Intelligent automated assistant

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10276170-B2
Application number	US-201313913336-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 7, 2013
Priority date	Jan 18, 2010
Publication date	Apr 30, 2019
Grant date	Apr 30, 2019

Abstract

The 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.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method for providing assistance with search and reservation requests using a digital assistant, comprising:
at an electronic device comprising a processor and memory storing instructions for execution by the processor:
receiving a search request from a user through a dialogue interface of the digital assistant, the search request including at least a speech input and specifying one or more search criteria for identifying reservable items offered by one or more third-party providers;
obtaining a text string based on the speech input of the search request;
determining a strength of at least one association based on a degree of match between text within the text string and at least one ontology node, wherein the at least one ontology node is associated with a predefined domain;
deriving a representation of user intent based on the determined strength of the at least one association;
based on the derived representation of user intent, presenting a plurality of search results to the user through the dialogue interface, each search result corresponding to a respective reservable item identified in accordance with the search request;
through the dialogue interface of the digital assistant, receiving a reservation request for a first search result of the plurality of search results from the user;
in response to receiving the reservation request, executing a reservation procedure to reserve a respective reservable item corresponding to the first search result;
while executing the reservation procedure:
displaying, on a display of the electronic device, one or more reservation options based on the reservable item;
receiving a subsequent user input through the dialogue interface of the digital assistant, wherein the subsequent user input is associated with the one or more reservation options; and
displaying, on the display, an output based on the subsequent user input and the reservable item corresponding to the first search result.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the search request is a restaurant search request, the plurality of search results correspond to a plurality of restaurants identified in accordance the restaurant search request, and the reservation procedure reserves a table at a respective restaurant corresponding to the first search result.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the search request is an entertainment search request, the plurality of search results correspond to a plurality of entertainment events identified in accordance the entertainment search request, and the reservation procedure purchases or reserves one or more tickets for a respective entertainment event corresponding to the first search result.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the search request further includes context information associated with the speech input and wherein the method further comprises:
identifying at least one of the one or more search criteria based at least in part on the context information; and
identifying a plurality of reservable items in accordance with the one or more search criteria to generate the plurality of search results.

5. The method of claim 4 ; further comprising:
maintaining the context information based on one or more prior user interactions between the user and the digital assistant through the dialogue interface.

6. The method of claim 4 , wherein the context information includes one or more of a current location, a current time, user preferences, calendar information, and contacts associated with the user.

7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
for each of the plurality of search results, presenting respective one or more properties of the respective reservable item corresponding to the search result, each respective property corresponding to a respective one of the search criteria used in identifying the plurality of search results.

8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
presenting one or more user interface elements in the dialogue interface along with the plurality of search results, wherein selection of at least one of the user interface elements causes presentation of additional information related to one or more of the search results in the dialogue interface.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein selection of the at least one of the user interface elements causes presentation of one or more of a review, a map, a trailer, an availability summary, and a rating associated with one or more of the plurality of search results.

10. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
presenting one or more user interface elements in the dialogue interface along with the plurality of search results, wherein selection of at least one of the user interface elements causes a follow-on action associated with one or more of the plurality of search results to be executed by the digital assistant.

11. The method of claim 10 , wherein selection of the at least one of the user interface elements causes one or more of the follow-on actions: initiating a telephonic call to a third party, submitting a review, saving a link, sharing a link, requesting directions, making a reservation, and purchasing one or more tickets, to be executed by the digital assistant with regard to one or more of the plurality of search results.

12. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
providing a speech output through the dialogue interface, the speech output paraphrasing the search request received from the user.

13. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
providing a speech output concurrently with the plurality of search results, the speech output announcing the one or more search criteria used to identify the plurality of search results.

14. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
providing a speech output through the dialogue interface, the speech output requesting at least one additional search criterion for the received search request;
in response to providing the speech output, receiving additional input from the user through the dialogue interface; and
supplementing the search request with the additional user input.

15. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
generating and storing a reminder or calendar entry in accordance with the reservation.

16. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
generating an invitation for another user in accordance with the reservation.

17. A system, comprising:
one or more processors; and
memory storing instructions, the instructions configured to be executed by the one or more processors and cause the one or more processors to perform operations comprising:
receiving a search request from a user through a dialogue interface of a digital assistant, the search request including at least a speech input and specifying one or more search criteria for identifying reservable items offered by one or more third-party providers;
obtaining a text string based on the speech input of the search request;
determining a strength of at least one association based on a degree of match between text within the text string and at least one ontology node, wherein the at least one ontology node is associated with a predefined domain;
deriving a representation of user intent based on the determined strength of the at least one association;
based on the derived representation of user intent, presenting a plurality of search results to the user through the dialogue interface, each search result corresponding to a respective reservable item identified in accordance with the search request;
through the dialogue interface of the digital assistant, receiving a reservation request for a f

Assignees

• Apple Inc

Inventors

• Gruber Thomas R
• Cheyer Adam J
• Keen Daniel

Classifications

• G10L17/22 Primary

  Interactive procedures; Man-machine interfaces · CPC title

• G06F17/30522

  Physics · mapped topic

• G10L15/1815

  Semantic context, e.g. disambiguation of the recognition hypotheses based on word meaning · CPC title

• G06F17/3087

  Physics · mapped topic

• G10L2015/226

  using non-speech characteristics · CPC title