System and method for structuring speech recognized text into a pre-selected document format

• US 9,396,166 B2
• Filed: 12/18/2012
• Issued: 07/19/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 02/28/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Nuance Communications, Inc. (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Nuance Communications, Inc. (Microsoft Corporation)
• Inventors: Rosen, Lee, Roe, Ed, Poust, Wade
• Primary Examiner(s): Neway, Samuel G
• Application Number:
  US13/718,568
• Publication Number:
  US 20130111331A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,309 Days
• Field of Search: 715221-226
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/103 Formatting, i.e. changing of presentation of documents automatic justification G06F40/189; automatic line break hyphenation G06F40/191
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/174 Form filling; Merging
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/186 Templates
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 15/26 Speech to text systems G10L15/08 takes precedence

Abstract

A system for creating a structured report using a template having at least one predetermined heading and formatting data associated with each heading. The steps include recording a voice file, creating a speech recognized text file corresponding to the voice file, identifying the location of each heading in the text file, and the text corresponding thereto, populating the template with the identified text corresponding to each heading, and formatting the populated template to create the structured report.

Claims

1. A system comprising at least one processor programmed to:

identify, within an input text, a plurality of portions of text, each portion of text corresponding to a section type from a plurality of section types specified in a report template, wherein the report template specifies the plurality of section types at least in part by storing a plurality of section headings corresponding respectively to the plurality of section types;

insert a plurality of indicators into the input text, each indicator corresponding to a respective portion of text in the plurality of portions of text and marking a location in the input text where the respective portion of text begins;

display, to a user, at a first portion of a screen, the input text with the plurality of indicators inserted therein;

display, to the user, at a second portion of the screen that is different from the first portion of the screen, at least some of the plurality of section headings stored in the report template, wherein the at least some of the plurality of section headings and at least some of the input text with the inserted indicators are visible simultaneously;

receive input from the user indicating the user wishes to mark a location in the input text as a beginning of a section, the input identifying a section heading from the at least some of the plurality of section headings displayed to the user;

insert an indicator at the location indicated by the input, wherein the indicator corresponds to the section heading identified by the input;

for at least one portion of text in the plurality of portions of text, identify formatting data based at least in part on the section type of the at least one portion of text; and

use the input text with the plurality of indicators inserted therein to generate a structured report comprising the plurality of portions of text, wherein the at least one portion of text is formatted according to the formatting data identified based at least in part on the section type of the at least one portion of text.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the formatting data comprises at least one format selected from a group consisting of:

font type, font size, bolding, underlining, italicizing, spacing and alignment.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the formatting data is stored in the report template in association with the section type of the at least one portion of text, and wherein the at least one processor is programmed to identify the formatting data at least in part by using the section type of the at least one portion of text to access the formatting data from the report template.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least one processor is programmed to:

in generating the structured report, place the at least one portion of text under the section heading corresponding to the section type of the at least one portion of text.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the report template stores a plurality of hot keys corresponding respectively to the plurality of section headings.

6. The system of claim 5, wherein the input indicates that the user has activated a hot key corresponding to the section heading.

7. The system of claim 6, wherein the at least one processor is further programmed to:

display, to the user, hot keys corresponding respectively to the at least some of the plurality of section headings, wherein the hot keys are displayed in a manner that associates each hot key with the corresponding section heading.

8. A method performed by at least one processor, the method comprising acts of:

identifying, within an input text, a plurality of portions of text, each portion of text corresponding to a section type from a plurality of section types specified in a report template, wherein the report template specifies the plurality of section types at least in part by storing a plurality of section headings corresponding respectively to the plurality of section types;

inserting a plurality of indicators into the input text, each indicator corresponding to a respective portion of text in the plurality of portions of text and marking a location in the input text where the respective portion of text begins;

displaying, to a user, at a first portion of a screen, the input text with the plurality of indicators inserted therein;

displaying, to the user, at a second portion of the screen that is different from the first portion of the screen, at least some of the plurality of section headings stored in the report template, wherein the at least some of the plurality of section headings and at least some of the input text with the inserted indicators are visible simultaneously;

