Application integration with a digital assistant

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10297253-B2
Application number	US-201615269728-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 19, 2016
Priority date	Jun 11, 2016
Publication date	May 21, 2019
Grant date	May 21, 2019

Abstract

Systems and processes for application integration with a digital assistant are provided. In accordance with one example, a method includes, at an electronic device having one or more processors and memory, receiving a natural-language user input; identifying, with the one or more processors, an intent object of a set of intent objects and a parameter associated with the intent, where the intent object and the parameter are derived from the natural-language user input. The method further includes identifying a software application associated with the intent object of the set of intent objects; and providing the intent object and the parameter to the software application.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An electronic device, comprising:
one or more processors;
a memory; and
one or more programs, wherein the one or more programs are stored in the memory and configured to be executed by the one or more processors, the one or more programs including instructions for:
receiving a natural-language user input;
identifying, with the one or more processors, an intent object of a set of intent objects and a parameter associated with the intent object, wherein the intent object is derived from the natural-language user input;
identifying a software application associated with the intent object of the set of intent objects;
providing the intent object and the parameter to the software application;
confirming the intent object with the software application, wherein confirming the intent object with the software application includes requesting a notification that the software application can successfully perform a task corresponding to the intent object; and
after confirming the intent object with the software application, causing the software application to perform the task corresponding to the intent object.

2. The electronic device according to claim 1 , wherein the one or more programs further include instructions for:
receiving a response from the software application, wherein the response is indicative of whether the parameter is valid.

3. The electronic device according to claim 2 , wherein receiving a response from the software application comprises:
receiving, from the software application, a disambiguation list associated with the parameter, wherein the disambiguation list includes a plurality of candidate parameters.

4. The electronic device according to claim 3 , wherein the one or more programs further include instructions for:
outputting the disambiguation list;
receiving a user input indicative of a selection of a candidate parameter value of the disambiguation list; and
providing the selected candidate parameter value of the disambiguation list to the software application.

5. The electronic device according to claim 1 , wherein the natural-language user input is a first natural-language input and the parameter is a first parameter, wherein the one or more programs further include instructions for:
receiving, from the software application, a request for a second parameter associated with the intent object;
providing a natural-language query based on the request;
receiving a second natural-language user input;
identifying the second parameter, wherein the second parameter is derived from the second natural-language user input; and
providing the second parameter to the software application.

6. The electronic device according to claim 5 , wherein the electronic device further comprises an audio output component, and wherein providing the natural-language query comprises speaking, via speech synthesis, the natural-language query through the audio output component.

7. The electronic device according to claim 5 , wherein providing the natural-language query comprises providing the natural-language query based on a type of the electronic device, a state of the electronic device, or a combination thereof.

8. The electronic device according to claim 1 , wherein the one or more programs further include instructions for:
after providing the intent object and the parameter to the software application, receiving, from the software application, a result response associated with the intent object.

9. The electronic device according to claim 8 , wherein receiving a result response comprises:
receiving, from the software application, a set of response items associated with the intent object; and
outputting the set of response items.

10. The electronic device according to claim 9 , wherein the one or more programs further include instructions for:
providing, to the software application, a set of view controller parameters; and
receiving, from the software application, a set of view controller parameter values corresponding to the set of view controller parameters,
wherein outputting the set of response items comprises displaying the set of response items in a user interface based on the received view controller parameter values.

11. The electronic device according to claim 1 , wherein each intent object of the set of intent objects is associated with the software application.

12. The electronic device according to claim 1 , wherein the intent object is a first intent object and wherein the parameter is associated with the first intent object and not associated with a second intent object.

13. The electronic device according to claim 1 , wherein the one or more programs further include instructions for:
determining whether the electronic device is in a lock state; and
in accordance with a determination that the device is in the lock state, determining whether the intent object is allowed to be provided to the software application while the electronic device is in the lock state,
wherein the intent object and the parameter are provided to the software application only in accordance with a determination that the intent object is allowed to be provided to the software application while the electronic device is in the lock state.

14. The electronic device according to claim 1 , wherein the parameter is derived from the natural-language user input by analyzing the natural-language user input using each of a plurality of detectors.

15. The electronic device according to claim 1 , wherein the one or more programs further include instructions for:
determining a user context of the electronic device;
wherein the parameter is based at least in part on the user context.

16. The electronic device according to claim 1 , wherein the one or more programs further include instructions for:
requesting a confirmation of the parameter; and
receiving a user input corresponding to the confirmation of the parameter, wherein the parameter is provided to the software application in response to receiving the user input.

17. The electronic device according to claim 1 , wherein identifying the software application comprises:
determining whether the software application resides on the electronic device;
in accordance with a determination that the software application does not reside on the electronic device, determining whether the software application resides on an external device that is in communication with the electronic device; and wherein providing the intent object and the parameter to the software application comprises:
in accordance with a determination that the software application resides on an external device that is in communication with the electronic device:
providing the intent object and the parameter to the software application by providing the intent object and the parameter to the external device.

18. The electronic device according to claim 1 , wherein identifying the software application comprises:
determining whether the software application resides on the electronic device;
in accordance with a determination that the software application does not reside on the electronic device:
identifying a set of software applications associated with the intent object;
displaying, in a user interface, the set of software applications associated with the intent object;
receiving a user input including a selection of one or more software applications of the set of software applications associated with the intent object; and
accessing the selected one or more software applications of the set of software

Assignees

• Apple Inc

Inventors

• Walker Ii Robert A
• Newendorp Brandon J
• Dasari Rohit
• Giuli Richard D
• Gruber Thomas R
• Radebaugh Carey E
• Garg Ashish
• Khosla Vineet
• Russell Jonathan H
• Peterson Corey

Classifications

• G10L15/063

  Training · CPC title

• G10L2015/223

  Execution procedure of a spoken command · CPC title

• G10L15/30

  Distributed recognition, e.g. in client-server systems, for mobile phones or network applications · CPC title

• G10L2015/228

  of application context · CPC title

• G10L15/22 Primary

  Procedures used during a speech recognition process, e.g. man-machine dialogue · CPC title