PERSONALIZED AUDIO INTRODUCTION AND SUMMARY OF RESULT SETS FOR USERS

• US 20170090858A1
• Filed: 09/25/2015
• Published: 03/30/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 09/25/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Verizon Patent and Licensing Incorporated (Verizon Communications Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Yahoo! Inc. (Apollo Global Management, Inc.)
• Inventors: Paris, Jonathan
• Granted Patent: US 10,671,665 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/632 Query formulation
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/638 Presentation of query results

Abstract

Disclosed are methods and apparatus for providing digital audio data including an introduction to and/or summary of a set of content items is provided. In one embodiment, a set of content items may be identified for presentation to a user. One or more personas associated with the user may be identified. Digital audio data pertaining to the set of content items may be obtained based, at least in part on the personas associated with the user. The digital audio data pertaining to the set of content items may be provided.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

identifying a set of content items for presentation to a user;

identifying one or more personas associated with the user;

obtaining digital audio data pertaining to the set of content items based, at least in part, on the one or more personas associated with the user; and

providing the digital audio data pertaining to the set of content items.

2. The method as recited in claim 1, further comprising:

receiving a search query;

wherein identifying a set of content items includes obtaining search results pertaining to the search query;

3. The method as recited in claim 1, further comprising:

receiving input selecting the one or more personas from a plurality of personas.

4. The method as recited in claim 1, further comprising:

selecting, by a processor, at least one of the personas based, at least in part, on one or more personality characteristics of the user.

5. The method as recited in claim 1, further comprising:

selecting, by a processor, at least one of the personas in which the digital audio data pertaining to the set of content items is to be provided based, at least in part, on one or more characteristics of at least one of messages transmitted by a user or messages received by the user.

6. The method as recited in claim 1, further comprising:

selecting, by a processor, at least one of the personas in which the digital audio data pertaining to the set of content items is to be provided based, at least in part, on an interaction history of the user, wherein the interaction history indicates a history of interaction with content items for which digital audio data has been presented.

7. The method as recited in claim 1, further comprising:

receiving a search query, wherein identifying a set of content items includes obtaining search results pertaining to the search query; and

selecting, by a processor, at least one of the personas in which the digital audio data pertaining to the set of content items is to be provided based, at least in part, on one or more characteristics of the search query.

8. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing thereon computer-readable instructions, comprising:

instructions for identifying a set of content items for presentation to a user;

instructions for identifying one or more personas associated with the user;

instructions for obtaining digital audio data pertaining to the set of content items based, at least in part, on the one or more personas associated with the user; and

instructions for providing the digital audio data pertaining to the set of content items.

9. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium as recited in claim 8, further comprising:

instructions for selecting at least one of the personas in which the digital audio data pertaining to the set of content items is to be provided based, at least in part, on an interaction history of the user with the set of content items for which digital audio data has been presented.

10. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium as recited in claim 8, further comprising:

instructions for selecting at least one of the personas in which the digital audio data pertaining to the set of content items is to be provided based, at least in part, on one or more characteristics of at least one of messages transmitted by the user or messages received by the user.

11. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium as recited in claim 8, further comprising:

instructions for selecting at least one of the personas based, at least in part, on one or more personality characteristics of the user.

12. The non-transitory computer-readable medium as recited in claim 8, further comprising:

instructions for selecting at least one of a conversational style, vocabulary, gender, accent, tempo, pitch, or tone; and

instructions for providing the digital audio data according to the selected conversational style, vocabulary, gender, accent, tempo, pitch, or tone.

13. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium as recited in claim 8, further comprising:

instructions for selecting or modifying an amount of at least one of the personas;

wherein the digital audio data is obtained based, at least in part, on the amount.

14. An apparatus, comprising:

one or more processors; and

one or more memories, at least one of the processors or the memories being configured to;

identify a set of content items for presentation to a user;

identify one or more personas associated with the user;

obtain digital audio data pertaining to the set of content items based, at least in part, on the one or more personas associated with the user; and

provide the digital audio data pertaining to the set of content items.

15. The apparatus as recited in claim 14, at least one of the processors or the memories being further configured to:

select a plurality of voice features; and

generate the digital audio data based, at least in part, on the plurality of voice features.

16. The apparatus as recited in claim 15, wherein the voice features comprise at least one of tempo, pitch, tone, accent, or gender.

17. The apparatus as recited in claim 14, at least one of the processors or the memories being further configured to:

select an approximate length or conversational style based, at least in part, on at least one of the personas; and

generate the digital audio data according the approximate length or conversational style.

18. The apparatus as recited in claim 14, at least one of the processors or the memories being further configured to:

select a vocabulary based, at least in part, on at least one of the personas; and

generate the digital audio data based at least in part on the vocabulary.

19. The apparatus as recited in claim 14, at least one of the processors or the memories being further configured to:

obtain a text summary of the set of content items; and

generate the digital audio data from the text summary based, at least in part, on at least one of the personas.

20. The apparatus as recited in claim 14, at least one of the processors or the memories being further configured to:

generate the digital audio data based, at least in part, on one or more pre-recorded phrases that correspond to at least one of the personas.