receiving input from the user indicating the user wishes to mark a location in the input text as a beginning of a section, the input identifying a section heading from the at least some of the plurality of section headings displayed to the user;

inserting an indicator at the location indicated by the input, wherein the indicator corresponds to the section heading identified by the input;

for at least one portion of text in the plurality of portions of text, identifying formatting data based at least in part on the section type of the at least one portion of text; and

using the input text with the plurality of indicators inserted therein to generate a structured report comprising the plurality of portions of text, wherein the at least one portion of text is formatted according to the formatting data identified based at least in part on the section type of the at least one portion of text.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the formatting data comprises at least one format selected from a group consisting of:

font type, font size, bolding, underlining, italicizing, spacing and alignment.

10. The method of claim 8, wherein the formatting data is stored in the report template in association with the section type of the at least one portion of text, and wherein the act of identifying the formatting data comprises using the section type of the at least one portion of text to access the formatting data from the report template.

11. The method of claim 8, comprising:

in generating the structured report, placing the at least one portion of text under the section heading corresponding to the section type of the at least one portion of text.

12. The method of claim 8, wherein the report template stores a plurality of hot keys corresponding respectively to the plurality of section headings.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the input indicates that the user has activated a hot key corresponding to the section heading.

14. The method of claim 13, further comprising:

displaying, to the user, hot keys corresponding respectively to the at least some of the plurality of section headings, wherein the hot keys are displayed in a manner that associates each hot key with the corresponding section heading.

15. At least one non-transitory computer storage having encoded thereon instructions that, when executed by at least one processor, perform a method comprising acts of:

identifying, within an input text, a plurality of portions of text, each portion of text corresponding to a section type from a plurality of section types specified in a report template, wherein the report template specifies the plurality of section types at least in part by storing a plurality of section headings corresponding respectively to the plurality of section types;

inserting a plurality of indicators into the input text, each indicator corresponding to a respective portion of text in the plurality of portions of text and marking a location in the input text where the respective portion of text begins;

displaying, to a user, at a first portion of a screen, the input text with the plurality of indicators inserted therein;

displaying, to the user, at a second portion of the screen that is different from the first portion of the screen, at least some of the plurality of section headings stored in the report template, wherein the at least some of the plurality of section headings and at least some of the input text with the inserted indicators are visible simultaneously;

receiving input from the user indicating the user wishes to mark a location in the input text as a beginning of a section, the input identifying a section heading from the at least some of the plurality of section headings displayed to the user;

inserting an indicator at the location indicated by the input, wherein the indicator corresponds to the section heading identified by the input;

for at least one portion of text in the plurality of portions of text, identifying formatting data based at least in part on the section type of the at least one portion of text; and

using the input text with the plurality of indicators inserted therein to generate a structured report comprising the plurality of portions of text, wherein the at least one portion of text is formatted according to the formatting data identified based at least in part on the section type of the at least one portion of text.

16. The at least one non-transitory computer storage of claim 15, wherein the formatting data comprises at least one format selected from a group consisting of:

font type, font size, bolding, underlining, italicizing, spacing and alignment.

17. The at least one non-transitory computer storage of claim 15, wherein the formatting data is stored in the report template in association with the section type of the at least one portion of text, and wherein the act of identifying the formatting data comprises using the section type of the at least one portion of text to access the formatting data from the report template.

18. The at least one non-transitory computer storage of claim 15, wherein the method comprises:

in generating the structured report, placing the at least one portion of text under the section heading corresponding to the section type of the at least one portion of text.

19. The at least one non-transitory computer storage of claim 15, wherein the report template stores a plurality of hot keys corresponding respectively to the plurality of section headings.

20. The at least one non-transitory computer storage of claim 19, wherein the input indicates that the user has activated a hot key corresponding to the section heading.

21. The at least one non-transitory computer storage of claim 20, wherein the method further comprises:

displaying, to the user, hot keys corresponding respectively to the at least some of the plurality of section headings, wherein the hot keys are displayed in a manner that associates each hot key with the corresponding section heading.