Assisted reader

• US 8,452,600 B2
• Filed: 08/18/2010
• Issued: 05/28/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 08/18/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Original Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Inventors: Fleizach, Christopher B.
• Primary Examiner(s): Godbold, Douglas
• Application Number:
  US12/859,158
• Publication Number:
  US 20120046947A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,014 Days
• Field of Search: 704/258, 704/260, 704/270, 704/271, 704/272, 704/276
• US Class Current: 704/260
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 13/00 Speech synthesis; Text to speech systems

Abstract

An electronic reading device for reading ebooks and other digital media items combines a touch surface electronic reading device with accessibility technology to provide a visually impaired user more control over his or her reading experience. In some implementations, the reading device can be configured to operate in at least two modes: a continuous reading mode and an enhanced reading mode.

Claims

1. A method performed by one or more processors of an assisted reading device, the method comprising:

providing a user interface on a display of the assisted reading device, the user interface displaying text of a content item and configured to distinguish between a first type of gesture for selecting a continuous assisted reading mode and a second type of gesture for selecting an enhanced assisted reading mode of the device and a respective portion of the displayed text to be read in the enhanced assisted reading mode;

receiving a first touch input on the user interface;

upon determining, based on the first touch input, that the first type of gesture has been entered;

invoking the continuous assisted reading mode; and

continuously outputting audio for each word in a currently displayed portion and all subsequent portions of the content item until an end of the content item is reached or a user input for stopping or pausing the continuous assisted reading mode is received; and

upon determining, based on the first touch input, that the second type of gesture has been entered;

invoking the enhanced assisted reading mode;

receiving a second touch input for selecting a desired level of reading granularity;

configuring the assisted reading device to provide the selected level of reading granularity;

based on a location of the first touch input on the user interface and the selected level of granularity, selecting the respective portion of the displayed text to be read in the enhanced assisted reading mode; and

outputting audio for each word in the selected portion of the displayed text.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

providing a granularity control for selecting a desired level of granularity corresponding to a sentence, word or character in the content item.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving a third touch input causing display of one or more options associated with a word in the selected portion of the displayed text.

4. The method of claim 3, where the one or more options includes receiving a definition of the word.

5. The method of claim 3, where the one or more options includes performing a search on a network or in the text using the word as a search query.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving a fourth touch input causing a next page of text to be presented.

7. The method of claim 6, further comprising:

outputting audio indicating the turning of the page.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

outputting audio indicating when text describing a chapter or section title is encountered when generating the synthesized speech.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

outputting audio corresponding to caption text describing an image embedded within the text that is encountered during the text reading.

10. A system for providing assisted reading, comprising:

one or more processors; and

memory storing instructions, which, when executed by the one or more processors cause the one or more processors to perform operations comprising;

providing a user interface on a display of the assisted reading device, the user interface displaying text of a content item and configured to distinguish between a first type of gesture for selecting a continuous assisted reading mode and a second type of gesture for selecting an enhanced assisted reading mode and a respective portion of the displayed text to be read in the enhanced assisted reading mode;

receiving a first touch input on the user interface;

upon determining, based on the first touch input, that the first type of gesture has been entered;

invoking the continuous assisted reading mode; and

continuously outputting audio for each word in a currently displayed portion and all subsequent portions of the content item until an end of the content item is reached or a user input for stopping or pausing the continuous assisted reading mode is received; and

upon determining, based on the first touch input, that the second type of gesture has been entered;

invoking the enhanced assisted reading mode;

receiving a second touch input for selecting a desired level of reading granularity;

configuring the assisted reading device to provide the selected level of reading granularity;

based on a location of the first touch input on the user interface and the selected level of granularity, selecting the respective portion of the displayed text to be read in the enhanced assisted reading mode; and

outputting audio for each word in the selected portion of the displayed text.

11. The system of claim 10, where the memory further comprises instructions, which, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform operations comprising:

providing a granularity control for selecting a desired level of granularity corresponding to a sentence, word or character in the content item.

12. The system of claim 10, where the memory further comprises instructions, which, when executed by the one or more processors, causes the one or more processors to perform operations comprising:

receiving a third touch input causing display of one or more options associated with a word in the selected portion of the displayed text.

13. The system of claim 12, where the one or more options includes receiving a definition of the word.

14. The system of claim 12, where the one or more options includes performing a search on a network or in the text using the word as a search query.

15. The system of claim 10, where the memory further comprises instructions, which, when executed by the one or more processors, causes the one or more processors to perform operations comprising:

receiving a fourth touch input causing a next page of text to be presented.

16. The system of claim 15, where the memory further comprises instructions, which, when executed by the one or more processors, causes the one or more processors to perform operations comprising:

outputting audio indicating the turning of the page.

17. The system of claim 10, where the memory further comprises instructions, which, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform operations comprising:

outputting audio indicating when text describing a chapter or section title is encountered when generating the synthesized speech.

18. The system of claim 10, where the memory further comprises instructions, which, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform operations comprising:

outputting audio corresponding to caption text describing an image embedded within the text that is encountered during the text reading.

