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 method is provided for modifying an image. The method comprises displaying an image, the image comprising a portion of an object; and determining if an edge of the object is in a location within the portion. The method further comprises detecting movement, in a member direction, of an operating member with respect to the edge. The method still further comprises moving, if the edge is not in the location, the object in an object direction corresponding to the detected movement; and modifying, if the edge is in the location, the image in response to the detected movement, the modified image comprising the edge in the location.

Information processing apparatus, information processing method and program

A cooperative conversational voice user interface is provided. The cooperative conversational voice user interface may build upon short-term and long-term shared knowledge to generate one or more explicit and/or implicit hypotheses about an intent of a user utterance. The hypotheses may be ranked based on varying degrees of certainty, and an adaptive response may be generated for the user. Responses may be worded based on the degrees of certainty and to frame an appropriate domain for a subsequent utterance. In one implementation, misrecognitions may be tolerated, and conversational course may be corrected based on subsequent utterances and/or responses.

System and method for a cooperative conversational voice user interface

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

A voice recognition device, a voice recognition method and a voice recognition program capable of appropriately restricting recognition objects based on voice input from a user to recognize the input voice with accuracy are provided. The voice recognition device includes a first voice recognition processing unit for executing processing of assigning weights of a first ratio to a sound score and a language score calculated for the input voice and recognizing the voice using the obtained scores to determine a type of a domain representing the control object based on a result of the processing, and a second voice recognition processing unit, using the domain of the determined type as a recognition object, for executing processing of assigning weights of a second ratio to the sound score and the language score calculated for the input voice, the weight on the sound score being greater in the second ratio than in the first ratio, and recognizing the voice using the obtained scores to determine the control content of the control object based on a result of the processing.

Voice recognition device, voice recognition method, and voice recognition program

A speech recognizer control system, a speech recognizer control method, and a speech recognizer control program make it possible to properly identify a device on the basis of a speech utterance of a user and to control the identified device. The speech recognizer control system includes a speech input unit to which a speech utterance is input from a user, a speech recognizer which recognizes the content of the input speech utterance, a device controller which identifies a device to be controlled among a plurality of devices on the basis of at least the recognized speech utterance content and which controls an operation of the identified device, and a state change storage which stores, as first auxiliary information for identifying a device to be controlled, a state change other than at least a state change caused by a speech utterance from the user among the state changes of operations in the individual devices of the plurality of devices. The device controller carries out first device identification processing for identifying the device to be controlled on the basis of the recognized speech utterance content, and if the device cannot be identified by the first device identification processing, then the device controller uses at least the first auxiliary information to identify the device.

Speech recognizer control system, speech recognizer control method, and speech recognizer control program

A voice recognition device controller is provided, which is capable of properly determining a user's leaning level in speech so as to provide an efficient interaction. It includes a voice input unit 2 for receiving speech input from a user, a voice recognition unit 3 for recognizing the input speech, a response output unit 10 for outputting a response to the user, and a device control unit 11 for controlling a device based on a recognition result of the voice recognition unit 3. It further includes an input item count detection unit 4 for detecting the number of items identified from the recognized speech among a given number of items necessary to control the device, a reference input item count setting unit 6 for setting a reference value for the number of items identified from the speech, an input item count comparison unit 7 for comparing the number of items detected by the input item count detection unit 4 with the reference value set by the reference input item count setting unit 6, a skill level determination unit 8 for determining the user's skill level in speech based on a comparison result, and a response control unit 9 for controlling the response output according to the determined skill level.

Voice recognition device controller

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a voice recognition equipment controller for properly specifying equipment from utterance of a user, for control. SOLUTION: This voice recognition equipment controller has: a voice input means 3 receive an input of the utterance from the user; a voice recognition means 4 recognizing contents of the inputted utterance; and an equipment control means 6 specifying the equipment to be controlled among a plurality of pieces of the equipment 5a-5c at least on the basis of the contents of the recognized utterance, and controlling operation of the specified equipment. The voice recognition equipment controller has a state change storage means 7 storing a state change generated at least not by the utterance from the user among state changes of operation in the respective pieces of the equipment 5a-5c as first auxiliary information for specifying the equipment to be controlled. The equipment control means 6 executes first equipment specification processing for specifying the equipment to be controlled on the basis of the recognized contents of the utterance, and uses at least the first auxiliary information for specifying the equipment when the first equipment specification processing cannot specify the equipment. COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Hisayuki Nagashima

Papers

Voice recognition device, voice recognition method, and voice recognition program

Speech recognizer control system, speech recognizer control method, and speech recognizer control program

Voice recognition device controller

Voice recognition equipment controller

Honda next generation speech user interface