Hypertext navigation system controlled by spoken words

• US 6,859,777 B2
• Filed: 01/17/2001
• Issued: 02/22/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 11/14/1994
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Tamiras Per Pte Ltd LLC (Intellectual Ventures LLC)
• Original Assignee: Siemens AG
• Inventors: Krasle, Darin Edward
• Primary Examiner(s): ARMSTRONG, ANGELA A
• Application Number:
  US09/764,792
• Publication Number:
  US 20010002466A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,497 Days
• Field of Search: 704/270, 704/270.1, 704/275, 704/272, 704/200, 704/235, 704/243, 704/239, 704/240, 704/249, 704/254, 704/260, 704/231, 704/246, 704/251, 704/257, 704/252, 704/276, 704/256
• US Class Current: 704/270.1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/748 Hypervideo linking data to content, e.g. by linking an URL to a video object in the context of video distribution systems H04N21/858
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/16 Sound input; Sound output speech processing G10L
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 2015/228 of application context
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/4938 comprising a voice browser which renders and interprets, e.g. VoiceXML

Abstract

A hypertext navigation system that is controllable by spoken words has hypertext documents to which specific dictionaries and probability models for assisting in an acoustic voice recognition of hyper-links of this hypertext document are allocated. Control of a hypertext viewer or, respectively, browser and navigation in the hypertext document or hypertext system by pronouncing links is provided. The voice recognition is thereby optimally adapted to the links to be recognized without these having to be previously known.

Claims

1. A hypertext navigation system controllable by spoken words, comprising:

a means for recognizing spoken language; and

means for adapting said means for recognizing spoken language to contents of hypertext documents.

2. A hypertext navigation system according to claim 1, wherein said hypertext navigation system is used to navigate the World Wide Web.

3. A hypertext navigation system according to claim 2, wherein said hypertext documents are files using HTML.

4. A hypertext navigation system according to claim 1, wherein said hypertext navigation system is used to navigate help files on a computer.

5. A hypertext navigation system according to claim 1, wherein said hypertext documents are further linked to other hypertext documents through hypertext character sequences.

6. A hypertext document for use with a system for recognizing spoken language, comprising:

hypertext character sequences for hypertext navigation in said hypertext document; and

further data associated with said hypertext document, said further data comprising entries allocated to character sequences of said hypertext document, said further data assisting said system for recognizing spoken language in recognition of spoken words that correspond to said hypertext character sequences of said hypertext document.

7. A hypertext document according to claim 6, wherein said further data include a dictionary and a probability model, said dictionary containing said hypertext character sequences of said hypertext document and phoneme sequences allocated to said hypertext character sequences as entries, and wherein said probability model includes probabilities for matching said phoneme sequences to spoken words to make it possible for said system for recognizing spoken language to allocate a spoken word or a sequence of spoken words to an entry of said dictionary.

8. A hypertext document according to claim 6, wherein said hypertext document is a file using HTML.

9. A hypertext navigation system controllable by spoken words, comprising:

means for recognizing spoken language; and

means for adapting said means for recognizing to contents of hypertext documents, comprising;

hypertext character sequences for hypertext navigation in said hypertext document; and

further data allocated to said hypertext document, said further data assisting said system for recognizing spoken language in recognition of spoken words that correspond to said hypertext character sequences of said hypertext document.

10. A hypertext navigation system controllable by spoken words, comprising:

means for recognizing spoken language; and

means for adapting said means for recognizing to contents of hypertext documents, comprising;

hypertext character sequences for hypertext navigation in said hypertext document; and

further data allocated to said hypertext document, said further data assisting said system for recognizing spoken language in recognition of spoken words that correspond to said hypertext character sequences of said hypertext document, wherein said further data include a dictionary and a probability model, said dictionary containing said hypertext character sequences of said hypertext document and phoneme sequences allocated to said hypertext character sequences as entries in said dictionary, and wherein said probability model makes it possible for said system for recognizing spoken language to allocate a spoken word or a sequence of spoken words to an entry of said dictionary.

11. A hypertext navigation system controllable by spoken words as claimed in claim 10, whereby said dictionary and said probability model allocated to a hypertext document or to a part of a hypertext document are produced at run time and the voice recognition system is reconfigured at run time.

12. A hypertext navigation system controllable by spoken words as claimed in claim 10, whereby, based on definition of a user, said dictionaries and said probability models that have been produced for at least portions of hypertext documents which have been already at least partially displayed are stored so that said dictionaries and said probability models are accessed in case of a renewed display of said at least portions of hypertext documents.

