An intelligent automated assistant system engages with the user in an integrated, conversational manner using natural language dialog, and invokes external services when appropriate to obtain information or perform various actions. The system can be implemented using any of a number of different platforms, such as the web, email, smartphone, and the like, or any combination thereof. In one embodiment, the system is based on sets of interrelated domains and tasks, and employs additional functionally powered by external services with which the system can interact.

Intelligent Automated Assistant

A virtual assistant uses context information to supplement natural language or gestural input from a user. Context helps to clarify the user's intent and to reduce the number of candidate interpretations of the user's input, and reduces the need for the user to provide excessive clarification input. Context can include any available information that is usable by the assistant to supplement explicit user input to constrain an information-processing problem and/or to personalize results. Context can be used to constrain solutions during various phases of processing, including, for example, speech recognition, natural language processing, task flow processing, and dialog generation.

Using context information to facilitate processing of commands in a virtual assistant

A mobile terminal and a control method thereof, which can obtain an image, are provided. A mobile terminal (100) includes a camera unit (121), a pictogram extraction unit (182) and a controller (180). The camera unit (121) obtains image information corresponding to at least one of a still image and a moving image. The pictogram extraction unit (182) extracts at least one pictogram from the obtained image information. The controller (180) detects information related to the extracted pictogram, and displays the detected information to be overlapped with the obtained image information. In the mobile terminal, the controller (180) includes, as the detected information, at least one of previously recorded information and currently searched information related to the extracted pictogram.

Mobile terminal and control method thereof

In a portable multimedia device, a method, apparatus, and system for providing user supplied configuration data are described. In one embodiment, a hierarchically ordered graphical user interface are provided. A first order, or home, interface provides a highest order of user selectable items each of which, when selected, results in an automatic transition to a lower order user interface associated with the selected item. In one of the described embodiments, the lower order interface includes other user selectable items associated with the previously selected item from the higher order user interface.

Graphical user interface and methods of use thereof in a multimedia player

A method and apparatus are provided for building an intelligent automated assistant. Embodiments of the present invention rely on the concept of “active ontologies” (e.g., execution environments constructed in an ontology-like manner) to build and run applications for use by intelligent automated assistants. In one specific embodiment, a method for building an automated assistant includes interfacing a service-oriented architecture that includes a plurality of remote services to an active ontology, where the active ontology includes at least one active processing element that models a domain. At least one of the remote services is then registered for use in the domain.

Method and apparatus for building an intelligent automated assistant

The recent growth in the mobile device market has proven the feasibility of mobile storage based consumer electronics products. One of the key features of personal mobile storage devices is the ability to synchronize content and metadata with other mobile and stationary devices. The main problem addressed is automatic data exchange and synchronization in the domain of personal mobile storage devices or personal servers. We present a synchronization framework for personal servers delivered in the form of user scenarios, derived system requirements, design decisions and a software components structure. The synchronization framework was validated through a working prototype which shows added functionality, such as: connectivity with various types of devices from different vendors, synchronization based on user preferences, content-aware synchronization filtering. In order to abstract from implementation specifics of different network protocols, a high-level object-based storage API has been defined.

A synchronization framework for personal mobile servers

Aurama is a system designed to provide peace of mind and a sense of connectedness to adults who care for elderly parents living alone. Aurama monitors the elders at home using unobtrusive sensor technology and collects data about sleeping patterns, weight trends, cognitive abilities and presence at home. The system provides an unobtrusive ambient information display that presents the status of the elder and lets its users inspect long-term data about the well-being of the elder interactively. Aurama was designed iteratively with substantial user involvement through interviews, prototype evaluation, focus groups and lab tests. The final prototype was evaluated in two field trials each involving an elder and their adult children. The input of users throughout the design process and during these tests demonstrates clearly the potential of awareness systems to support the target user group to obtain peace of mind and feel connected. Furthermore, the users indicate a clear need for information on long-term trends relating to the well-being of aging parents, in contrast to the current emphasis in this field of research on providing instantaneous status information about daily activities and context.

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Aurama: caregiver awareness for living independently with an augmented picture frame display

A device (7) is caused to enter an active mode by determining a coarse level of interest; determining a more refined level of interest in response to determining the coarse level of interest; and causing a device (7) to enter an active mode, in response to determining the refined level of interest.

System, method and apparatus for causing a device to enter an active mode

In the fast- growing field of digital asset distribution, asset identification is very important. Audio fingerprinting is a proven method of identifying audio assets. In this paper a new feature for Consumer Electronics devices, called Duplicate Song Elimination or Duplicate Song Detection, is presented. By example of a typical user scenario we show how this feature can be used in practice. We also show how this feature can be integrated in data management middleware to perform background self-cleaning from duplicates. The audio fingerprinting technology enables this feature and creates opportunities for other sophisticated features in the future.

Duplicate Song Detection using Audio Fingerprinting for Consumer Electronics Devices

The ever-increasing complexity of generic multimedia-content-analysis-based (MCA) solutions, their processing power demanding nature and the need to prototype and assess solutions in a fast and cost-saving manner motivated the development of the Cassandra framework. The combination of state-of-the-art network and grid-computing solutions and recently standardized interfaces facilitated the set-up of this framework, forming the basis for multiple cross-domain and cross-organizational collaborations. It enables distributed computing scenario simulations for e.g. distributed content analysis (DCA) across consumer electronics (CE) in-home networks, but also the rapid development and assessment of complex multi-MCA-algorithm-based applications and system solutions. Furthermore, the framework's modular nature-logical MCA units are wrapped into so-called service units (SU)-ease the split between system-architecture- and algorithmic-related work and additionally facilitate reusability, extensibility and upgrade ability of those SUs

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Alexander Sinitsyn

Papers

A synchronization framework for personal mobile servers

Aurama: caregiver awareness for living independently with an augmented picture frame display

System, method and apparatus for causing a device to enter an active mode

Duplicate Song Detection using Audio Fingerprinting for Consumer Electronics Devices

Real-Time and Distributed AV Content Analysis System for Consumer Electronics Networks