19. A non-transitory computer-readable medium having instructions stored thereon, the instructions when executed by one or more processors cause the processors to perform operations comprising:

providing a user interface on a display of an assisted reading device, the user interface displaying text of a content item and configured to distinguish between a first type of gesture for selecting a continuous assisted reading mode and a second type of gesture for selecting an enhanced assisted reading mode of the device and a respective portion of the displayed text to be read in the enhanced assisted reading mode;

receiving a first touch input on the user interface;

upon determining, based on the first touch input, that the first type of gesture has been entered;

invoking the continuous assisted reading mode; and

continuously outputting audio for each word in a currently displayed portion and all subsequent portions of the content item until an end of the content item is reached or a user input for stopping or pausing the continuous assisted reading mode is received; and

upon determining, based on the first touch input, that the second type of gesture has been entered;

invoking the enhanced assisted reading mode;

receiving a second touch input for selecting a desired level of reading granularity;

configuring the assisted reading device to provide the selected level of reading granularity;

based on a location of the first touch input on the user interface and the selected level of granularity, selecting the respective portion of the displayed text to be read in the enhanced assisted reading mode; and

outputting audio for each word in the selected portion of the displayed text.

20. The computer-readable medium of claim 19, wherein the operations further comprise:

providing a granularity control for selecting a desired level of granularity corresponding to a sentence, word or character in the content item.

21. The computer-readable medium of claim 19, wherein the operations further comprise:

receiving a third touch input causing display of one or more options associated with a word in the selected portion of the displayed text.

22. The computer-readable medium of claim 21, where the one or more options includes receiving a definition of the word.

23. The computer-readable medium of claim 21, where the one or more options includes performing a search on a network or in the text using the word as a search query.

24. The computer-readable medium of claim 19, wherein the operations further comprise:

receiving a fourth touch input causing a next page of text to be presented.

25. The computer-readable medium of claim 24, wherein the operations further comprise:

outputting audio indicating the turning of the page.

26. The computer-readable medium of claim 19, wherein the operations further comprise:

outputting audio indicating when text describing a chapter or section title is encountered when generating the synthesized speech.

27. The computer-readable medium of claim 19, wherein the operations further comprise:

outputting audio corresponding to caption text describing an image embedded within the text that is encountered during the text reading.

28. A computer-implemented method, comprising:

receiving a first user input to a device, the first user input selecting a first presentation granularity for content presented by the device, wherein receiving the first user input further comprises;

receiving multiple rotational inputs on a touch-sensitive surface from the user;

presenting a granularity option to the user after each rotational input, wherein each granularity option corresponds to a respective presentation granularity;

determining that no additional rotational input is received during a period of time after a last granularity option is presented to the user; and

selecting the respective presentation granularity corresponding to the last granularity option as the first presentation granularity;

storing data indicating that the first presentation granularity was selected;

receiving a second user input to the device, the second user input requesting presentation of the content; and

presenting the content according to the first presentation granularity.

29. The method of claim 28, wherein the first presentation granularity is a word granularity, and the first item of the content is a word, the method further comprising:

receiving third user input requesting a menu of options for the first item of content; and

presenting a menu in response to the third user input, wherein the menu includes one or more options for the first item of content.

30. The method of claim 28, wherein the first presentation granularity is one of a character granularity, a word granularity, a phrase granularity, a sentence granularity, or a paragraph granularity.

31. A system for providing assisted reading, comprising:

one or more processors; and

memory storing instructions, which, when executed by the one or more processors cause the one or more processors to perform operations comprising;

receiving a first user input to a device, the first user input selecting a first presentation granularity for content presented by the device, wherein receiving the first user input further comprises;

receiving multiple rotational inputs on a touch-sensitive surface from the user;

presenting a granularity option to the user after each rotational input, wherein each granularity option corresponds to a respective presentation granularity;

determining that no additional rotational input is received during a period of time after a last granularity option is presented to the user; and

selecting the respective presentation granularity corresponding to the last granularity option as the first presentation granularity;

storing data indicating that the first presentation granularity was selected;

receiving a second user input to the device, the second user input requesting presentation of the content; and

presenting the content according to the first presentation granularity.

32. The system of claim 31, wherein the first presentation granularity is a word granularity, and the first item of the content is a word, the operations further comprise:

receiving third user input requesting a menu of options for the first item of content; and

presenting a menu in response to the third user input, wherein the menu includes one or more options for the first item of content.

33. The system of claim 31, wherein the first presentation granularity is one of a character granularity, a word granularity, a phrase granularity, a sentence granularity, or a paragraph granularity.

34. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions, which, when executed by one or more processors cause the one or more processors to perform operations comprising:

receiving a first user input to a device, the first user input selecting a first presentation granularity for content presented by the device, wherein receiving the first user input further comprises;

receiving multiple rotational inputs on a touch-sensitive surface from the user;

presenting a granularity option to the user after each rotational input, wherein each granularity option corresponds to a respective presentation granularity;

determining that no additional rotational input is received during a period of time after a last granularity option is presented to the user; and

selecting the respective presentation granularity corresponding to the last granularity option as the first presentation granularity;

storing data indicating that the first presentation granularity was selected;

receiving a second user input to the device, the second user input requesting presentation of the content; and

presenting the content according to the first presentation granularity.

35. The computer-readable medium of claim 34, wherein the first presentation granularity is a word granularity, and the first item of the content is a word, the operations further comprise:

receiving third user input requesting a menu of options for the first item of content; and

presenting a menu in response to the third user input, wherein the menu includes one or more options for the first item of content.

36. The computer-readable medium of claim 34, wherein the first presentation granularity is one of a character granularity, a word granularity, a phrase granularity, a sentence granularity, or a paragraph granularity.