Resolving pronoun ambiguity in voice queries
First Claim
1. A computer-implemented method comprising,receiving, by a server, a particular voice query that is based on an utterance of a user that was detected by a microphone of a device that is located remotely from the server;
- determining, by the server, that at least a portion of the voice query includes a phrase that refers to a concept related to at least one query of a plurality of other queries that were received by the server before the particular voice query;
obtaining, by the server, the phrase that refers to the concept;
determining, by the server, that the phrase includes a determiner word;
identifying, by the server, an object word of the determiner word;
determining, based on the identified object word, a set of hypernyms for the object word;
determining, by the server, a value that reflects a level of similarity between the obtained portion of the particular voice query and each of the plurality of queries that were previously received by the server, wherein determining the value comprises;
comparing the obtained phrase and the set of hypernyms to each of the plurality of queries, anddetermining, based on the comparison of the obtained phrase and the set of hypernyms to each of the plurality of queries, a value that reflects a level of similarity between the obtained portion of the particular voice query and each of the plurality of queries that were previously received;
identifying, by the server and based on the determined value that reflects the level of similarity, a first query of the plurality of queries; and
generating, by the server, a data structure that includes data representing an association between the concept of the first query and the particular voice query.
4 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on computer storage media, for resolving ambiguity in received voice queries. An original voice query is received following one or more earlier voice queries, wherein the original voice query includes a pronoun or phrase. In one implementation, a plurality of acoustic parameters is identified for one or more words in the original voice query. A concept represented by the pronoun is identified based on the plurality of acoustic parameters, wherein the concept is associated with a particular query of the one or more earlier queries. The concept is associated with the pronoun. Alternatively, a concept may be associated with a phrase by using grammatical analysis of the query to relate the phrase to a concept derived from a prior query.
18 Citations
14 Claims
-
1. A computer-implemented method comprising,
receiving, by a server, a particular voice query that is based on an utterance of a user that was detected by a microphone of a device that is located remotely from the server; -
determining, by the server, that at least a portion of the voice query includes a phrase that refers to a concept related to at least one query of a plurality of other queries that were received by the server before the particular voice query; obtaining, by the server, the phrase that refers to the concept; determining, by the server, that the phrase includes a determiner word; identifying, by the server, an object word of the determiner word; determining, based on the identified object word, a set of hypernyms for the object word; determining, by the server, a value that reflects a level of similarity between the obtained portion of the particular voice query and each of the plurality of queries that were previously received by the server, wherein determining the value comprises; comparing the obtained phrase and the set of hypernyms to each of the plurality of queries, and determining, based on the comparison of the obtained phrase and the set of hypernyms to each of the plurality of queries, a value that reflects a level of similarity between the obtained portion of the particular voice query and each of the plurality of queries that were previously received; identifying, by the server and based on the determined value that reflects the level of similarity, a first query of the plurality of queries; and generating, by the server, a data structure that includes data representing an association between the concept of the first query and the particular voice query. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5)
-
-
6. A system comprising:
one or more computers and one or more storage devices storing instructions that are operable, when executed by one or more computers, to cause the one or more computers to perform the operations comprising; receiving, by a server, a particular voice query that is based on an utterance of a user that was detected by a microphone of a device that is located remotely from the server; determining, by the server, that at least a portion of the voice query includes a phrase that refers to a concept related to at least one query of a plurality of other queries that were received by the server before the particular voice query; obtaining, by the server, the phrase that refers to the concept; determining, by the server, that the phrase includes a determiner word; identifying, by the server, an object word of the determiner word; determining, based on the identified object word, a set of hypernyms for the object word; determining, by the server, a value that reflects a level of similarity between the obtained portion of the particular voice query and each of the plurality of queries that were previously received by the server, wherein determining the value comprises; comparing the obtained phrase and the set of hypernyms to each of the plurality of queries, and determining, based on the comparison of the obtained phrase and the set of hypernyms to each of the plurality of queries, a value that reflects a level of similarity between the obtained portion of the particular voice query and each of the plurality of queries that were previously received; identifying, by the server and based on the determined value that reflects the level of similarity, a first query of the plurality of queries; and generating, by the server, a data structure that includes data representing an association between the concept of the first query and the particular voice query. - View Dependent Claims (7, 8, 9, 10)
-
11. A computer-readable storage device having stored thereon instructions, which, when executed by data processing apparatus, cause the data processing apparatus to perform operations comprising:
-
receiving, by a server, a particular voice query that is based on an utterance of a user that was detected by a microphone of a device that is located remotely from the server; determining, by the server, that at least a portion of the voice query includes a phrase that refers to a concept related to at least one query of a plurality of other queries that were received by the server before the particular voice query; obtaining, by the server, the phrase that refers to the concept; determining, by the server, that the phrase includes a determiner word; identifying, by the server, an object word of the determiner word; determining, based on the identified object word, a set of hypernyms for the object word; determining, by the server, a value that reflects a level of similarity between the obtained portion of the particular voice query and each of the plurality of queries that were previously received by the server, wherein determining the value comprises; comparing the obtained phrase and the set of hypernyms to each of the plurality of queries, and determining, based on the comparison of the obtained phrase and the set of hypernyms to each of the plurality of queries, a value that reflects a level of similarity between the obtained portion of the particular voice query and each of the plurality of queries that were previously received; identifying, by the server and based on the determined value that reflects the level of similarity, a first query of the plurality of queries; and generating, by the server, a data structure that includes data representing an association between the concept of the first query and the particular voice query. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14)
-
Specification