Systems and methods for off-board voice-automated web searching

• US 8,694,206 B2
• Filed: 07/09/2013
• Issued: 04/08/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 01/05/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Sirius XM Connected Vehicle Services Inc. (Liberty Media Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Agero Connected Services, Inc. (Liberty Media Corporation)
• Inventors: Schalk, Thomas Barton
• Primary Examiner(s): Tarcza, Thomas
• Assistant Examiner(s): PIPALA, EDWARD J
• Application Number:
  US13/937,362
• Publication Number:
  US 20130297312A1
• Time in Patent Office: 273 Days
• Field of Search: 701/1, 701/36, 701/400, 701/408, 701/409, 701/420, 701/427, 701/532, 701/533, 701/537, 701/538, 701/539, 340/989, 340/995.12, 340/995.16, 704/200, 704/231, 704/246, 704/251
• US Class Current: 701/36
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/26 specially adapted for navigation in a road network
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3608 using speech input, e.g. using speech recognition
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 15/00 Speech recognition G10L17/00 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 15/04 Segmentation; Word boundary detection
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 15/22 Procedures used during a speech recognition process, e.g. man-machine dialogue
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 15/30 Distributed recognition, e.g. in client-server systems, for mobile phones or network applications
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 2015/221 Announcement of recognition results
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 21/06 Transformation of speech into a non-audible representation, e.g. speech visualisation or speech processing for tactile aids G10L15/26 takes precedence

Abstract

A system for surfing the web includes a mobile system for processing and transmitting through a wireless link a voice stream spoken by a user of the mobile system and a data center for processing the voice stream received into voice web search information. The continuous voice stream includes a web search request. The data center performs automated voice recognition processing on the voice web search information to recognize components of the web search request, confirms the recognized components of the web search request through interactive speech exchanges with the user through the wireless link and the mobile system, selectively allows human data center operator intervention to assist in identifying the selected recognized web search components having a recognition confidence below a selected threshold value, and downloads web search results pertaining to the web search request for transmission to the mobile system derived from the confirmed recognized web search components.

Claims

1. A method of entering a web search string, which comprises:

receiving at a mobile processing system a continuous voice stream spoken by a user of the mobile processing system, the continuous voice stream including a web search request being at least one of;

a search phrase; and

a keyword;

processing the continuous voice stream into web search information;

transmitting the processed web search information through a wireless link to a remote data center;

analyzing the processed web search information with a voice recognition system at the remote data center to recognize components of the web search request spoken by the user;

generating at the remote data center a list of hypothetical recognized components of the web search request listed by confidence levels as calculated for each component of the web search request analyzed by the voice recognition system;

displaying the list of hypothetical recognized components and confidence levels at the remote data center for selective checking by a human data center operator;

selecting a set of hypothetical recognized components based on the confidence levels in the list;

confirming the accuracy of the selected set of hypothetical recognized components of the web search request through interactive voice exchanges between the user and the remote data center;

determining web search results from confirmed components of the web search request;

formatting the determined web search results at the remote data center; and

transmitting the determined web search results to the mobile processing system from the remote data center through the wireless link.

2. The method according to claim 1, which further comprises carrying out the accuracy confirming step by:

transmitting a computer-generated representation of at least one hypothetical recognized component of the web search request to the user through the wireless link; and

prompting the user through the wireless link to aurally confirm the accuracy of the component of the web search request.

3. The method according to claim 2, which further comprises carrying out the accuracy confirming step by:

determining if a confidence level of a hypothetical recognized component is above a selected threshold; and

computer generating a representation of the hypothetical recognized component for transmission to the user when the confidence level is above the selected threshold.

4. The method according to claim 1, which further comprises carrying out the accuracy confirming step by:

transmitting at least one recorded hypothetical recognized component of the web search request by the user to the user through the wireless link; and

prompting the user through the wireless link to aurally confirm the accuracy of the hypothetical recognized component of the web search request.

5. The method according to claim 1, which further comprises carrying out the web search result determining step by providing human data center operator assistance using the developed list of hypothetical recognized components and confidence levels to recognize the web search request.

6. The method according to claim 5, which further comprises carrying out the operator assistance providing step by:

playing back recorded representations of the web search request spoken by the user to a data center operator for analysis by the data center operator; and

receiving information from the data center operator identifying the web search requested.

7. The method according to claim 6, which further comprises carrying out the data center operator information receiving step by entering a choice from the displayed list of hypothetical recognized components from the data center operator.

8. The method according to claim 1, which further comprises carrying out the accuracy confirming step by transmitting aural representations of hypothetical recognized components of the web search request to the user, the hypothetical recognized components of the web search request being selected from aural representations of portions of the web search request.

9. A system for surfing the web, comprising:

a mobile system for processing and transmitting through a wireless link a continuous voice stream spoken by a user of the mobile system, the continuous voice stream including a web search request; and

a data center for processing the continuous voice stream received through the wireless link into voice web search information and operable to;

perform automated voice recognition processing on the voice web search information to recognize components of the web search request;

confirm the recognized components of the web search request through interactive speech exchanges with the user through the wireless link and the mobile system;

selectively allow human data center operator intervention to assist in identifying the selected recognized web search components having a recognition confidence below a selected threshold value; and

download web search results pertaining to the web search request for transmission to the mobile system derived from the confirmed recognized web search components.

10. The system according to claim 9, wherein the data center is further operable to download the voice web search information in response to position information received from the mobile system through the wireless link.

11. The system according to claim 9, wherein the data center is further operable to:

generate a list of possible web search components corresponding to the continuous voice stream;

assign a confidence score for each of possible components of the voice web search information on the list;

determine if a possible web search component with a highest confidence score has a confidence score above a threshold; and

computer-generate an aural representation of the web search requested for transmission to the mobile system for confirmation by the user if the confidence score is above the threshold.

12. The system according to claim 9, wherein the data center is further operable to:

determine that at least one of components of the web search request of the continuous voice stream has a recognition confidence value below a threshold; and

playback a recording in the voice of the user of at least the components of the web search request with the recognition confidence value below the threshold to the user through the mobile system for confirmation.

13. The system according to claim 12, wherein the data center further comprises a data center operator facility for playing back the components of the web search request for assisting in identifying the web search request.

14. The system according to claim 12, wherein the data center is further operable to present a list of possible web search requests listed by confidence scores to a data center operator for selection as the web search request.

15. The system according to claim 14, wherein the data center is further operable to allow the data center operator to vary an order of possible web search selections in the list.

16. The system according to claim 9, wherein the data center is further operable to record the continuous voice stream spoken by the user as normalized audio wave fields for subsequent playback.