Service server apparatus, service providing method, and service providing program

• US 9,277,051 B2
• Filed: 05/24/2012
• Issued: 03/01/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 05/24/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: NTT Docomo Incorporated (Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation)
• Original Assignee: NTT Docomo Incorporated (Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation)
• Inventors: Nasu, Kazunori, Shibata, Seiji, Akuzawa, Mari, Uchiyama, Ken
• Primary Examiner(s): Appiah, Charles
• Assistant Examiner(s): Peaches, Randy
• Application Number:
  US13/816,457
• Publication Number:
  US 20140066022A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,377 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/58 Use of machine translation, e.g. for multi-lingual retrieval, for server-side translation for client devices or for real-time translation
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 13/00 Speech synthesis; Text to speech systems
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 15/26 Speech to text systems G10L15/08 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2201/26 A/D convertors
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2201/39 using speech synthesis speech synthesis per se G10L13/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2201/40 using speech recognition speech recognition per se G10L15/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2201/60 Medium conversion
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2203/2061 Language aspects
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/42 Systems providing special services or facilities to subscribers specially adapted for wireless communication networks H04W4/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/42221 Conversation recording systems at the subscriber's set H04M1/656

Abstract

A service server apparatus is provided which can easily cope with a correction of an error of a task performed based on the content of verbal speeches of a speaker. The service server apparatus includes a service activating unit that receives an instruction for performing a different task from a task performed by an application relating to a speech communication, a telephone/call control enabler that records verbal speeches of the speaker during a speech communication between a plurality of speech communication terminal device, a speech recognizing enabler which performs a task based on the recorded speeches and which generates task data including text data representing the result of the performance and speech data representing the result of the performance, a text translating enabler, and a speech synthesizing enabler.

Claims

1. A server apparatus in communication with a plurality of terminal devices configured to facilitate speech communication between a first speaker and at least one second speaker via a translation task, the server apparatus comprising:

an instruction receiving unit configured to receive an instruction for performing the translation task;

a recording unit configured to record verbal speech in a first language of the first speaker during the speech communication;

a speech recognizing unit configured to generate text data in the first language based on the verbal speech recorded by the recording unit in accordance with the instruction for performing the translation task;

a text translating unit configured to translate the text data in the first language generated by the speech recognizing unit into a second language of the second speaker and generate translated text data in the second language, wherein the second language is different from the first language;

a speech synthesizing unit configured to convert the translated text data in the second language generated by the text translating unit into translated speech data in the second language, the translated speech data voicable by the terminal devices as synthesized sounds; and

a providing unit configured to provide the text data in the first language, the translated text data in the second language, and the speech data in the second language to each of the terminal devices.

2. The server apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the instruction receiving unit obtains subscriber information, and receives the instruction when the subscriber information includes information specifying one or more of the terminal devices.

3. The service server apparatus according to claim 1, wherein:

the terminal devices include a telephone, and

the instruction receiving unit receives the instruction when at least one of the terminal devices associated with the first speaker executes a telephone call to a telephone number associated with the terminal device of the at least one second speaker.

4. The server apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the instruction receiving unit is configured to start performing the translation task, when the verbal speech recorded by the recording unit is a verbal speech indicating a predetermined meaning.

5. The server apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the instruction receiving unit is configured to start performing the translation task, when a signal output by operating at least one of the plurality of speech communication terminal devices is a predetermined signal.

6. A computer-implemented method for facilitating speech communication amongst respective users of a first terminal device and a second terminal device communicatively coupled to a server configured to execute the method, the method comprising:

receiving an instruction for performing a translation task during the speech communication;

recording verbal speech of a first user received from the first terminal device during the speech communication, wherein the recorded verbal speech is in a first language;

generating text data in the first language based on the recorded verbal speech in accordance with the instruction;

generating translated text data in a second language based on the text data in the first language, wherein the second language is different from the first language and is associated with a second user;

converting the translated text data in the second language into translated speech data in the second language, wherein the translated speech data is voiceable by the terminal devices as synthesized sounds; and

providing the text data in the first language, the translated text data in the second language, and the translated speech data in the second language to each of the first and second terminal devices.

7. A non-transitory computer readable medium storing a set of instructions that, when executed by a processor of a server apparatus communicatively coupled to a plurality of terminal devices for facilitating speech communication amongst respective users, causes the processor to:

receive an instruction for performing a translation task during the speech communication;

cause a recording unit to record verbal speech of a first user received from one of the plurality of terminal devices during the speech communication, wherein the recorded verbal speech is in a first language;

cause a speech recognizing unit to receive the recorded verbal speech and to generate text data in the first language based on the recorded verbal speech in accordance with the received instruction;

cause a text translating unit to receive the text data and to generate translated text data in the second language based on the text data in the first language, wherein the second language is different from the first language and is associated with a second user;

cause a speech synthesizing unit to receive the translated text data and to convert the translated text data into translated speech data in the second language, wherein the translated speech data is voiceable by the plurality of terminal devices as synthesized sounds; and

cause a providing unit to receive and provide to each of the plurality of terminal devices;

the text data in the first language, the translated text data in the second language and the translated speech data in the second language;

such that the text data, the translated text data, and the translated speech data is broadcastable to respective users via each terminal device.