Contextual conversion platform for generating prioritized replacement text for spoken content output

• US 8,918,323 B2
• Filed: 03/15/2013
• Issued: 12/23/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 05/28/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Daniel Ben-Ezri
• Original Assignee: Daniel Ben-Ezri
• Inventors: Ben-Ezri, Daniel
• Primary Examiner(s): PULLIAS, JESSE SCOTT
• Application Number:
  US13/832,312
• Publication Number:
  US 20130204624A1
• Time in Patent Office: 648 Days
• Field of Search: 704258-269, 704/270.1, 704/275, 704E13001- 9, 704/13.01, 704 13011- 4
• US Class Current: 704/260
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/274 Converting codes to words; Guess-ahead of partial word inputs
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 13/08 Text analysis or generation of parameters for speech synthesis out of text, e.g. grapheme to phoneme translation, prosody generation or stress or intonation determination
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 15/26 Speech to text systems G10L15/08 takes precedence

Abstract

A contextual conversion platform, and method for converting text-to-speech, are described that can convert content of a target to spoken content. Embodiments of the contextual conversion platform can identify certain contextual characteristics of the content, from which can be generated a spoken content input. This spoken content input can include tokens, e.g., words and abbreviations, to be converted to the spoken content, as well as substitution tokens that are selected from contextual repositories based on the context identified by the contextual conversion platform.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

at a computer comprising a computer program to implement processing operations;

receiving data related to content of a target;

filtering the data to locate a target term;

accessing one or more tables in a repository, the one or more tables comprising entries with a substitution unit corresponding to the target term, the entries arranged according to a prioritized scheme that defines a position for the substitution unit in the tables; and

generating an output comprising data that represents the substitution unit to be utilized by a text-to-speech generator to generate spoken content,

wherein the position of the substitution unit in the one or more tables is assigned based on a specificity characteristic that describes the relative inclusivity of the substitution unit as compared to other substitution units in the one or more tables.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

breaking the content into at least one contextual unit that includes the target term; and

inserting the substitution unit in the contextual unit in place of the target term.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

identifying a context cue in the data, the context cue identifying characteristics of the target; and

selecting a table from the one or more tables in which the substitution unit is compatible with the characteristics of target.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the context cue comprises a uniform resource locator (URL).

5. The method of claim 3, wherein the context cue comprises text found in the content.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the text comprises a title.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

selecting a first entry from a first table of the one or more tables; and

selecting a second entry from a second table of the one or more tables,

wherein the data in the output comprises the substitution unit from the first entry and the second entry.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the substitution unit in the first entry is less inclusive than the substitution unit in the second entry.

9. The method of claim 7, wherein the substitution unit in the first entry is more inclusive than the substitution unit in the second entry.

10. A device, comprising:

a processor;

a memory coupled to the processor; and

one or more executable instructions stored on the memory and configured to be executed by the processor, the executable instruction comprising instructions for;

receiving data relating to content on a Web site;

filtering the data to locate a target term;

accessing one or more tables in a repository, the tables comprising entries with a substitution unit corresponding to the target term, the entries arranged according to a prioritized scheme that defines a position for the substitution unit in the tables; and

generating an output comprising data that represents the substitution unit to be utilized by a text-to-speech generator to generate spoken content,

wherein the position of the substitution unit in the one or more tables is assigned based on a specificity characteristic that describes the relative inclusivity of the substitution unit as compared to other substitution units in the one or more tables.

11. The device of claim 10, wherein the memory comprises the repository.

12. The device of claim 10, further comprising instructions for receiving a command to initiate conversion of content of the Web site to spoken content.

13. The device of claim 10, wherein the command comprises a spoken command.

14. The device of claim 10, further comprising:

identifying a context cue in the data, the context cue identifying a characteristic of the target; and

selecting a table from the one or more tables in which the substitution unit is compatible with the characteristic of the target.

15. A system comprising:

a repository comprising one or more tables, the tables comprising entries with a substitution unit corresponding to a target term, the entries arranged according to a prioritized scheme that defines a position for the substitution unit in the tables; and

a computing device in communication with the repository, the computing device comprising a processor, memory coupled with the processor, and executable instructions stored on the memory and configured to be executed by the processor, the instructions for,

accessing the one or more tables in the repository, and

generating an output comprising data that represents the substitution unit to be utilized by a text-to-speech generator to generate spoken content,

wherein the position of the substitution unit in the one or more tables is assigned based on a specificity characteristic that describes the relative inclusivity of the substitution unit as compared to other substitution units in the one ore more tables.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein the repository is incorporated into the computing device.

17. The system of claim 15, wherein the one or more tables include a first table and a second table that comprise, respectively, a first entry and a second entry, and wherein the substitution unit of the first entry is different from the substitution unit of the second entry.

18. The system of claim 17, wherein the substitution unit in the first entry is less inclusive than the substitution unit in the second entry.

19. The method of claim 17, wherein the substitution unit in the first entry is more inclusive than the substitution unit in the second entry.

20. The system of claim 15, wherein the executable instructions comprise instructions for,

receiving data relating to content of a target;

identifying a context cue in the data, the context cue identifying a characteristic of the target; and

selecting a table from the one or more tables in which the substitution unit is compatible with the characteristic of the target.