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the user request is not invoked in the one or more other environments despite the determination that the user request would have been invoked in the one or more other environments if the one or more user inputs had been received for the one or more other environments.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the user request is not invoked despite the determination that performance of the task has been satisfied.

11. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining, by the computer system, a level of efficiency of the one or more user inputs for invoking the user request in the one or more other environments,

wherein providing the reward comprises providing the reward for the user further in response to the level of efficiency.

12. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

providing, by the computer system, a second task that is to be performed, wherein the second task is related to a second user request that is invokeable in the one or more other environments;

receiving, at the computer system, one or more second user inputs for the training environment;

determining, by the computer system, whether performance of the second task has been satisfied based on the one or more second user inputs;

determining, by the computer system, a second level of efficiency of the one or more second user inputs for invoking the second user request in the one or more other environments, wherein the second level of efficiency is different than the level of efficiency of the one or more user inputs; and

providing, by the computer system, a second reward for a user in response to the second level of efficiency and a determination that performance of the second task has been satisfied such that the second reward is different than the reward based on the second level of efficiency being different than the first level of efficiency.

13. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining, by the computer system, an amount of guidance related to the task that is provided to the user prior to the receipt of the one or more user inputs,

wherein providing the reward comprises providing the reward for the user further in response to the amount of guidance.

14. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

storing, by the computer system, information regarding the one or more user inputs; and

determining, by the computer system, one or more user requests related to the task that are invokeable in the one or more other environments;

updating, by the computer system, grammar information associated with the one or more user requests based on the information regarding the one or more user inputs;

receiving, at the computer system, one or more other user inputs of another user for the one or more other environments; and

determining, by the computer system, at least one user request of the other user based on the one or more other user inputs and the updated grammar information.

15. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

updating, by the computer system, profile information associated with the user based on information regarding the one or more user inputs;

receiving, at the computer system, one or more other user inputs of the user for the one or more other environments; and

determining, by the computer system, at least one user request of the user based on the one or more other user inputs and the updated profile information.

16. The method of claim 1, wherein, prior to the determination that performance of the task has been satisfied, access of the user to one or more features associated with the one or more other environments is disabled, the method further comprising:

enabling, by the computer system, access of the user to the one or more features in response to the determination that performance of the task has been satisfied.

17. The method of claim 16, further comprising:

modifying, by the computer system, a level associated with the user from a first level of the training environment to a second level of the training environment in response to the determination that performance of the task has been satisfied,

wherein enabling access of the user to the one or more features comprises enabling access of the user to the one or more features associated with the one or more other environments in response to the modification of the level associated with the user.

18. The method of claim 16, wherein the one or more features comprises one or more user requests that are invokeable in the one or more other environments, and wherein enabling access of the user to the one or more features comprises enabling access of the user to invoke the one or more user requests in the one or more other environments in response to the determination that performance of the task has been satisfied.

23. The method of claim 1, wherein, prior to the determination that performance of the task has been satisfied, access of the user to one or more features available via the computer system is disabled, the method further comprising:

enabling, by the computer system, access of the user to the one or more features in response to the determination that performance of the task has been satisfied.

24. The method of claim 23, wherein the one or more features comprises one or more user requests available to at least one user of the computer system, and wherein enabling access of the user to the one or more features comprises enabling access of the user to invoke the one or more user requests via the computer system in response to the determination that performance of the task has been satisfied.

19. A method of providing task-based solicitation of request-related user inputs, the method being implemented on a computer system that includes one or more physical processors executing computer program instructions which, when executed, perform the method, the method comprising:

providing, by the computer system, a task that is to be performed and that is related to a user request;

receiving, at the computer system, one or more user inputs comprising a representation of one or more words that are not specified by the task;

determining, by the computer system, whether performance of the task has been satisfied based on the representation of the one or more words; and

providing, by the computer system, a reward for a user in response to a determination that performance of the task has been satisfied.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein the task specifies a set of words related to the user request, and wherein the set of words do not comprise the one or more words.

21. The method of claim 19, further comprising:

invoking, by the computer system, the user request in response to the receipt of the one or more user inputs; and

determining, by the computer system, a level of efficiency of the one or more user inputs in invoking the user request,

wherein providing the reward comprises providing the reward for the user further in response to the level of efficiency.

22. The method of claim 19, further comprising:

determining, by the computer system, an amount of guidance related to the task that is provided to the user prior to the receipt of the one or more user inputs,

wherein providing the reward comprises providing the reward for the user further in response to the amount of guidance.

25. A system for providing task-based solicitation of request-related user inputs in a training environment to facilitate natural language processing of request-related user inputs in an environment different than the training environment, the system comprising:

one or more physical processors programmed with computer program instructions which, when executed, cause the one or more physical processors to;

provide a training environment;

provide a task that is to be performed, wherein the task is related to a user request that is invokeable in one or more other environments different than the training environment;

receive one or more user inputs for the training environment;

determine whether performance of the task has been satisfied based on the one or more user inputs; and

provide a reward for a user in response to a determination that performance of the task has been satisfied.

26. The system of claim 25, wherein determining whether performance of the task has been satisfied comprises determining whether the user request would have been invoked in the one or more other environments if the one or more user inputs had been received for the one or more other environments, and wherein providing the reward comprises providing the reward for the user in response to a determination that the user request would have been invoked in the one or more other environments if the one or more user inputs had been received for the one or more other environments.

27. The system of claim 25, wherein receiving the one or more user inputs comprises receiving a representation of one or more words that are not specified by the task, and wherein determining whether performance of the task has been satisfied comprises determining whether performance of the task has been satisfied based on the one or more words.

28. The method of claim 27, wherein the task specifies a set of words related to the user request, and wherein the set of words do not comprise the one or more words.

29. A system of providing task-based solicitation of request-related user inputs, the system comprising:

one or more physical processors programmed with computer program instructions which, when executed, cause the one or more physical processors to;

provide a task that is to be performed and that is related to a user request;

receive one or more user inputs comprising a representation of one or more words that are not specified by the task;

determine whether performance of the task has been satisfied based on the representation of the one or more words; and

provide a reward for a user in response to a determination that performance of the task has been satisfied.

30. The system of claim 29, wherein the task specifies a set of words related to the user request, and wherein the set of words do not comprise the one or more words.