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

Media objects are transformed into active, connected objects via identifiers embedded into them or their containers. In the context of a user's playback experience, a decoding process extracts the identifier from a media object and possibly additional context information and forwards it to a server. The server, in turn, maps the identifier to an action, such as returning metadata, re-directing the request to one or more other servers, requesting information from another server to identify the media object, etc. The linking process applies to broadcast objects as well as objects transmitted over networks in streaming and compressed file formats.

Connected audio and other media objects

The various methods and devices described herein relate to devices which, in at least certain embodiments, may include one or more sensors for providing data relating to user activity and at least one processor for causing the device to respond based on the user activity which was determined, at least in part, through the sensors. The response by the device may include a change of state of the device, and the response may be automatically performed after the user activity is determined.

Automated Response to and Sensing of User Activity in Portable Devices

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 for detecting against unauthorized transmission of digital works comprises the steps of maintaining a registry of information permitting identification of digital copyrighted works, monitoring a network for transmission of at least one packet-based digital signal, extracting at least one feature from the at least one digital signal, comparing the extracted at least one feature with registry information and applying business rules based on the comparison result.

Copyright detection and protection system and method

A first image of two images to be compared for similarity is divided into small areas and one small area is selected for calculating the correlation with a second image using a correlative method. Then, the position difference, luminance ratio and similarity in an area where the similarity, which is the square of the correlation value, reaches its maximum, are found. Values based on the similarity are integrated at a position represented by the position difference and the luminance ratio. Similar processing is performed with respect to all the small areas, and at a peak where the maximum integral value of the similarity is obtained, its magnitude is compared with a threshold value to evaluate the similarity. By extracting the small area voted for that peak, it is possible to extract a similar area.

Signal processing method and method for determining image similarity

Appareil pour convertir la vitesse de reproduction et méthode pour convertir la vitesse de reproduction

A method for detecting the noise domain is provided in which the value th employed for finding the threshold value Th1 for noise domain discrimination is calculated using the RMS value of the current frame or the value th of the previous frame multiplied by the coefficient a, whichever is smaller, and the coefficient a is changed over depending on the RMS value of the current frame. Noise domain discrimination by an optimum threshold value responsive to the input signal may be achieved without producing mistaken judgment even on the occasion of noise level fluctuations.

Method for detecting a noise domain

Signalverarbeitungsverfahren und prozessor

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To emphasize call voice by using a microphone of a different characteristic. SOLUTION: A call voice processing device 10 includes: an input correction section 104 for correcting a characteristic of a first input voice which is input from a first input device, to a characteristic of a second input voice which is input from a second input device, the characteristic being different from the first input voice; a voice separation section 112 for separating the second input voice into a plurality of voices; a sound source classification estimation section 122 for estimating a voice classification of the plurality of voices which are separated by the voice separation section; a mixing ratio calculation section 120 for calculating a mixing ratio of each voice according to the voice classification which is estimated by the voice classification estimation section; a voice mixing section 124 for mixing the plurality of voices which are separated by the voice separation section with the mixing ratio calculated by the mixing ratio calculation section; and an extracting section 106 for extracting predetermined voice from the first input voice which is corrected by the input correction section by using the mixed voice which is mixed by the voice mixing section. COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Masayuki Nishiguchi

Papers

Signal processing method and method for determining image similarity

Appareil pour convertir la vitesse de reproduction et méthode pour convertir la vitesse de reproduction

Method for detecting a noise domain

Signalverarbeitungsverfahren und prozessor

Call voice processing device, call voice processing method and program