Voice processing device

• US 10,424,298 B2
• Filed: 02/14/2017
• Issued: 09/24/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 02/17/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Honda Motor Co., Ltd. (Honda Motor Company)
• Original Assignee: Honda Motor Co., Ltd. (Honda Motor Company)
• Inventors: Fuchiwaki, Yosuke, Asahara, Nobuaki, Suzuki, Atsuyuki, Nakamura, Yusuke
• Primary Examiner(s): Riley, Marcus T
• Application Number:
  US15/432,058
• Publication Number:
  US 20170236510A1
• Time in Patent Office: 952 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/167 Audio in a user interface, e.g. using voice commands for navigating, audio feedback
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 15/22 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 2015/223 Execution procedure of a spoken command

Abstract

A voice processing device includes a voice recognition unit for extracting a command contained in an input voice, and a control unit for controlling operation of the voice processing device itself and/or instructing external devices to operate, based on the extracted command and/or operation instruction information provided. The control unit stores, in a storage device as an operation history, operation information associating the command or a part thereof and/or the operation instruction information or a part of the operation instruction information with details of the operation which is performed by the voice processing device and/or the external device based on the command and/or the operation instruction information. When a voice is input anew, the control unit extracts from the operation history an operation record containing a command or a part of a command, and controls operation of the voice processing device itself and/or instructs an external device to operate.

Claims

1. A voice processing device comprising:

a first voice recognition unit for recognizing contents of an input voice to extract a command contained in the input voice; and

a control unit for controlling operation of the voice processing device itself or instructing an external devices to operate, based on the extracted command or operation instruction information provided;

wherein the control unit is configured to;

store, in a storage device as an operation history, operation information associating the command or a part of the command or the operation instruction information or a part of the operation instruction information with details of the operation which is performed by the voice processing device or the external device based on the command or the operation instruction information, and

when a voice is input anew,

if the command extracted by the first voice recognition unit with respect to the new voice is a simplified voice command, determine a function designated by the simplified voice command, determine either one of the voice processing device itself or the external device corresponding to the function, and extract from the operation history an operation record containing the simplified voice command or a part of the simplified voice command, the operation record being a record of the operation information; and

control operation of the voice processing device itself or instruct the external device to operate, based on said extracted simplified voice command and the extracted operation record,

the voice processing device further comprising at least one second voice recognition unit other than the first voice recognition unit,

wherein the control unit controls operation of the voice processing device itself by sending the input voice to one of the second voice recognition units,

wherein when a number of the extracted operation records are more than two, the control unit selects one operation record among the extracted operation records according to a predefined condition, and controls operation of the determined voice processing device itself corresponding to the function or instructs the determined external device corresponding to the function to operate, based on the extracted simplified voice command and the selected one operation record,

wherein the operation information includes information about whether or not a corresponding operation is performed based on a voice recognition function of any of the second voice recognition units, and

wherein the predefined condition is one specifying that the operation record about an operation performed based on any voice recognition function is preferentially selected over the operation record about an operation performed not based on any voice recognition function.

2. The voice processing device according to claim 1,

wherein the operation instruction information is provided from an operation input unit through which information is entered by a user operation.

3. The voice processing device according to claim 1,

wherein the control unit operates the external device by:

sending an operation instruction signal to instruct the external device to operate, or

sending the input voice to the external device if the external device has a voice recognition function and is connected with the voice processing device so that the voice processing device can send the voice.

4. The voice processing device according to claim 1,

wherein the operation information is related to a music play operation and includes information about whether a musical piece is played automatically,

wherein the predefined condition is one specifying that the operation record indicating that a played musical piece is not one which was played automatically is preferentially selected over the operation record indicating that a played musical piece is one which was played automatically.

5. The voice processing device according to claim 1,

wherein the control unit is further configured to:

obtain, from the external device, information about details of operation performed by the external device in response to a voice command directly input to the external device or a user input operation directly performed to the external device; and

store, in the storage device as the operation history, the operation information associating the voice command or a part of the voice command or information about the user input operation or a part of information about the user input operation with details of the operation which is performed by the external device based on the voice command or the user input operation.

6. The voice processing device according to claim 5,

wherein the predefined condition is one specifying that the operation record other than the operation record based on information obtained from the external device is preferentially selected over the operation record based on information obtained from the external device.

7. The voice processing device according to claim 1,

wherein the operation information includes identification information of the external device used for a corresponding operation and information about a connection route to said external device,

wherein the control unit is configured to:

determine whether it is possible to send an operation instruction to the external device identified by the identification information in the extracted operation record, through the same connection route as that indicated in the extracted operation record, and

if it is not possible, select one alternative connection route according to a predefined condition and instruct the external device to operate using the selected alternative connection route.

8. The voice processing device according to claim 7,

wherein the operation information includes information about whether a corresponding operation is performed based on the voice recognition function of the external device,

wherein if the extracted operation record indicates that the corresponding operation is performed based on the voice recognition function of the external device, then a connection route capable of enabling the voice recognition function of the external device is selected as the alternative connection route.

9. The voice processing device according to claim 1,

wherein the predefined condition is based on information of frequency in the operation history.

10. The voice processing device according to claim 1,

wherein the predefined condition is based on information of last date of use in the operation history.

11. A voice processing device comprising:

a first voice recognition unit for recognizing contents of an input voice to extract a command contained in the input voice; and

a control unit for controlling operation of the voice processing device itself or instructing an external devices to operate, based on the extracted command or operation instruction information provided;

wherein the control unit is configured to;

store, in a storage device as an operation history, operation information associating the command or a part of the command or the operation instruction information or a part of the operation instruction information with details of the operation which is performed by the voice processing device or the external device based on the command or the operation instruction information, and

when a voice is input anew,

if the command extracted by the first voice recognition unit with respect to the new voice is a simplified voice command, determine a function designated by the simplified voice command, determine either one of the voice processing device itself or the external device corresponding to the function, and extract from the operation history an operation record containing the simplified voice command or a part of the simplified voice command, the operation record being a record of the operation information; and

control operation of the voice processing device itself or instruct the external device to operate, based on said extracted simplified voice command and the extracted operation record,

the voice processing device further comprising at least one second voice recognition unit other than the first voice recognition unit,

wherein the control unit controls operation of the voice processing device itself by sending the input voice to one of the second voice recognition units,

wherein when a number of the extracted operation records are more than two, the control unit selects one operation record among the extracted operation records according to a predefined condition, and controls operation of the determined voice processing device itself corresponding to the function or instructs the determined external device corresponding to the function to operate, based on the extracted simplified voice command and the selected one operation record,

wherein the operation information is related to a music play operation and includes information about whether or not a musical piece is played automatically, and

wherein the predefined condition is one specifying that the operation record indicating that a played musical piece is not one which was played automatically is preferentially selected over the operation record indicating that a played musical piece is one which was played automatically.