Information processing apparatus and information processing method

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11227620-B2
Application number	US-201816300293-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 2, 2018
Priority date	May 16, 2017
Publication date	Jan 18, 2022
Grant date	Jan 18, 2022

Abstract

A system that acquires first audio data including a voice command captured by a microphone; identifies second audio data included in broadcast content corresponding to a timing at which the first audio data is captured by the microphone; extracts the second audio data from the first audio data to generate third audio data; converts the third audio data to text data corresponding to the voice command; and outputs the text data.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A system comprising:
circuitry configured to
receive reproduction information from a reproduction device installed in a client side location, the reproduction information including an identifier of content that is reproduced by the reproduction device and a reproduction time position in the content;
acquire, after the reproduction information is received, first audio data captured by a microphone that is installed in the client side location, the first audio data including a voice command;
provide the reproduction information to a reception apparatus different from the reproduction device;
acquire, from the reception apparatus that receives via broadcasting the content according to the reproduction information, second audio data included in the content corresponding to a timing at which the first audio data is captured by the microphone;
remove noise corresponding to the second audio data from the first audio data to generate third audio data;
convert the third audio data to text data corresponding to the voice command; and
output the text data.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein
the first audio data includes fourth audio data corresponding to the noise that is caused by reproduction of the content captured by the microphone, and
the circuitry is configured to remove the noise by extracting the fourth audio data from the first audio data according to the second audio data.

3. The system of claim 1 , wherein
the system is a server, and
the server is configured to acquire the first audio data over a network from an apparatus including the microphone.

4. The system of claim 1 , wherein
the first audio data includes fourth audio data corresponding to the noise that is caused by reproduction of the content captured by the microphone, and
the circuitry is configured to acquire the first audio data including the voice command and the fourth audio data over a network from an apparatus including the microphone.

5. The system of claim 1 , wherein
the reception apparatus is configured to execute an application, and
the application is configured to receive the reproduction information from a second application executed at the reproduction device.

6. The system of claim 1 , wherein the circuitry is configured to:
receive, from an application executed by the reproduction device, the reproduction information; and
identify the second audio data based on the reproduction information received from the application executed by the reproduction device.

7. The system of claim 6 , wherein
the circuitry is configured to obtain the reproduction information for identifying the content from the application that is a broadcast application received by the reproduction device via broadcasting.

8. The system of claim 1 , wherein the circuitry is configured to:
generate a response to the voice command based on the text data and the content identified according to the reproduction information.

9. The system of claim 8 , wherein
the circuitry is configured to transmit the generated response to the voice command to the reproduction device via a network.

10. The system of claim 8 , wherein
the voice command includes a query related to the content; and
the response to the voice command includes an answer to the query included in the voice command.

11. The system of claim 1 , wherein
the voice command includes an activation word indicating that the voice command is related to the content.

12. A method performed by an information processing system, the method comprising:
receiving reproduction information from a reproduction device installed in a client side location, the reproduction information including an identifier of content that is reproduced by the reproduction device and a reproduction time position in the content;
acquiring, after the reproduction information is received, first audio data captured by a microphone that is installed in the client side location, the first audio data including a voice command;
providing the reproduction information to a reception apparatus different from the reproduction device;
acquiring, from the reception apparatus that receives via broadcasting the content according to the reproduction information, second audio data included in the content corresponding to a timing at which the first audio data is captured by the microphone;
removing noise corresponding to the second audio data from the first audio data to generate third audio data;
converting the third audio data to text data corresponding to the voice command; and
outputting the text data.

13. The method of claim 12 , further comprising:
receiving, from an application executed by the reproduction device, the reproduction information.

14. The method of claim 12 , further comprising:
generating a response to the voice command based on the text data and the content identified according to the reproduction information.

15. The method of claim 12 , wherein
the first audio data includes fourth audio data corresponding to the noise that is caused by reproduction of the content captured by the microphone, and
the first audio data including the voice command and the fourth audio data is acquired over a network from an apparatus including the microphone.

16. An electronic device comprising:
circuitry configured to:
transmit reproduction information to a server system, the reproduction information including an identifier of content that is reproduced by a reproduction device installed in a client side location and a reproduction time position in the content;
acquire, after the reproduction information is transmitted, first audio data captured by a microphone that is installed in the client side location, the first audio data including a voice command and noise corresponding to reproduction of the content;
transmit the first audio data to the server system; and
receive a response to the voice command from the server system, the response to the voice command being generated by the server system by removing the noise from the first audio data based on second audio data obtained by the server system from a reception apparatus different from the reproduction device according to the reproduction information provided by the electronic device prior to acquisition of the first audio data.

17. The electronic device of claim 16 , wherein
the circuitry is configured to execute a broadcast application while the content is reproduced by the reproduction device, and
the broadcast application is configured to provide the reproduction information corresponding to the content to the server system.

18. The electronic device of claim 16 , further comprising:
a tuner configured to receive an over-the-air broadcast signal including the content according to the reproduction information.

19. The electronic device of claim 18 , wherein
the electronic device includes the reproduction device, and
the circuitry is configured to reproduce the content included in the broadcast signal.

20. The electronic device of claim 16 , further comprising:
a microphone configured to capture the first audio data.

21. The electronic device of claim 16 , wherein
the response to the voice command received from the server system is generated by acquiring the second audio data of the content based on the reproduction information transmitted by the electronic device, removing the noise corresponding to the second audio data from the first audio data to generate third audio data, and con

Assignees

• Saturn Licensing Llc

Inventors

• Igarashi Tatsuya

Classifications

• G10L21/0364 Primary

  for improving intelligibility · CPC title

• G10L21/0272 Primary

  Voice signal separating · CPC title

• G10L15/30 Primary

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

• G10L25/84

  for discriminating voice from noise · CPC title

• G10L2015/223

  Execution procedure of a spoken command · CPC title