Providing services for an information processing system using an audio interface

• US 7,308,408 B1
• Filed: 09/29/2004
• Issued: 12/11/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 07/24/2000
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Stifelman, Lisa Joy, Partovi, Hadi, Partovi, Haleh, Alpert, David Bryan, Marx, Matthew Talin, Bailey, Scott James, Sims, Kyle D., Bailey, Darby McDonough, Brathwaite, Roderick Steven, Koh, Eugene, Davis, Angus Macdonald
• Primary Examiner(s): OPSASNICK, MICHAEL N
• Application Number:
  US10/955,216
• Time in Patent Office: 1,168 Days
• Field of Search: 704/258, 704/265, 704/277, 704/278
• US Class Current: 704/266
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 13/00 Speech synthesis; Text to speech systems
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 15/187 Phonemic context, e.g. pronunciation rules, phonotactical constraints or phoneme n-grams
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 15/22 Procedures used during a speech recognition process, e.g. man-machine dialogue
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/4936 Speech interaction details speech recognition per se G10L15/00

Abstract

A method and system for providing efficient menu services for an information processing system that uses a telephone or other form of audio user interface. In one embodiment, the menu services provide effective support for novice users by providing a full listing of available keywords and rotating house advertisements which inform novice users of potential features and information. For experienced users, cues are rendered so that at any time the user can say a desired keyword to invoke the corresponding application. The menu is flat to facilitate its usage. Full keyword listings are rendered after the user is given a brief cue to say a keyword. Service messages rotate words and word prosody. When listening to receive information from the user, after the user has been cued, soft background music or other audible signals are rendered to inform the user that a response may now be spoken to the service. Other embodiments determine default cities, on which to report information, based on characteristics of the caller or based on cities that were previously selected by the caller. Other embodiments provide speech concatenation processes that have co-articulation and real-time subject-matter-based word selection which generate human sounding speech. Other embodiments reduce the occurrences of falsely triggered barge-ins during content delivery by only allowing interruption for certain special words. Other embodiments offer special services and modes for calls having voice recognition trouble. The special services are entered after predetermined criterion have been met by the call. Other embodiments provide special mechanisms for automatically recovering the address of a caller.

Claims

1. A computer implemented method for providing services for a processing system using an audio interface, said method comprising:

rendering a first name recording at an audio interface;

selecting a verb based on subject matter contained within a remainder of said phrase;

rendering a recording of said verb at the audio interface;

rendering a second name recording at the audio interface, wherein said second name recording commences with a predetermined word and wherein said verb recording is recorded such that its termination contains proper co-articulation for said predetermined word; and

rendering said remainder of said phrase at the audio interface, wherein said rendering said remainder includes;

rendering a first value associated with said first name; and

rendering a second value associated with said second name, and wherein said verb is selected based on a difference between said first and second values.

2. A method as described in claim 1 wherein said verb recording is made by first recording said verb followed by said predetermined word, then eliminating said predetermined word from said verb recording but leaving behind said proper co-articulation.

3. A method as described in claim 1 wherein said first and second values comprise numerical values.

4. A method as described in claim 1 wherein said rendering said remainder further comprises rendering real-time, game duration information.

5. A method as described in claim 1 wherein said verb comprises selecting said verb based on subject matter contained within said remainder and also based on a play status of a game, wherein said play status comprises game in-play or game over.

6. A method as described in claim 1 wherein said first and second names are sports teams and wherein said subject matter contained within said remainder of said phrase comprises to a score of a game between said teams.

7. A method as described in claim 6 wherein said remainder of said phrase further comprises series summary information regarding a sport associated with said sports teams.

8. A method comprising:

providing a first speech segment, at an audio interface, a first value being associated with the first speech segment;

providing a second speech segment at the audio interface, a second value being associated with the second speech segment;

selecting a stored verb based on the first and second values;

concatenating the first speech segment, the selected verb, and the second speech segment to form a phrase using co-articulation between the selected verb and the second speech segment;

providing the concatenated phrase at the audio interface.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the selecting the stored verb comprises selecting the stored verb based on an amount that the first and second values differ.

10. The method of claim 8, wherein the phrase is related to an event, and the selecting the stored verb is further based on whether the event is occurring or has occurred.

11. The method of claim 8, wherein the selecting the stored verb comprises selecting the stored verb based on a degree of difference between the first and second values.

12. The method of claim 8, wherein the using the co-articulation comprises including a phoneme between the selected verb and the second speech segment.

13. The method of claim 8, further comprising:

providing the first value at the audio interface.

14. The method of claim 13, further comprising:

providing the second value at the audio interface.

15. The method of claim 8, wherein the second speech segment includes a definite article, and the co-articulating comprises recording the stored verb together with the definite article.

16. The method of claim 15, the co-articulating further comprising:

separating the recorded verb from the recorded definite article to form the stored verb.

17. The method of claim 8, wherein a tense of the selected verb corresponds to an event that is occurring or has occurred.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the first speech segment identifies a first participant in the event and the second speech segment identifies a second participant in the event.

19. The method of claim 17, wherein the first and second values correspond to a state of the event.

20. A system comprising:

means for comparing a first value associated with a first speech segment to a second value associated with a second speech segment;

means for selecting a recorded verb based on the comparison of the first and second values;

means for co-articulating the recorded verb and a recorded voice segment, the recorded voice segment including a leading phoneme and the recorded verb having been formed from uttering the verb and the leading phoneme together;

means for concatenating the first speech segment, the second speech segment, and the co-articulated verb and voice segment to form a phrase; and

means for rendering the phrase at an audio interface.