Systems and methods for informing virtual agent recommendation

• US 9,659,298 B2
• Filed: 12/11/2012
• Issued: 05/23/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 12/11/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Nuance Communications, Inc. (Microsoft Corporation)
• Inventors: Lynch, Timothy, Radebaugh, Carey, Harper, Kenneth S.
• Primary Examiner(s): Eskandarnia, Arvin
• Assistant Examiner(s): Moreau, Austin
• Application Number:
  US13/710,678
• Publication Number:
  US 20140164312A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,624 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/00 Commerce
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 15/18 using natural language modelling
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/493 Interactive information services, e.g. directory enquiries ; Arrangements therefor, e.g. interactive voice response [IVR] systems or voice portals
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/4938 comprising a voice browser which renders and interprets, e.g. VoiceXML
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 7/0036 where the data service is an information service

Abstract

Systems, methods, and apparatus for use in connection with at least one virtual agent. In some embodiments, at least one virtual agent is programmed to: identify a relationship between at least two persons; and make a recommendation for the at least two persons based at least in part on the relationship between the at least two persons.

Claims

1. An apparatus comprising:

at least one memory storing one or more executable instructions; and

at least one hardware processor coupled to the at least one memory and programmed by the one or more executable instructions to implement at least one virtual agent, the at least one virtual agent being programmed to;

analyze a record of a multiparty conversation to identify a request for a recommendation for a social gathering to be attended by a plurality of persons;

identify a relationship between at least two persons of the plurality of persons;

use the relationship between the at least two persons to determine one or more criteria for selecting a recommendation for the social gathering to be attended by the plurality of persons;

use the one or more criteria to search a plurality of options and identify at least one option matching the one or more criteria;

engage in an interaction with a user to output the at least one option as a joint recommendation for the plurality of persons based at least in part on the relationship between the at least two persons;

store a receipt in association with the user interaction between the at least one virtual agent and the user, wherein;

the receipt comprises the at least one option recommended by the at least one virtual agent for the social gathering to be attended by the plurality of persons;

the receipt is accessible to the plurality of persons and is different from a communication transcript of the user interaction; and

the receipt further comprises a link for accessing the communication transcript of the user interaction; and

at a subsequent time, update the receipt based on current information regarding one or more of the plurality of persons.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the at least one virtual agent is programmed to:

monitor the multiparty conversation as the multiparty conversation is ongoing to identify the request for a recommendation for the social gathering to be attended by the plurality of persons;

access information outside the multiparty conversation; and

identify the relationship between the at least two persons based at least in part on the information outside the multiparty conversation.

3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the recommendation relates to a location for the social gathering to be attended by the plurality of persons, and wherein the at least one virtual agent is further programmed to:

obtain GPS coordinates indicative of current locations for the plurality of persons, the current locations comprising at least two different locations; and

select, as the at least one option to be output as the joint recommendation, a recommended location that is at most a threshold distance away from each of the at least two different locations.

4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the current information regarding the one or more of the plurality of persons comprises GPS coordinates indicative of a current location of the one or more of the plurality of persons, and wherein the virtual agent is further programmed to:

determine a current estimated time of arrive (ETA) for the one or more of the plurality of persons based on a location of the at least one option recommended for the social gathering and the current location of the one or more of the plurality of persons, wherein the receipt is updated with the current ETA for the one or more of the plurality of persons.

5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the at least two persons comprise a first person, and wherein the at least one virtual agent is programmed to identify the relationship between the at least two persons at least in part by accessing information stored in a user profile of the first person.

6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the at least one virtual agent is programmed to identify the relationship between the at least two persons at least in part by accessing information collected from at least one social networking service provider.

7. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the at least one virtual agent is programmed to identify the relationship between the at least two persons at least in part by querying at least one third person.

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

analyzing a record of a multiparty conversation to identify a request for a recommendation for a social gathering to be attended by a plurality of persons;

identifying a relationship between at least two persons of the plurality of persons;

using the relationship between the at least two persons to determine one or more criteria for selecting a recommendation for the social gathering to be attended by the plurality of persons;

using the one or more criteria to search a plurality of options and identify at least one option matching the one or more criteria;

engaging in an interaction with a user to output the at least one option as a joint recommendation for the plurality of persons based at least in part on the relationship between the at least two persons;

storing a receipt in association with the user interaction between the at least one virtual agent and the user, wherein;

the receipt comprises the at least one option recommended by the at least one virtual agent for the social gathering to be attended by the plurality of persons;

the receipt is accessible to the plurality of persons and is different from a communication transcript of the interaction; and

the receipt further comprises a link for accessing the communication transcript of the user interaction; and

at a subsequent time, updating the receipt based on current information regarding one or more of the plurality of persons.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the method further comprises:

monitoring the multiparty conversation as the multiparty conversation is ongoing to identify the request for a recommendation for the social gathering to be attended by the plurality of persons; and

accessing information outside the multiparty conversation, wherein the relationship is identified based at least in part on the information outside the multiparty conversation.

