Task driven user intents

• US 9,842,168 B2
• Filed: 03/31/2011
• Issued: 12/12/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 03/31/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Inventors: Heck, Larry Paul, Chinthakunta, Madhusudan, Mitby, David, Stifelman, Lisa
• Primary Examiner(s): Sharma, Neeraj
• Application Number:
  US13/077,396
• Publication Number:
  US 20120253791A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,448 Days
• Field of Search: 704 9, 704 10, 704239, 704277, 704270, 7042701, 704272, 704251, 704275, 704231, 704233, 704264, 704257, 379 8803, 379 8814, 707769, 707741, 707792, 707739, 434262, 455563, 709205
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9535 Search customisation based on user profiles and personalisation

Abstract

Identification of user intents may be provided. A plurality of network applications may be identified, and an ontology associated with each of the plurality of applications may be defined. If a phrase received from a user is associated with at least one of the defined ontologies, an action associated with the network application may be executed.

Claims

1. A method for providing a user intent identification, the method comprising:

receiving a first natural language phrase from a first user;

parsing the first natural language phrase into a plurality of words, wherein at least one word of the plurality of words comprises a first parameter;

using the plurality of words and ontologies associated with a plurality of network-based applications to identify, by a computing device, a network-based application from the plurality of network-based applications;

in response to identifying the network-based application, translating the first natural language phrase into an agent action associated with the network-based application according to the ontology associated with the network-based application;

receiving a second natural language phrase from the first user or a second user;

parsing the second natural language phrase into a second plurality of words, wherein at least one word of the second plurality of words comprises a second parameter;

determining based on the second plurality of words that the second natural language phrase is associated with the network-based application;

in response to determining that the second natural language phrase is associated with the network-based application, updating the agent action to include the second parameter and executing the agent action associated with the network-based application according to the first parameter and the second parameter; and

displaying one or more results obtained from executing the agent action to the first user and/or the second user.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one of the network-based applications is associated with an application programming interface (API).

3. The method of claim 2, wherein at least one of the network-based applications is associated with a shared ontology.

4. The method of claim 3, further comprising merging the shared ontology with a personal ontology associated with the user.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising defining an ontology associated with each of the plurality of applications comprising identifying at least one required parameter associated with each of the plurality of applications.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein using the plurality of words to identify, by the computing device, a network-based application from the plurality of network-based applications that is associated with the first natural language phrase comprises determining whether the phrase comprises the at least one required parameter associated with the at least one of the applications.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one of the plurality of applications is associated with a plurality of related APIs.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the plurality of related APIs are each associated with a shared ontology.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

in response to determining that the second phrase is associated with the shared ontology, performing a second agent action on the application via at least one of the set of related APIs according to the second phrase; and

displaying a result associated with the second agent action.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the shared ontology associated with the plurality of related APIs comprises a restaurant domain, wherein the agent action associated with the application comprises identifying at least one restaurant associated with the phrase, and wherein the second agent action comprises requesting a reservation to the at least one restaurant according to the second phrase.

11. A computer-readable storage device which stores a set of instructions which when executed by a computing device, causes the computing device to perform a method for providing an identification of a user intent, the method comprising:

receiving a phrase from a first user;

parsing the phrase into a plurality of words, wherein at least one word of the plurality of words comprises a first parameter;

identifying an ontology associated with the phrase using the plurality of words;

determining whether at least one of a plurality of applications is associated with the identified ontology; and

in response to determining that the at least one of the plurality of applications is associated with the identified ontology, creating an agent action on the at least one of the plurality of applications according to the first parameter;

receiving a second phrase from the first user or a second user;

parsing the second phrase into a second plurality of words, wherein at least one word of the second plurality of words comprises a second parameter;

determining based on the second plurality of words that the second phrase is associated with the identified ontology; and

in response to determining that the second phrase is associated with the identified ontology, updating the agent action to include the second parameter;

executing the agent action associated with the network-based application according to the first parameter and the second parameter; and

displaying one or more results obtained from executing the agent action to the first user and/or the second user.

12. The computer-readable storage device of claim 11, wherein the second phrase is received from the user.

13. The computer-readable storage device of claim 11, wherein the second phrase is received from a second user.

14. The computer-readable storage device of claim 11, further comprising:

in response to determining that the second phrase is not associated with the network-based application, executing the agent action on the network-based application.

15. The computer-readable storage device of claim 14, further comprising:

receiving a response associated with the executed agent action.

16. The computer-readable storage device of claim 15, further comprising:

displaying the received response to the user.

17. The computer-readable storage device of claim 11, wherein the network-based application is associated with the at least one of the following:

a work domain, a restaurant domain, a calendaring domain, a travel domain, an entertainment domain, and a map domain.

18. A system for providing an identification of a user intent, the system comprising:

a memory storage; and

a processing unit coupled to the memory storage, wherein the processing unit is operative to;

receive a first phrase from a user, wherein the first phrase comprises a first natural language phrase,

parse the first phrase into a plurality of words, wherein at least one word of the plurality of words comprises a first parameter,

determine whether the first phrase is associated with at least one ontology using the plurality of words,

in response to determining that the first phrase is associated with the at least one ontology, translate the first phrase into an agent action associated with a network-based application from a plurality of network-based applications according to the at least one ontology, wherein the agent action includes the first parameter,

determine whether the translation of the first phrase into the agent action comprises sufficient information to execute the agent action,

in response to determining that the translation of the first phrase into the agent action does not comprise sufficient information to execute the agent action, request at least one element of additional information from the user,

receive a second phrase, wherein the second phrase comprises a second natural language phrase,

parse the second phrase into a second plurality of words, wherein at least one word of the second plurality of words comprises a second parameter,

determine based on the second plurality of words that the second phrase is associated with at least one ontology associated with the network-based application,

in response to determining that the second phrase is associated with the at least one ontology associated with the network-based application, update the agent action to include the second parameter,

execute the agent action on the network-based application, and

display a result associated with executing the agent action.