Method and system for information retrieval based on menu selections

• US 7,548,899 B1
• Filed: 12/06/2001
• Issued: 06/16/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 12/08/2000
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Longhorn Automotive Group LLC (Alpha Alpha Intellectual Partners LLC)
• Original Assignee: Mindfabric Holdings LLC
• Inventors: Del Favero, John P. Jr., Chan, Wayne
• Primary Examiner(s): Wong; Don
• Assistant Examiner(s): Nguyen; Merilyn P
• Application Number:
  US10/006,930
• Time in Patent Office: 2,749 Days
• Field of Search: 707 1- 6, 707/10, 707/100, 707/103.R, 707/103.X, 707/104.1, 345/810, 345/864, 345/863, 345/853, 706/15, 706/11, 725/23, 715/854, 455/566, 370/351
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/243 Natural language query formulation
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/24522 Translation of natural language queries to structured queries
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99931 Database or file accessing
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99934 Query formulation, input preparation, or translation

Abstract

Improved approaches to accessing information are disclosed. The improved approaches permit access to information through user interaction with a series of menus. The menus within the series of menus are interrelated and contain words or phrases. A phrase, sentence or question is constructed from the user interaction with the series of menus. The resulting phrase, sentence or question can be processed to access and retrieve appropriate information. The improved approaches avoid the need for users to enter words or text characters through tedious and frustrating use of a keypad (particularly when reduced in size).

Claims

1. A method comprising:

sending a first menu list of words or phrases associated with a plurality of concepts to a device;

receiving a first selection of at least one of the words or phrases in the first menu list from the device, the received first selection identifying a concept for a natural language query to be formed;

identifying a second menu list of words or phrases based at least in part on the identified concept;

sending the identified second menu list to the device;

receiving a second selection of at least one of the words or phrases in the second menu list from the device, the second selection identifying a first segment of the natural language query;

forming the natural language query based at least in part on the first segment, wherein the natural language query does not include the identified concept.

2. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein identifying the second menu list comprises dynamically generating the second menu list based on the first selection of at least one of the words or phrases in the first menu list.

3. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein identifying the second menu list comprises selecting the second menu list from a plurality of predetermined menu lists based on the first selection of at least one of the words or phrases in the first menu list.

4. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein said method further comprises:

sending the natural language query to the device.

5. A method as recited in claim 1, further comprising:

determining whether an additional menu selection is needed to form the natural language query;

if an additional menu selection is needed, sending a third menu list of words or phrases to the device, wherein the third menu list is based on the received second selection;

receiving a third selection of at least one of the words or phrases in the third menu list from the device, the third selection identifying a second segment of the natural language query; and

forming the natural language query based at least in part on the second segment.

6. A method as recited in claim 1, further comprising:

generating a response to the natural language query; and

providing the response to the device.

7. A method comprising:

receiving, at a device, a first menu list of words or phrases, the received first menu list including a plurality of concepts associated with a natural language query to be formed;

sending, from the device to a second device, a first selection of a first word or phrase from the first menu list, wherein the first selection identifies a concept for the natural language query to be formed;

receiving a second menu list of words or phrases at the device, wherein the second menu list is based at least in part on the identified concept;

sending, from the device to the second device, a second selection of a second word or phrase from the second menu list, the second selection identifying a first segment of the natural language query, wherein the natural language query is based at least in part on the first segment, and further wherein the natural language query does not include the identified concept; and

receiving a response to the natural language query at the device.

8. A method as recited in claim 7, wherein the method further comprises:

displaying the natural language query on the device.

9. A method as recited in claim 8, wherein displaying the natural language query comprises incrementally updating the natural language query as selections are individually made.

10. A method as recited in claim 7, wherein the second menu list has a grammatical or contextual relationship with the first menu list.

11. A method as recited in claim 7, wherein the device is a hand-held or wearable computing device.

12. A method as recited in claim 7, wherein the second menu list is based at least in part on a profile that includes one or more of a selection history, a preference, content, or an application.

13. A method as recited in claim 7, wherein the second menu list is identified from a plurality of predetermined menu lists.

14. A computer-readable medium comprising computer-readable instructions configured to cause a computing device to:

send a first menu list of words or phrases associated with a plurality of concepts to a second device;

receive a first selection of at least one of the words or phrases in the first menu list from the second device, the received first selection identifying a concept for the query to be formed;

identify a second menu list of words or phrases based on the received first selection;

send the identified second menu list to the second device;

receive a second selection of at least one of the words or phrases in the second menu list from the second device, the second selection identifying a first segment of the query;

form the query as a natural language query based at least in part on the received second selection, wherein the natural language query does not include the identified concept; and

provide, to the second device, a response to the query.

15. The computer-readable medium of claim 14, wherein identifying the second menu list comprises dynamically generating the second menu list based on the first selection of at least one of the words or phrases in the first menu list.

16. The computer-readable medium of claim 14, wherein identifying the second menu list comprises selecting the second menu list from a plurality of predetermined menu lists based on the first selection of at least one of the words or phrases in the first menu list.

17. The computer-readable medium of claim 14, wherein the instructions further cause the computing device to:

form a request for the response to the formed query; and

transmit the request to a third device.

18. A computer-readable medium comprising computer-readable instructions configured to cause a computing device to:

receive a first menu list of words or phrases, the received first menu list including a plurality of concepts associated with a natural language query to be formed;

send a first selection of a first word or phrase from the first menu list to a second device, wherein the first selection identifies a concept for the natural language query to be formed;

receive a second menu list of words or phrases, wherein the second menu list is selected based at least in part on the identified concept;

send a second selection of a second word or phrase from the second menu list to the second device, the second selection identifying a first segment of the natural language query, and wherein the natural language query does not include the identified concept; and

receive a response to the natural language query.

19. A computer-readable medium as recited in claim 18, wherein the second menu list is further based at least in part on a profile that includes one or more of a selection history, a preference, content, or an application.

20. A device comprising:

a processor;

a communication interface operably coupled to the processor; and

a computer-readable medium including computer-readable instructions stored therein that, upon execution by the processor, cause the processor to

send a first menu list of words or phrases associated with a plurality of concepts to a device;

receive a first selection of at least one of the words or phrases in the first menu list from the device, the received first selection identifying a concept for a query to be formed;

identify a second menu list of words or phrases based at least in part on the received first selection;

send the identified second menu list to the device;

receive a second selection of at least one of the words or phrases in the second menu list from the device, the second selection identifying a first segment of the query;

form the query as a natural language query based at least in part on the received first selection and the received second selection, wherein the natural language query does not include the identified concept; and

provide a response to the query to the device.

21. The device of claim 20, wherein the second menu list is dynamically generated based on the first selection.

22. The device of claim 20, wherein the second menu list is selected from a plurality of predetermined menu lists based on the first selection.

23. The device of claim 20, wherein the instructions further cause the processor to:

send a request for the response to a third device; and

receive the response from the third device.