Mobile office with speech recognition
First Claim
1. A mobile information system in a vehicle for processing information which is wirelessly exchanged with a remote information server, comprising:
- a microphone for receiving spoken sounds;
a speech processor coupled to said microphone for recognizing said spoken sounds and identifying corresponding voice commands for processing said information;
a state controller responsive to commands including said voice commands from said speech processor, said state controller having a main menu mode and an electronic mail mode;
reconfigurable control elements coupled to said state controller and mounted on a steering wheel of said vehicle for generating control signals to select particular manual commands in accordance with a current state of said state controller;
a heads-up display coupled to said state controller and displaying at least one indicator above an instrument panel of said vehicle, said indicator identifying said manual commands available in said current state;
a voice synthesizer for generating audio output corresponding to said information; and
a wireless communication device for exchanging said information with said remote information server;
wherein said main menu mode provides selectable access to said electronic mail mode; and
wherein said electronic mail mode is comprised of
1) an “
initial mail”
state for selecting by voice command the reading of either old mail or new mail,
2) a “
reading note”
state wherein said old mail or new mail is reproduced by said voice synthesizer, and
3) a “
next/previous note”
state that is accessed from said “
reading note”
state to select a different electronic mail note for said “
reading note”
state in response to either a corresponding voice command or a manual command.
13 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A user interface for a mobile office is provided for allowing simple, safe, and convenient access to electronic mail, calendar, news, and web browser functions. The dialog or number of steps required to access desired items is minimized using a state controller responsive to voice commands and manual activations of reconfigurable steering wheel switches. Someone unfamiliar with the user interface is assisted by prompts for various commands and can use the mobile office without needing to resort to use of the reconfigurable steering wheel control elements. A more experienced user can bypass prompts by interrupting them with voice commands and can quickly move through various steps by utilizing the configurable steering wheel control elements to gain access to individual items within the mail, calendar, and news functions.
358 Citations
13 Claims
-
1. A mobile information system in a vehicle for processing information which is wirelessly exchanged with a remote information server, comprising:
-
a microphone for receiving spoken sounds;
a speech processor coupled to said microphone for recognizing said spoken sounds and identifying corresponding voice commands for processing said information;
a state controller responsive to commands including said voice commands from said speech processor, said state controller having a main menu mode and an electronic mail mode;
reconfigurable control elements coupled to said state controller and mounted on a steering wheel of said vehicle for generating control signals to select particular manual commands in accordance with a current state of said state controller;
a heads-up display coupled to said state controller and displaying at least one indicator above an instrument panel of said vehicle, said indicator identifying said manual commands available in said current state;
a voice synthesizer for generating audio output corresponding to said information; and
a wireless communication device for exchanging said information with said remote information server;
wherein said main menu mode provides selectable access to said electronic mail mode; and
wherein said electronic mail mode is comprised of
1) an “
initial mail”
state for selecting by voice command the reading of either old mail or new mail,
2) a “
reading note”
state wherein said old mail or new mail is reproduced by said voice synthesizer, and
3) a “
next/previous note”
state that is accessed from said “
reading note”
state to select a different electronic mail note for said “
reading note”
state in response to either a corresponding voice command or a manual command. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
-
-
9. An interface for a mobile information system in a vehicle for processing information which is wirelessly exchanged with a remote information server, wherein said mobile information system includes (i) a microphone for receiving spoken sounds, (ii) a speech processor coupled to said microphone for recognizing said spoken sounds and identifying corresponding voice commands for processing said information, (iii) a state controller responsive to commands including said voice commands from said speech processor, (iv) reconfigurable control elements coupled to said state controller and mounted on a steering wheel of said vehicle for generating control signals to select particular manual commands in accordance with a current state of said state controller, (v) a heads-up display coupled to said state controller and displaying at least one indicator above an instrument panel of said vehicle, said indicator identifying said manual commands available in said current state, (vi) a voice synthesizer for generating audio output corresponding to said information, and (vii) a wireless communication device for exchanging said information with said remote information server, said interface comprising:
-
a main menu mode providing selectable access to a plurality of mobile office modes in response to predetermined voice commands; and
an electronic mail mode selectably accessible from said main menu mode in response to a respective one of said predetermined voice commands;
wherein said electronic mail mode is comprised of
1) an “
initial mail”
state for selecting by voice command the reading of either old mail or new mail,
2) a “
reading note”
state wherein said old mail or new mail is reproduced by said voice synthesizer, and
3) a “
next/previous note”
state that is accessed from said “
reading note”
state to select a different electronic mail note for said “
reading note”
state in response to either a corresponding voice command or a manual command. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13)
-
Specification