13. A hypertext navigation system controllable by spoken words, comprising:

a) means for recognizing spoken language to allocate a spoken word or a sequence of spoken words to entries of a dictionary or of a plurality of dictionaries;

b) at least one first dictionary containing character sequences of a hypertext document serving a purpose of hypertext navigation and containing phoneme sequences allocated to said character sequences as entries; and

c) at least one second dictionary that contains instructions of the hypertext navigation system as entries.

14. A hypertext navigation system controllable by spoken words, comprising:

a) means for recognizing spoken language to allocate a spoken word or a sequence of spoken words to entries of a dictionary or of a plurality of dictionaries;

b) at least one dictionary containing character sequences of a hypertext document serving a purpose of hypertext navigation and containing phoneme sequences allocated to said character sequences as entries, at least a portion of said at least one dictionary containing instructions of the hypertext navigation system as entries.

15. A hypertext navigation system controllable by spoken words as claimed in claim 14, wherein said hypertext navigation system is selectively controllable in a traditional way by selection of character sequences using a pointing device.

16. A method for generating a hypertext document having a dictionary and a probability model, said dictionary containing said hypertext character sequences of said hypertext document and phoneme sequences allocated to said hypertext character sequences as entries, and wherein said probability model makes it possible for said system for said system for recognizing spoken language to allocate a spoken word or a sequence of spoken words to an entry of said dictionary from a traditional hypertext document, comprising the steps of:

investigating a source text of a traditional hypertext document for character sequences that serve a purpose of hypertext navigation, extracting said character sequences from said source text;

allocating phoneme sequences to said character sequences;

entering said character sequences and appertaining phoneme sequences into a dictionary; and

producing a probability model for an acoustic voice recognition system for entries of said dictionary.

17. A method as claimed in claim 16, further comprising the step of:

entering instructions of the hypertext navigation system together with phoneme sequences corresponding to said instructions into said dictionary in addition to said character sequences that serve the purpose of hypertext navigation.

18. A hypertext document for use with a system for recognizing spoken language, comprising:

hypertext character sequences for hypertext navigation in said hypertext document, said hypertext character sequences being potentially unknown words to said system for recognizing spoken language; and

further data allocated to said hypertext document, said further data including spoken language elements corresponding to said hypertext character sequences for assisting said system for recognizing spoken language in recognition of spoken words that correspond to said hypertext character sequences of said hypertext document and in activation of corresponding hypertext navigation functions.

19. A hypertext navigation system controllable by spoken words, comprising:

means for recognizing spoken language; and

means for adapting said means for recognizing to potentially unknown words of hypertext documents, comprising;

hypertext character sequences being the potentially unknown words for hypertext navigation in said hypertext document; and

further data allocated to said hypertext document including a set of acceptable spoken words corresponding to said hypertext character sequences, said further data assisting said system for recognizing spoken language in recognition of spoken words of a user that correspond to said hypertext character sequences of said hypertext document and in activating hypertext navigation functions corresponding to said hypertext character sequences.

20. A hypertext navigation system controllable by spoken words, comprising:

means for recognizing spoken language; and

means for adapting said means for recognizing to potentially unknown words of hypertext documents, comprising;

hypertext character sequences being the potentially unknown words for hypertext navigation in said hypertext document; and

further data allocated to said hypertext document, said further data assisting said system for recognizing spoken language in recognition of spoken words that correspond to said hypertext character sequences of said hypertext document, wherein said further data include a dictionary and a probability model, said dictionary containing said hypertext character sequences identified from said hypertext document and phoneme sequences allocated to said hypertext character sequences as entries in said dictionary, and wherein said probability model makes it possible for said system for recognizing spoken language of a user to allocate a spoken word or a sequence of spoken words to an entry of said dictionary and activate a function corresponding to said hypertext character sequence.

21. A hypertext navigation system to navigate a hypertext document, comprising:

a voice recognition device to recognize a voice input, associate the voice input with a vocabulary entry and supply an output command;

a navigation system to receive the output command from the voice recognition device and navigate access from a first hypertext document portion to a second hypertext document portion; and

an adaptable dictionary storing vocabulary entries which change based on character sequences contained in the hypertext document portion, which is currently being accessed by the navigation system.

22. A hypertext navigation system to navigate at least a portion of the World Wide Web, comprising:

a voice recognition device to recognize a voice input, associate the voice input with a vocabulary entry and supply an output command;

a navigation system to receive the output command from the voice recognition device and navigate access on the World Wide Web from a first hypertext document portion to a second hypertext document portion; and

an adaptable dictionary storing vocabulary entries which change based on the content of the hypertext document portion, which is currently being accessed by the navigation system.

23. A hypertext navigation system according to claim 22, wherein

the navigation system navigates access from a first hypertext document to a second hypertext document;

and

the adaptable dictionary changes vocabulary entries based on the content of the hypertext document, which is currently being accessed by the navigation system.