PROVIDING AN INDICATION OF THE SUITABILITY OF SPEECH RECOGNITION

• US 20160093291A1
• Filed: 08/24/2015
• Published: 03/31/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 09/30/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Original Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Inventors: KIM, Yoon
• Granted Patent: US 10,074,360 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 15/01 Assessment or evaluation of speech recognition systems
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 15/22 Procedures used during a speech recognition process, e.g. man-machine dialogue
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 25/60 for measuring the quality of voice signals
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 29/008 Visual indication of individual signal levels visual indication of stereophonic sound image H04S7/40

Abstract

This relates to providing an indication of the suitability of an acoustic environment for performing speech recognition. One process can include receiving an audio input and determining a speech recognition suitability based on the audio input. The speech recognition suitability can include a numerical, textual, graphical, or other representation of the suitability of an acoustic environment for performing speech recognition. The process can further include displaying a visual representation of the speech recognition suitability to indicate the likelihood that a spoken user input will be interpreted correctly. This allows a user to determine whether to proceed with the performance of a speech recognition process, or to move to a different location having a better acoustic environment before performing the speech recognition process. In some examples, the user device can disable operation of a speech recognition process in response to determining that the speech recognition suitability is below a threshold suitability.

Claims

1. A method for operating a virtual assistant, the method comprising:

at an electronic device;

receiving an audio input;

determining a speech recognition suitability based on the audio input, wherein the speech recognition suitability represents a suitability of an acoustic environment of the electronic device for speech recognition; and

in accordance with a determination of the speech recognition suitability, displaying a visual representation of the speech recognition suitability.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the speech recognition suitability based on the audio input comprises:

determining one or more characteristics of the acoustic environment based on the audio input; and

determining the speech recognition suitability based on the one or more characteristics of the acoustic environment.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the one or more characteristics of the acoustic environment comprises a signal to noise ratio for a first frequency band of the acoustic environment.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the one or more characteristics of the acoustic environment comprises a type of noise detected in the first frequency band.

5. The method of claim 2, wherein the one or more characteristics of the acoustic environment comprises a signal to noise ratio for a second frequency band of the acoustic environment.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the one or more characteristics of the acoustic environment comprises a type of noise detected in the second frequency band.

7. The method of claim 2, wherein the one or more characteristics of the acoustic environment comprises a number of transient noises detected in a buffer comprising previously recorded audio of the acoustic environment.

8. The method of claim 2, wherein determining the speech recognition suitability based on the audio input comprises:

determining a speech recognition suitability vector based on the audio input, wherein the speech recognition suitability vector comprises one or more elements that represent the one or more characteristics of the acoustic environment; and

using a neural network to determine the speech recognition suitability based on the speech recognition suitability vector.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the visual representation comprises one or more bars, and wherein a value of the speech recognition suitability is represented by a number of the one or more bars.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the visual representation comprises an icon, and wherein a value of the speech recognition suitability is represented by a color of the icon.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the icon comprises an image of a microphone.

12. The method of claim 10, wherein displaying the visual representation of the speech recognition suitability comprises:

determining whether a value of the speech recognition suitability is less than a threshold value;

in accordance with a determination that the value of the speech recognition suitability is less than the threshold value, displaying the icon in a grayed out state; and

in accordance with a determination that the value of the speech recognition suitability is not less than the threshold value, displaying the icon in a non-grayed out state.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the method further comprises:

determining whether a user selection of the icon is received;

in accordance with a determination that the user selection of the icon is received while the icon is displayed in the non-grayed out state, performing speech recognition on an audio input received subsequent to receiving the user selection of the icon; and

in accordance with a determination that the user selection of the icon is received while the icon is displayed in the grayed out state, forgoing the performance of speech recognition on the audio input received subsequent to receiving the user selection of the icon.

14. The method of claim 12, wherein the method further comprises:

in accordance with a determination that the value of the speech recognition suitability is less than the threshold value, outputting a message indicating a low suitability of the acoustic environment of the electronic device for speech recognition.

15. The method of claim 1, wherein the visual representation comprises a textual representation of the speech recognition suitability.

16. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the speech recognition suitability based on the audio input comprises periodically determining the speech recognition suitability based on the audio input, and wherein displaying the visual representation of the speech recognition suitability comprises updating the display of the visual representation of the speech recognition suitability in accordance with the periodically determined speech recognition suitability.

17. The method of claim 1, wherein the speech recognition suitability comprises a numerical value.

18. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium for operating a virtual assistant, the computer-readable storage medium comprising instructions for:

receiving an audio input;

determining a speech recognition suitability based on the audio input, wherein the speech recognition suitability represents a suitability of an acoustic environment of the electronic device for speech recognition; and

in accordance with a determination of the speech recognition suitability, displaying a visual representation of the speech recognition suitability.

19. A system for operating a virtual assistant, the system comprising:

one or more processors;

memory; and

one or more programs, wherein the one or more programs are stored in the memory and configured to be executed by the one or more processors, the one or more programs including instructions for;

receiving an audio input;

determining a speech recognition suitability based on the audio input, wherein the speech recognition suitability represents a suitability of an acoustic environment of the electronic device for speech recognition; and

in accordance with a determination of the speech recognition suitability, displaying a visual representation of the speech recognition suitability.

20. The system of claim 19, wherein the instructions for determining the speech recognition suitability based on the audio input comprises instructions for:

determining one or more characteristics of the acoustic environment based on the audio input; and

determining the speech recognition suitability based on the one or more characteristics of the acoustic environment.