Audio user interface for computing devices
First Claim
1. A method for assisting a user in efficiently navigating an audible user interface at a portable computing device arranged to store a plurality of media items, the method comprising:
- (a) displaying a menu having a list of navigation icons each of which corresponds to a navigation command for assisting the user in navigating the plurality of media items;
(b) navigating the plurality of menu items by receiving a user touch event on one of the navigation icons;
(c) in response to (b), playing an audibilized navigation command associated with the navigation icon on which the user touch event is received, wherein the playing is performed only during the touch event, wherein if the user decides not to select the associated navigation icon, then the user terminates the touch event prior to the completion of the playing of the audibilized navigation command; and
(d) if the user decides to select the navigation icon associated with the audibilized navigation command, then receiving a selection user input event at the navigated to navigation icon that causes the portable computing device to execute the navigation command otherwise, returning to (b).
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Accused Products
Abstract
An audio user interface that generates audio prompts that help a user interact with a user interface of a device is disclosed. One aspect of the present invention pertains to techniques for providing the audio user interface by efficiently leveraging the computing resources of a host computer system. The relatively powerful computing resources of the host computer can convert text strings into audio files that are then transferred to the computing device. The host system performs the process intensive text-to-speech conversion so that a computing device, such as a hand-held device, only needs to perform the less intensive task of playing the audio file. The computing device can be, for example, a media player such as an MP3 player, a mobile phone, or a personal digital assistant.
306 Citations
28 Claims
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1. A method for assisting a user in efficiently navigating an audible user interface at a portable computing device arranged to store a plurality of media items, the method comprising:
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(a) displaying a menu having a list of navigation icons each of which corresponds to a navigation command for assisting the user in navigating the plurality of media items; (b) navigating the plurality of menu items by receiving a user touch event on one of the navigation icons; (c) in response to (b), playing an audibilized navigation command associated with the navigation icon on which the user touch event is received, wherein the playing is performed only during the touch event, wherein if the user decides not to select the associated navigation icon, then the user terminates the touch event prior to the completion of the playing of the audibilized navigation command; and (d) if the user decides to select the navigation icon associated with the audibilized navigation command, then receiving a selection user input event at the navigated to navigation icon that causes the portable computing device to execute the navigation command otherwise, returning to (b). - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. Computer readable medium for storing computer code for efficiently navigating an audible user interface at a portable computing device arranged to store a plurality of media items, the computer readable medium comprising:
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computer code for displaying a menu having a list of navigation icons, each of which corresponds to a navigation command for assisting the user in navigating the plurality of media items; computer code for navigating the plurality of menu items by receiving a user touch event on one of the navigation icons; computer code for playing an audibilized navigation command associated with the navigation icon on which the user touch event is received, wherein the playing is performed only during the touch event, wherein if the user decides not to select the associated menu item, then the user terminates the touch event prior to the completion of the playing of the audibilized navigation command; and computer code for receiving a selection user input event at the navigation icon that causes the portable computing device to execute the navigation command. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. A method for efficiently navigating an audible user interface at a portable computing device arranged to store a plurality of media items, the method comprising:
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(a) determining most frequently used top-level menu items; (b) storing the most frequently used top-level menu items in a cache memory; (c) displaying a menu having a list of menu items; (d) navigating the list of menu items by receiving a user touch event on one of the list of menu items; (e) in response to (d), retrieving an audio prompt associated with the menu item on which the user touch event is received, from the cache memory, wherein the cache memory contains audio prompts for frequently used top-level menu items; (f) after retrieval of the audio prompt, playing the audio prompt, wherein the playing is performed only during the touch event, wherein if the user decides not to select the associated menu item, then the user terminates the touch event prior to the completion of the playing of the audio prompt; and wherein the audio prompt for each menu item is generated via text-to-speech processing, and wherein the voice used in the audio prompts varies based on the type of the menu item, as indicated by customized settings input by the user. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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20. A portable media device, comprising:
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a graphical user interface having a plurality of selectable menu items; a non-volatile memory storing a plurality of media items and a plurality of audio prompts corresponding to menu items of the graphical user interface; a volatile cache storing audio prompt corresponding to frequently-used menu items; a left speaker and right speaker; wherein the graphical user interface is configured to navigate the list of menu items by receiving a user touch event on one of the list of menu items, and retrieving an audio prompt corresponding to the menu item on which the user touch event is received by first attempting to retrieve it from the volatile cache and only attempting to retrieve it from the non-volatile memory if it is not possible to retrieve it from the volatile cache; and wherein the graphical user interface is further configured to play the audio prompt corresponding to the menu item on which the user touch event is received only during the touch event, wherein the graphical user interface is configured to play the audio prompt corresponding to the menu item on which the user touch event is received through the left speaker while a media item plays through the right speaker. - View Dependent Claims (21)
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22. A portable computing device, comprising:
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a user interface having a plurality of user interface controls and a menu having a list of navigation icons, each of which corresponds to a navigation command for assisting the user in navigating the plurality of media items; a communications port for receiving audio prompts and media items from the host system, the audio prompts describing at least one of the user interface controls or one of the media items; a user interface control module that receives user touch events from the user interface, wherein if a user touch event on one of the navigation icons is received, the user interface control module is designed to navigate the plurality of menu items and to play an audibilized navigation command associated with the navigation on which the user touch event is received, wherein the playing is performed only during the touch event, wherein if the user decides not to select the associated navigation icon, then the user terminates the touch event prior to the completion of the playing of the audibilized navigation command, and if the user decides to select the navigation icon associated with the audibilized navigation command, then a selection user input event is received at the navigated to navigation icon that causes the portable computing device to execute the navigation command; a memory that stores the audio prompts and media items. - View Dependent Claims (23, 24, 25, 26)
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27. An apparatus for assisting a user in efficiently navigating an audible user interface at a portable computing device arranged to store a plurality of media items, the apparatus comprising:
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means for (a) displaying a menu having a list of navigation icons each of which corresponds to a navigation command for assisting the user in navigating the plurality of media items; means for (b) navigating the plurality of menu items by receiving a user touch event on one of the navigation icons; means for (c) in response to (b), playing an audibilized navigation command associated with the navigation icon on which the user touch event is received, wherein the playing is performed only during the touch event, wherein if the user decides not to select the associated navigation icon, then the user terminates the touch event prior to the completion of the playing of the audibilized navigation command; and means for (d) if the user decides to select the navigation icon associated with the audibilized navigation command, then receiving a selection user input event at the navigated to navigation icon that causes the portable computing device to execute the navigation command otherwise, returning to (b). - View Dependent Claims (28)
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Specification