10. The method of claim 8, wherein the recommendation relates to a location for the social gathering to be attended by the plurality of persons, and wherein the method further comprises:

obtaining GPS coordinates indicative of current locations for the plurality of persons, the current locations comprising at least two different locations; and

selecting, as the at least one option to be output as the joint recommendation, a recommended location that is at most a threshold distance away from each of the at least two different locations.

11. The method of claim 8, wherein the current information regarding the one or more of the plurality of persons comprises GPS coordinates indicative of a current location of the one or more of the plurality of persons, and wherein the method further comprises:

determining a current estimated time of arrive (ETA) for the one or more of the plurality of persons based on a location of the at least one option recommended for the social gathering and the current location of the one or more of the plurality of persons, wherein the receipt is updated with the current ETA for the one or more of the plurality of persons.

12. The method of claim 8, wherein the at least two persons comprise a first person, and wherein identifying the relationship between the at least two persons comprises accessing information stored in a user profile of the first person.

13. The method of claim 8, wherein identifying the relationship between the at least two persons comprises accessing information collected from at least one social networking service provider.

14. The method of claim 8, wherein identifying the relationship between the at least two persons comprises querying at least one third person.

15. At least one computer-readable storage device having encoded thereon instructions that, when executed by at least one hardware processor, perform a method for implementing at least one virtual agent, the method comprising acts of:

analyzing a record of a multiparty conversation to identify a request for a recommendation for a social gathering to be attended by a plurality of persons;

identifying a relationship between at least two persons of the plurality of persons;

using the relationship between the at least two persons to determine one or more criteria for selecting a recommendation for the social gathering to be attended by the plurality of persons;

using the one or more criteria to search a plurality of options and identify at least one option matching the one or more criteria;

engaging in an interaction with a user to output the at least one option as a joint recommendation for the plurality of persons based at least in part on the relationship between the at least two persons;

storing a receipt in association with the user interaction between the at least one virtual agent and the user, wherein;

the receipt comprises the at least one option recommended by the at least one virtual agent for the social gathering to be attended by the plurality of persons;

the receipt is accessible to the plurality of persons and is different from a communication transcript of the interaction; and

the receipt further comprises a link for accessing the communication transcript of the user interaction; and

at a subsequent time, updating the receipt based on current information regarding one or more of the plurality of persons.

16. The at least one computer-readable storage device of claim 15, wherein the method further comprises:

monitoring the multiparty conversation as the multiparty conversation is ongoing to identify the request for a recommendation for the social gathering to be attended by the plurality of persons; and

accessing information outside the multiparty conversation, wherein the relationship is identified based at least in part on the information outside the multiparty conversation.

17. The at least one computer-readable storage device of claim 15, wherein the recommendation relates to a location for the social gathering to be attended by the plurality of persons, and wherein the method further comprises:

obtaining GPS coordinates indicative of current locations for the plurality of persons, the current locations comprising at least two different locations; and

selecting, as the at least one option to be output as the joint recommendation, a recommended location that is at most a threshold distance away from each of the at least two different locations.

18. The at least one computer-readable storage device of claim 15, wherein the current information regarding the one or more of the plurality of persons comprises GPS coordinates indicative of a current location of the one or more of the plurality of persons, and wherein the method further comprises:

determining a current estimated time of arrive (ETA) for the one or more of the plurality of persons based on a location of the at least one option recommended for the social gathering and the current location of the one or more of the plurality of persons, wherein the receipt is updated with the current ETA for the one or more of the plurality of persons.

19. The at least one computer-readable storage device of claim 15, wherein the at least two persons comprise a first person, and wherein identifying the relationship between the at least two persons comprises accessing information stored in a user profile of the first person.

20. The at least one computer-readable storage device of claim 15, wherein identifying the relationship between the at least two persons comprises accessing information collected from at least one social networking service provider.