Conversational agent response determined using a sentiment

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11900938-B2
Application number	US-202217867161-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 18, 2022
Priority date	Jul 31, 2014
Publication date	Feb 13, 2024
Grant date	Feb 13, 2024

Abstract

Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on computer storage media, for handing off a user conversation between computer-implemented agents. One of the methods includes receiving, by a computer-implemented agent specific to a user device, a digital representation of speech encoding an utterance, determining, by the computer-implemented agent, that the utterance specifies a requirement to establish a communication with another computer-implemented agent, and establishing, by the computer-implemented agent, a communication between the other computer-implemented agent and the user device.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method implemented by one or more processors of a user device, comprising:
receiving a spoken utterance from a user of the user device, the spoken utterance being directed to a first party computer-implemented agent that is executed at the user device;
determining whether the spoken utterance includes a request to interact with a third party computer-implemented agent, the third party computer-implemented agent being accessible by the user device over one or more networks; and
in response to determining that the spoken utterance includes the request to interact with the third party computer-implemented agent:
causing the third party computer-implemented agent to engage in a dialog with the user, wherein causing the third party computer-implemented agent to engage in the dialog with the user comprises:
causing the third party computer-implemented agent to generate third party computer-implement agent voice output based on a particular style of speech that is specified by third party computer-implemented agent data associated with the third party computer-implemented agent; and
causing the third party computer-implement agent voice output to be provided for presentation to the user at the user device.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
in response to determining that the spoken utterance does not include the request to interact with the third party computer-implemented agent:
generating first party computer-implement agent voice output based on an additional particular style of speech that differs from the particular style of speech that is specified by the third party computer-implemented agent data associated with the third party computer-implemented agent; and
causing the first party computer-implement agent voice output to be provided for presentation to the user at the user device.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein causing the third party computer-implemented agent to generate the third party computer-implement agent voice output is further based on a conversational flow that is also specified by the third party computer-implemented agent data associated with the third party computer-implemented agent.

4. The method of claim 1 , in response to determining that the spoken utterance includes the request to interact with the third party computer-implemented agent and prior to causing the third party computer-implemented agent to engage in the dialog with the user, further comprising:
establishing, over one or more of the networks, a communication between the user device and an additional device,
wherein the third party computer-implemented agent is executed at the additional device, and
wherein the communication between the user device and the additional device enables the third party computer-implemented agent to communicate with the first party computer-implemented agent.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the third party computer-implemented agent data associated with the third party computer-implemented agent is received at the user device prior to establishing the communication between the user device and the additional device.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein causing the third party computer-implemented agent to engage in the dialog with the user further comprises:
providing, over one or more of the networks, a representation of the spoken utterance to the third party computer-implemented agent; and
receiving, over one or more of the networks, a representation of the third party computer-implement agent voice output based on a particular style of speech.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein the representation of the spoken utterance comprises a speech encoding of the spoken utterance and/or a text representation of the spoken utterance.

8. The method of claim 6 , wherein the representation of the third party computer-implement agent voice output comprises the third party computer-implement agent voice output to be provided for presentation to the user at the user device.

9. The method of claim 6 , wherein the representation of the third party computer-implement agent voice output comprises text corresponding to the third party computer-implement agent voice output to be provided for presentation to the user at the user device.

10. The method of claim 9 , wherein causing the third party computer-implement agent voice output to be provided for presentation to the user at the user device comprises:
generating, based on the text corresponding to the third party computer-implement agent voice output and based on the third party computer-implemented agent data, the third party computer-implement agent voice output in the particular style of speech; and
causing the third party computer-implement agent voice output to be provided for presentation to the user at the user device.

11. A user device comprising:
one or more processors; and
memory storing instructions that, when executed, cause the one or more processors to:
receive a spoken utterance from a user of the user device, the spoken utterance being directed to a first party computer-implemented agent that is executed at the user device;
determine whether the spoken utterance includes a request to interact with a third party computer-implemented agent, the third party computer-implemented agent being accessible by the user device over one or more networks; and
in response to determining that the spoken utterance includes the request to interact with the third party computer-implemented agent:
cause the third party computer-implemented agent to engage in a dialog with the user, wherein the instructions to cause the third party computer-implemented agent to engage in the dialog with the user comprise instructions to:
cause the third party computer-implemented agent to generate third party computer-implement agent voice output based on a particular style of speech that is specified by third party computer-implemented agent data associated with the third party computer-implemented agent; and
cause the third party computer-implement agent voice output to be provided for presentation to the user at the user device.

12. The user device of claim 11 , wherein the instructions further cause the one or more processors to:
in response to determining that the spoken utterance does not include the request to interact with the third party computer-implemented agent:
generate first party computer-implement agent voice output based on an additional particular style of speech that differs from the particular style of speech that is specified by the third party computer-implemented agent data associated with the third party computer-implemented agent; and
cause the first party computer-implement agent voice output to be provided for presentation to the user at the user device.

13. The user device of claim 11 , wherein causing the third party computer-implemented agent to generate the third party computer-implement agent voice output is further based on a conversational flow that is also specified by the third party computer-implemented agent data associated with the third party computer-implemented agent.

14. The user device of claim 11 , in response to determining that the spoken utterance includes the request to interact with the third party computer-implemented agent and prior to causing the third party computer-implemented agent to engage in the dialog with the user, wherein the instructions further cause the one or more processors to:
establish, over one or more of the networks, a communication between the user device and an additional device,
wherein the third party computer-implemented agent is executed at the additional

Assignees

• Google Llc

Inventors

• Chen Johnny
• Dean Thomas L
• Lau Qiangfeng Peter
• Gandhe Sudeep
• Schine Gabriel

Classifications

• G10L15/22 Primary

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

• G06F16/3329

  Natural language query formulation · CPC title

• G06F21/6245

  Protecting personal data, e.g. for financial or medical purposes · CPC title

• G10L13/00

  Speech synthesis; Text to speech systems · CPC title

• G10L13/033

  Voice editing, e.g. manipulating the voice of the synthesiser · CPC title