Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.

Yi Zhao

Jean-Claude Junqua

Roland Kuhn

Tony Davis

Weiying Li

Matteo Contolini

Michael Galler

Murat Karaorman

Ken Field

The system retrieves information from the internet using multiple search engines that are simultaneously launched by the search engine commander. The commander is responsive to a speech-enabled system including a speech recognizer and natural language parser. The user speaks to the system in natural language requests, and the parser extracts the semantic content from the user's speech, based on a set of goal oriented grammars. The preferred system includes a fixed grammar and an updatable or downloaded grammar, allowing the system to be used without extensive training and yet capable of being customized for a particular user's purposes. Results obtained from the search engines are filtered based on information extracted from an electronic program guide and from prestored user profile data. The results may be displayed on screen or through synthesized speech.

System and method for assessing TV-related information over the internet

The remote control unit supports multi-modal dialog with the user, through which the user can easily select programs for viewing or recording. The remote control houses a microphone into which the user can input natural language speech. The input speech is recognized and interpreted by a natural language parser that extracts the semantic content of the user's speech. The parser works in conjunction with an electronic program guide, through which the remote control system is able to ascertain what programs are available for viewing or recording and supply appropriate prompts to the user. In one embodiment, the remote control includes a touch screen display upon which the user may view prompts or make selections by pen input or tapping. Selections made on the touch screen automatically limit the context of the ongoing dialog between user and remote control, allowing the user to interact naturally with the unit. The remote control unit can control virtually any audio-video component, including those designed before the current technology. The remote control system can be packaged entirely within the remote control handheld unit, or components may be distributed in other systems attached to the user's multimedia equipment.

Universal remote control allowing natural language modality for television and multimedia searches and requests

The input signal is transformed into the frequency domain and then subdivided into bands corresponding to different frequency ranges. Adaptive thresholds are applied to the data from each frequency band separately. Thus the short-term band-limited energies are tested for the presence or absence of a speech signal. The adaptive threshold values are independently updated for each of the signal paths, using a histogram data structure to accumulate long-term data representing the mean and variance of energy within the respective frequency band. Endpoint detection is performed by a state machine that transitions from the speech absent state to the speech present state, and vice versa, depending on the results of the threshold comparisons. A partial speech detection system handles cases in which the input signal is truncated.

Speech detection for noisy conditions

Speech input supplied by the user is evaluated by the speaker verification/identification module, and based on the evaluation, parameters are retrieved from a user profile database. These parameters adapt the speech models of the speech recognizer and also supply the natural language parser with customized dialog grammars. The user's speech is then interpreted by the speech recognizer and natural language parser to determine the meaning of the user's spoken input in order to control the television tuner. The parser works in conjunction with a command module that mediates the dialog with the user, providing on-screen prompts or synthesized speech queries to elicit further input from the user when needed. The system integrates with an electronic program guide, so that the natural language parser is made aware of what programs are available when conducting the synthetic dialog with the user.

System for identifying and adapting a TV-user profile by means of speech technology

Speech recognition and natural language parsing components are used to extract the meaning of the user's spoken input. The system stores a semantic representation of an electronic program guide, and the contents of the program guide can be mapped into the grammars used by the natural language parser. Thus, when the user wishes to navigate through the complex menu structure of the electronic program guide, he or she only needs to speak in natural language sentences. The system automatically filters the contents of the program guide and supplies the user with on-screen display or synthesized speech responses to the user's request.

Automatic filtering of TV contents using speech recognition and natural language

Users of the system can access the TV contents and program media recorder by speaking in natural language sentences. The user interacts with the television and with other multimedia equipment, such as media recorders and VCRs, through the unified access controller. A speaker verification/identification module determines the identity of the speaker and this information is used to control how the dialog between user and system proceeds. Speech can be input through either a microphone or over the telephone. In addition, the user can interact with the system using a suitable computer attached via the internet. Regardless of the mode of access, the unified access controller interprets the semantic content of the user's request and supplies the appropriate control signals to the television tuner and/or recorder.

System and method for allowing family members to access TV contents and program media recorder over telephone or internet

A computer-implemented method and apparatus is provided for processing a spoken request from a user. A speech recognizer converts the spoken request into a digital format. A frame data structure associates semantic components of the digitized spoken request with predetermined slots. The slots are indicative of data which are used to achieve a predetermined goal. A speech understanding module which is connected to the speech recognizer and to the frame data structure determines semantic components of the spoken request. The slots are populated based upon the determined semantic components. A dialog manager which is connected to the speech understanding module may determine at least one slot which is unpopulated based upon the determined semantic components and in a preferred embodiment may provide confirmation of the populated slots. A computer generated-request is formulated in order for the user to provide data related to the unpopulated slot. The method and apparatus are well-suited (but not limited) to use in a hand-held speech translation device.

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Goleta, CA, United States of America

Yi Zhao