Navigation apparatus

• US 9,514,737 B2
• Filed: 09/13/2011
• Issued: 12/06/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 09/13/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Mitsubishi Electric Corporation
• Original Assignee: Mitsubishi Electric Corporation
• Inventors: Takei, Takumi, Furumoto, Yuki
• Primary Examiner(s): Dorvil, Richemond
• Assistant Examiner(s): Chavez, Rodrigo
• Application Number:
  US14/118,196
• Publication Number:
  US 20140074473A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,911 Days
• Field of Search: 704/231, 704/246, 704/251, 704/253
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3608 using speech input, e.g. using speech recognition
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 15/005 Language recognition
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 15/22 Procedures used during a speech recognition process, e.g. man-machine dialogue
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 2015/227 of the speaker; Human-factor methodology

Abstract

A navigation apparatus capable of providing a user not only with guidance, but also with all of the guidance, operational procedure, operation screen and recognition vocabulary, that is, with an operational transition that is defined by the guidance, operational procedure, operation screen and recognition vocabulary, while altering the operational transition in accordance with the recognition vocabulary comprehension level of the user. Thus, it can increase the possibility for a user with a low recognition vocabulary comprehension level to achieve a task, or for a user with a high recognition vocabulary comprehension level to improve the comfortableness of the operation, thereby being able to provide all the users with the optimum operational transition.

Claims

1. A navigation apparatus including a voice receiver to receive an instruction by voice input, and a voice recognizer to carry out voice recognition of the instruction received by the voice receiver, the navigation apparatus comprising:

a recognition vocabulary comprehension level decider to decide a user comprehension level of a recognition vocabulary for instructions recognizable by the voice recognizer, from at least one of correction operation frequency and time-out frequency in an operation of recognizing the instruction which is carried out during the voice recognition by the voice recognizer and corresponds to the instruction;

an operational transition determiner to determine an operational transition from a plurality of potential operational transitions in accordance with a decision result of the recognition vocabulary comprehension level decider, each of the potential operational transitions including a different number of input steps by which the instruction is voice-recognized, such that different input steps correspond to different subsets of the recognition vocabulary for each potential operation transition that includes multiple input steps; and

an operational transition provider to provide the operational transition determined by the operational transition determiner, wherein

the operational transition determiner, when determining the operational transition in accordance with the decision result output from the recognition vocabulary comprehension level decider, switches the operational transition thereby limiting an input content per step by increasing the number of input steps in a specific operational transition, or reducing the number of input steps by increasing an amount of information capable of being input per step in the specific operational transition.

2. The navigation apparatus according to claim 1, wherein

the operational transition determiner, when determining the operational transition in accordance with the decision result output from the recognition vocabulary comprehension level decoder, determines to switch the operational transition to an alternative one of the potential operational transitions capable of achieving the same purpose.

3. The navigation apparatus according to claim 1, wherein

the operational transition determiner, when determining the operational transition in accordance with the decision result output from the recognition vocabulary comprehension level decider, prepares the potential operational transitions with a plurality of patterns in advance, and alters the operational transition stepwise in accordance with ease of understanding and a number of input steps.

4. The navigation apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising:

a keyword extractor to extract a specific keyword from the content recognized by the voice recognizer, wherein

the operational transition determiner determines the operational transition in accordance with the keyword in past utterance in the transition and the recognition vocabulary comprehension level.

5. The navigation apparatus according to claim 1, wherein

the recognition vocabulary comprehension level decider adjusts its standards for the decision in accordance with a past operation content history.

6. The navigation apparatus according to claim 1, wherein

the recognition vocabulary comprehension level decider adjusts its standards for the decision in accordance with a vehicle running state.

7. The navigation apparatus according to claim 1, wherein

the recognition vocabulary comprehension level decider prevents, for a prescribed period of time after an operational transition alteration, the recognition vocabulary comprehension level from being altered, or the operational transition from being switched even if the recognition vocabulary comprehension level is altered.

8. The navigation apparatus according to claim 1, wherein

the navigation apparatus makes, on a function-by-function basis, a decision of the recognition vocabulary comprehension level by the recognition vocabulary comprehension level decider and the determination of the operational transition based on the decision.

9. The navigation apparatus according to claim 1, wherein

the navigation apparatus, when switching the operational transition in accordance with a decision result by the recognition vocabulary comprehension level decider, provides a user with a manner of the alteration before the alteration through voice output or screen output.

10. The navigation apparatus according to claim 1, wherein

the navigation apparatus enables a user to cancel a switching of the operational transition at a time when the operational transition determiner determines to switch the operational transition.

11. The navigation apparatus according to claim 10, wherein

the navigation apparatus, when a user operation cancels a switching to a particular operational transition not less than a prescribed number of times or returns to a previous operational transition not less than a prescribed number of times after a switching to the particular operational transition, excludes the particular operational transition from a target of the operational transition determination for a prescribed period of time or to eternity.

12. The navigation apparatus according to claim 1, wherein

the navigation apparatus enables a user to return to the previous operational transition at an arbitrary timing after the determination by the operational transition determiner causes the operational transition to switch.

13. The navigation apparatus according to claim 1, wherein

the navigation apparatus, if the recognition vocabulary comprehension level is not raised even after a prescribed period of time has elapsed after the operational transition determiner determines to switch to an easiest-to-understand operational transition, provides a user with an alternative means of the operational transition.

14. The navigation apparatus according to claim 1, wherein

the navigation apparatus enables a user to select enabling/disabling the determination of the operational transition by the operational transition determiner.

15. The navigation apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising:

a user identifier to identify a user, wherein

the recognition vocabulary comprehension level decider and the operational transition determiner make a decision of the recognition vocabulary comprehension level and a determination of the operational transition on a user-by-user basis identified by the user identifier.

16. The navigation apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising:

a user designator to designate any desired user from a user list that has already been registered, wherein

the recognition vocabulary comprehension level decider and the operational transition determiner make a decision of the recognition vocabulary comprehension level and a determination of the operational transition on a user-by-user basis designated by the user designator.