Voice control of a media playback system

• US 9,947,316 B2
• Filed: 07/29/2016
• Issued: 04/17/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 02/22/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Sonos, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Sonos, Inc.
• Inventors: Millington, Nicholas A. J., Corbin, Keith, Plagge, Mark
• Primary Examiner(s): Pham, Thierry L
• Application Number:
  US15/223,218
• Publication Number:
  US 20170243576A1
• Time in Patent Office: 627 Days
• Field of Search: 704246, 704251, 704252, 704270, 704275
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/165 Management of the audio stream, e.g. setting of volume, audio stream path
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/167 Audio in a user interface, e.g. using voice commands for navigating, audio feedback
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 15/1822 Parsing for meaning understanding
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 15/22 Procedures used during a speech recognition process, e.g. man-machine dialogue
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 15/30 Distributed recognition, e.g. in client-server systems, for mobile phones or network applications
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 2015/088 Word spotting
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 2015/223 Execution procedure of a spoken command
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 2227/003 Digital PA systems using, e.g. LAN or internet
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 2227/005 Audio distribution systems for home, i.e. multi-room use
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 27/00 Public address systems circuits for preventing acoustic reaction H04R3/02; circuits for distributing signals to loudspeakers H04R3/12; monitoring or testing arrangements for public address systems H04R29/007; amplifiers H03F

Abstract

A voice input comprising a command word, one or more media variable instances, and one or more zone variable instances is received. A media playback system command which corresponds to the command word is determined. Media content which corresponds to the one or more media variable instances is identified. The media playback system is caused to execute the media playback system command on the media content based on the one or more zone variable instances.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

receiving, via a computing device, a voice input comprising a command word, one or more media variable instances, and one or more zone variable instances;

determining, via the computing device, (i) a media playback system command corresponding to the command word and (ii) an intent to form a zone group based on the one or more zone variable instances, wherein the zone group comprise a first playback zone and a second playback zone that is not a member of the zone group before receiving the voice input;

identifying, via the computing device, media content corresponding to the one or more media variable instances; and

causing, via the computing device, the media playback system to (i) form the zone group and (ii) execute the media playback system command on the media content via the zone group.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

before determining that the media playback system command corresponds to the command word, determining, via the computing device, that the voice input corresponds to music control, and

wherein determining that the media playback system command corresponds to the command word comprises;

determining the media playback system command based on available commands corresponding to music control.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining, via the computing device, one or more media items from the identified media content; and

transmitting, via the computing device, an identifier indicating a network storage location of the one or more media items.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the determining comprises:

identifying, via the computing device, the command word as being in a first position in the voice input;

identifying, via the computing device, the one or more media variable instances as being in a second position in the voice input; and

identifying, via the computing device, the one or more zone variable instances as being in a third position in the voice input.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the determining comprises identifying, via the computing device, a first zone variable, a second zone variable, and a position of the first zone variable relative to a position of the second zone variable in the voice input, wherein the first zone variable instance corresponds to the first playback zone, and wherein the second zone variable instance corresponds to the second playback zone.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving the voice input comprises:

receiving the voice input comprising the command word, the one or more media variable instances, and one or more zone variable instances, wherein the one or more zone variable instances comprise a first zone variable corresponding to the first playback zone and a second zone variable corresponding to the second playback zone.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein causing the media playback system to execute the media playback system command on the media content comprises:

transmitting, via the computing device to the media playback system, a message comprising command information identifying the media playback system command, media information identifying media content corresponding to the one or more media variable instances, and one or more zone identifiers corresponding to the one or more zone variable instances.

8. A tangible, non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions, that when executed by one or more processors of a computing device, cause the computing device to perform functions comprising:

receiving a voice input comprising a command word, one or more media variable instances, and one or more zone variable instances;

determining (i) a media playback system command corresponding to the command word and (ii) an intent to form a zone group based on the one or more zone variable instances, wherein the zone group comprise a first playback zone and a second playback zone that is not a member of the zone group before receiving the voice input;

identifying media content corresponding to the one or more media variable instances; and

causing the media playback system to (i) form the zone group and (ii) execute the media playback system command on the media content via the zone group.

9. The computer-readable medium of claim 8, wherein the functions further comprise:

before determining that the media playback system command corresponds to the command word, determining that the voice input corresponds to music control, and

wherein determining that the media playback system command corresponds to the command word comprises;

determining the media playback system command based on available commands corresponding to music control.

10. The computer-readable medium of claim 8, wherein the functions further comprise:

determining one or more media items from the identified media content; and

transmitting an identifier indicating a network storage location of the one or more media items.

11. The computer-readable medium of claim 8, wherein the functions further comprise:

identifying the command word as being in a first position in the voice input;

identifying the one or more media variable instances as being in a second position in the voice input; and

identifying the one or more zone variable instances as being in a third position in the voice input.

12. The computer-readable medium of claim 8, wherein the determining comprises identifying, via the computing device, a first zone variable, a second zone variable, and a position of the first zone variable relative to a position of the second zone variable in the voice input, wherein the first zone variable instance corresponds to the first playback zone, and wherein the second zone variable instance corresponds to the second playback zone.

13. The computer-readable medium of claim 8, wherein receiving the voice input comprises:

receiving the voice input comprising the command word, the one or more media variable instances, and one or more zone variable instances, wherein the one or more zone variable comprise a first zone variable corresponding to the first playback zone and a second zone variable corresponding to the second playback zone.

14. The computer-readable medium of claim 8, wherein causing the media playback system to execute the media playback system command on the media content comprises:

transmitting, to the media playback system, a message comprising command information identifying the media playback system command, media information identifying media content corresponding to the one or more media variable instances, and one or more zone identifiers corresponding to the one or more zone variable instances.

15. A computing device, comprising:

one or more processors;

memory storing instructions that when executed by the one or more processors cause the computing device to perform functions comprising;

receiving a voice input comprising a command word, one or more media variable instances, and one or more zone variable instances;

determining (i) a media playback system command corresponding to the command word and (ii) an intent to form a zone group based on the one or more zone variable instances, wherein the zone group comprise a first playback zone and a second playback zone that is not a member of the zone group before receiving the voice input;

identifying media content corresponding to the one or more media variable instances; and

causing the media playback system to (i) form the zone group and (ii) execute the media playback system command on the media content via the zone group.

16. The computing device of claim 15, wherein the functions further comprise:

before determining that the media playback system command corresponds to the command word, determining that the voice input corresponds to music control, and

wherein determining that the media playback system command corresponds to the command word comprises;

determining the media playback system command based on available commands corresponding to music control.

17. The computing device of claim 15, wherein the functions further comprise:

determining one or more media items from the identified media content; and

transmitting an identifier indicating a network storage location of the one or more media items.

18. The computing device of claim 15, wherein the functions further comprise:

identifying the command word as being in a first position in the voice input;

identifying the one or more media variable instances as being in a second position in the voice input; and

identifying the one or more zone variable instances as being in a third position in the voice input.

19. The computing device of claim 15, wherein the determining comprises identifying, via the computing device, a first zone variable, a second zone variable, and a position of the first zone variable relative to a position of the second zone variable in the voice input, wherein the first zone variable instance corresponds to the first playback zone, and wherein the second zone variable instance corresponds to the second playback zone.

20. The computing device of claim 15, wherein causing the media playback system to execute the media playback system command on the media content comprises:

transmitting, to the media playback system, a message comprising command information identifying the media playback system command, media information identifying media content corresponding to the one or more media variable instances, and one or more zone identifiers corresponding to the one or more zone variable instances.