Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC

Microsoft Corporation

Benjamin N Rabelos

Sarah E Zuberec

Cynthia DuVal

William Hong Vong

Jossef Goldberg

Stuart DeSpain

Steven P Masters

Timothy J Cullen

Bob McKenzie

Robert Gallup

William Vong

A speech recognition system having a user interface that provides both visual and auditory feedback to a user is described. In one aspect, a response time in which to receive an audible utterance is initiated. A graphic representing the response time is displayed. A first sound is played when an audible utterance is recognized. The graphic is changed to indicate passage of the response time such that the graphic diminishes in size from an original size with the passage of time. Responsive to recognizing an utterance, the graphic is presented in the original size. Responsive to expiration of the response time before the audible utterance has been recognized, a second sound is emitted to indicate that the speech recognition system has entered a dormant state.

Speech recognition user interface

A speech recognition system having a user interface that provides both visual and auditory feedback to a user. The user interface includes an audio sound or speech generator that produces three distinct sounds: an 'on' sound signifying that the speech recognition system is on and actively awaiting vocal input; an 'off' sound indicating that the speech recognition system is off and in a sleep mode; and a &#x201c;confirm&#x201d; sound noting that an utterance has been recognized. The &#x201c;on&#x201d; sound is triggered by a key &#x201c;wake up&#x201d; command or by depression of button. Once awake, the speech recognition engine expects to receive an utterance within a predetermined response time. The &#x201c;confirm&#x201d; sound signals the start of the response time. If the response time lapses before a recognizable utterance is entered, the &#x201c;off&#x201d; sound is played. The user interface further includes a visual component in the form of a graphic that changes with the tolling of the response period. In one implementation, the count graphic is a progress bar that counts down or shortens in proportion to the passage of the response period. When the response time runs out, the progress bar disappears entirely. On the other hand, if the speech engine recognizes an utterance within the response period, the user interface plays the &#x201c;confirm&#x201d; sound and restarts the countdown graphic. The user interface may also change the color of the graphic elements briefly to reflect a correct voice entry.

An electronic device has a small-area screen to display items from a navigatable set of items and an input mechanisms (e.g., keys, joystick, spin dial, etc.) that enable a user to navigate through the navigatable items. An operator interface includes a navigation glyph having multiple elements that correspond to actions of the input mechanism. Different sets of the navigation glyph elements are illuminated to indicate which user-actions on the input mechanism are presently available to navigate from a current location to another location in the navigatable set of items.

Navigation graphical interface for small screen devices

The size of information being display by a computer is automatically adjusted in order to make the information easily readable, while at the same time leaving most (or all) of the information displayed on a single screen. Any one or more of the font point size, the font type, the number of lines used, and the caption used can be adjusted in order to determine the manner in which the information is displayed.

Displaying text on a limited-area display surface

An automobile computer system having a computer that runs an open platform operating system configured to support multiple applications, including applications that can be installed by a user. The system includes an operator interface that is mountable for viewing by an operator of an automobile. A plurality of application icons are scrollable across the visual operator interface by a user. The application icons correspond to applications supported by the operating system. The operator interface has a fixed focus position, wherein any application icon that is scrolled to the fixed focus position becomes focused and can be activated to select the application corresponding to the focused application icon. In some cases, icons are activated by leaving them focused for a predetermined timeout period. The system also includes a visual control that is available to application programs. The control includes any specified combination of items of the following types: (a) an edit item having a variable that is editable in response to a user select command; (b) an adjustable item having a variable that is changeable through a series of predefined values in response to user adjustment commands; (c) a selection item that opens a secondary control in response to a user select command; and (d) a combination item having a variable that is changeable through a series of predefined values in response to user adjustment commands, the combination item opening a secondary control in response to a user selection command.

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Seattle, WA, United States of America

Benjamin N Rabelos