SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR INTERPRETING NATURAL LANGUAGE INPUTS BASED ON STORAGE OF THE INPUTS

• US 20160188292A1
• Filed: 12/28/2015
• Published: 06/30/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 12/30/2014
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Cerence Inc.
• Original Assignee: VoiceBox Technologies Corporation (Microsoft Corporation)
• Inventors: CARTER, Daniel B., KENNEWICK, Michael R. Jr.
• Application Number:
  US14/980,192
• Publication Number:
  US 20160188292A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/167 Audio in a user interface, e.g. using voice commands for navigating, audio feedback
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 15/1822 Parsing for meaning understanding
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 15/197 Probabilistic grammars, e.g. word n-grams
• 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: G10L 2015/227 of the speaker; Human-factor methodology
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 2015/228 of application context

Abstract

In certain implementations, a system and method for interpreting natural language inputs based on storage of the inputs is provided. A natural language input of a user may be obtained. The natural language input may be obtained via an input mode. The natural language input may be processed to determine a first interpretation of the natural language input. The natural language input may be stored based on a data format associated with the input mode. The natural language input may be obtained from storage. The natural language input obtained from storage may be reprocessed to determine a second interpretation of the natural language input.

Claims

1. A method of interpreting natural language inputs based on storage of the inputs, 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:

obtaining, by the computer system, a natural language input of a user, wherein the natural language input is initially obtained via an input mode;

processing, by the computer system, the natural language input to determine a first interpretation of the natural language input;

storing, by the computer system, the natural language input based on a data format associated with the input mode;

obtaining, by the computer system, the natural language input from storage; and

reprocessing, by the computer system, the natural language input obtained from storage to determine a second interpretation of the natural language input.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the natural language input comprises a natural language utterance of the user, and the data format comprises an audio format, and

wherein storing the natural language input comprises storing the natural language utterance based on the audio format.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the data format comprises a file format,

wherein storing the natural language input comprises storing, based on the file format, the natural language input as a file,

wherein obtaining the natural language input from storage comprises obtaining the file from storage, and

wherein reprocessing the natural language input comprises processing the file to determine the second interpretation.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein storing the natural language input comprises storing, based on the file format, the natural language input as a file in a database, and

wherein obtaining the natural language input from storage comprises obtaining the file from the database.

5. The method of claim 3, wherein storing the natural language input comprises storing, based on the file format, the natural language input as a file in a cache, and

wherein obtaining the natural language input from storage comprises obtaining the file from the cache.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the cache comprises a disk cache,

wherein storing the natural language input comprises storing, based on the file format, the natural language input in the disk cache, and

wherein obtaining the natural language input from the cache comprises obtaining the file from the disk cache.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein natural language input comprises a natural language utterance, and the data format comprises an audio format,

wherein processing the natural language input comprises (i) performing speech recognition on the natural language utterance to recognize one or more first words of the natural language utterance, and (ii) determining the first interpretation based on the one or more first words,

wherein storing the natural language input comprises storing the natural language utterance based on the audio format, and

wherein reprocessing the natural language input comprises (i) performing speech recognition on the natural language utterance obtained from storage to recognize one or more second words of the natural language utterance, and (ii) determining the second interpretation based on the one or more second words.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the audio format comprises an audio file format,

wherein storing the natural language utterance comprises storing, based on the audio file format, the natural language utterance as an audio file,

wherein obtaining the natural language input from storage comprises obtaining the audio file from storage, and

wherein reprocessing the natural language input comprises (i) processing the audio file to extract audio signals representing the natural language utterance, (ii) performing speech recognition on the audio signals to recognize the one or more second words, and (iii) determining the second interpretation based on the one or more second words.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

selecting, by the computer system, at least one of the first interpretation or the second interpretation; and

providing, by the computer system, a response to the natural language input based on the at least one selected interpretation.

10. The method of claim 9, further comprising:

generating, by the computer system, a confidence score for the first interpretation that represents the likelihood of the first interpretation being an accurate interpretation; and

generating, by the computer system, a confidence score for the second interpretation that represents the likelihood of the second interpretation being an accurate interpretation,

wherein selecting at least one of the first interpretation or the second interpretation comprises selecting at least one of the first interpretation or the second interpretation based on a comparison of the confidence score for the first interpretation and the confidence score for the second interpretation.

11. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining, by the computer system, whether the first interpretation sufficiently represents an intent of the user in providing the natural language input,

wherein obtaining the natural language input from storage comprises obtaining the natural language input from storage responsive to a determination that the first interpretation does not sufficiently represent the intent of the user in providing the natural language input, and

wherein reprocessing the natural language input comprises reprocessing the natural language input obtained from storage responsive to the determination that the first interpretation does not sufficiently represent the intent of the user in providing the natural language input.

12. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

generating, by the computer system, a confidence score for the first interpretation that represents the likelihood of the first interpretation being an accurate interpretation; and

determining, by the computer system, whether the confidence score for the first interpretation satisfies a confidence score threshold,

wherein the determination that the first interpretation does not sufficiently represent the intent of the user in providing the natural language input is based on a determination that the confidence score for the first interpretation does not satisfy the confidence score threshold.

13. The method of claim 12, further comprising:

generating, by the computer system, a confidence score for the second interpretation that represents the likelihood of the second interpretation being an accurate interpretation;

selecting, by the computer system, at least one of the first interpretation or the second interpretation based on a comparison of the confidence score for the first interpretation and the confidence score for the second interpretation; and

providing, by the computer system, a response to the natural language input based on the at least one selected interpretation.

14. A system of interpreting natural language inputs based on storage of the 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;

obtain a natural language input of a user, wherein the natural language utterance is initially obtained via an input mode;

process the natural language input to determine a first interpretation of the natural language input;

store the natural language input based on a data format associated with the input mode;

obtain the natural language input from storage; and

reprocess the natural language input obtained from storage to determine a second interpretation of the natural language input.

15. The system of claim 14, wherein the natural language input comprises a natural language utterance of the user, and the data format comprises an audio format,

wherein storing the natural language input comprises storing the natural language utterance based on the audio format.

16. The system of claim 14, wherein the data format comprises a file format,

wherein storing the natural language input comprises storing, based on the file format, the natural language input as a file,

wherein obtaining the natural language input from storage comprises obtaining the file from storage, and

wherein reprocessing the natural language input comprises processing the file to determine the second interpretation.

17. The system of claim 14, wherein natural language input comprises a natural language utterance, and the data format comprises an audio format,

wherein processing the natural language input comprises (i) performing speech recognition on the natural language utterance to recognize one or more first words of the natural language utterance, and (ii) determining the first interpretation based on the one or more first words,

wherein storing the natural language input comprises storing the natural language utterance based on the audio format, and

wherein reprocessing the natural language input comprises (i) performing speech recognition on the natural language utterance obtained from storage to recognize one or more second words of the natural language utterance, and (ii) determining the second interpretation based on the one or more second words.

18. The system of claim 17, wherein the audio format comprises an audio file format, and

wherein storing the natural language utterance comprises storing, based on the audio file format, the natural language utterance as an audio file,

wherein obtaining the natural language input from storage comprises obtaining the audio file from storage, and

wherein reprocessing the natural language input comprises (i) processing the audio file to extract audio signals representing the natural language utterance, (ii) performing speech recognition on the audio signals to recognize the one or more second words, and (iii) determining the second interpretation based on the one or more second words.

19. The system of claim 14, wherein the computer program instructions further cause the one or more physical processors to:

determine whether the first interpretation sufficiently represents an intent of the user in providing the natural language input,

wherein obtaining the natural language input from storage comprises obtaining the natural language input from storage responsive to a determination that the first interpretation does not sufficiently represent the intent of the user in providing the natural language input, and

wherein reprocessing the natural language input comprises reprocessing the natural language input obtained from storage responsive to the determination that the first interpretation does not sufficiently represent the intent of the user in providing the natural language input.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein the computer program instructions further cause the one or more physical processors to:

generate a confidence score for the first interpretation that represents the likelihood of the first interpretation being an accurate interpretation; and

determine whether the confidence score for the first interpretation satisfies a confidence score threshold,

wherein the determination that the first interpretation does not sufficiently represent the intent of the user in providing the natural language input is based on a determination that the confidence score for the first interpretation does not satisfy the confidence score threshold.