Information processing apparatus, information processing method, transmission apparatus, and transmission method

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11930248-B2
Application number	US-202217873209-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 26, 2022
Priority date	Mar 29, 2018
Publication date	Mar 12, 2024
Grant date	Mar 12, 2024

Abstract

The present technology relates to an information processing apparatus, information processing method, transmission apparatus, and transmission method, capable of improving the convenience of a voice AI assistance service used in cooperation with content.The convenience of the voice AI assistance service used in cooperation with the content can be improved by providing an information processing apparatus including a control unit configured to control a timing of a voice response upon using a voice AI assistance service in cooperation with content on the basis of voice response time information indicating time suitable for the voice response to an utterance of a viewer watching the content. The present technology can be applied to a system in cooperation with a voice AI assistance service, for example.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. An information processing apparatus, comprising:
processing circuitry configured to control a timing of a voice response upon using a voice AI assistance service in cooperation with content on a basis of an utterance of a viewer,
wherein the processing circuitry is configured to:
upon waiting until the timing of the voice response is reached, cause information indicating a waiting state to be generated;
present a waiting state notification notifying the viewer that the information processing apparatus is in the waiting state based on the generated information; and
upon receiving an instruction to start the voice response from the viewer, cause the voice response in the waiting state to be started;
wherein the waiting state notification is an icon, and
wherein upon receiving the instruction to start the voice response from the viewer, the icon is erased.

2. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1 ,
wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to control the timing of the voice response on a basis of voice response time information indicating time suitable for the voice response on a playback time axis of the content when there is playback of the content.

3. The information processing apparatus according to claim 2 ,
wherein the voice response time information is acquired via communication.

4. The information processing apparatus according to claim 2 ,
wherein the voice response time information is acquired via broadcasting.

5. The information processing apparatus according to claim 3 , wherein
the content is played back by a first device,
the voice response time information is delivered by a second device via communication,
the second device extracts the voice response time information indicating the time suitable for the voice response to the content being played in the first device from metadata including the voice response time information for a part of time on the playback time axis of the content, and
the processing circuitry is configured to control the timing of the voice response on the basis of the voice response time information delivered via communication.

6. The information processing apparatus according to claim 3 , wherein
the content is played back by a first device,
the voice response time information is delivered by a second device via communication,
the second device extracts the voice response time information indicating the time suitable for the voice response to the content being played in the first device from metadata including the voice response time information for an entirety of time on the playback time axis of the content, and
the processing circuitry is configured to control the timing of the voice response on the basis of the voice response time information delivered via communication.

7. An information processing apparatus, comprising:
processing circuitry configured to control a timing of a voice response upon using a voice AI assistance service in cooperation with content on a basis of an utterance of a viewer,
wherein the processing circuitry is configured to:
receive voice data of the utterance of the viewer;
transmit the voice data to a server of the voice AI assistance service;
receive the voice response to the utterance of the viewer from the server;
upon waiting until the timing of the voice response on the basis of the utterance of the viewer, cause information indicating a waiting state to be generated;
present a waiting state notification notifying the viewer that the information processing apparatus is in the waiting state associated with the generated information; and
upon receiving an instruction to start the voice response from the viewer, cause the voice response in the waiting state to be started,
wherein the waiting state notification is a lamp, and
upon receiving the instruction to start the voice response from the viewer, the lamp is turned off.

8. The information processing apparatus according to claim 7 ,
wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to control the timing of the voice response on a basis of voice response time information indicating time suitable for the voice response on a playback time axis of the content when there is a playback of the content.

9. The information processing apparatus according to claim 8 ,
wherein the voice response time information is acquired via communication.

10. The information processing apparatus according to claim 9 , wherein
the content is played back by a first device,
the voice response time information is delivered by a second device via communication,
the second device extracts the voice response time information indicating the time suitable for the voice response to the content being played in the first device from metadata including the voice response time information for a part of time on the playback time axis of the content, and
the processing circuitry is configured to control the timing of the voice response on the basis of the voice response time information delivered via communication.

11. The information processing apparatus according to claim 9 ,
wherein the voice response time information is acquired via broadcasting.

12. The information processing apparatus according to claim 9 , wherein
the content is played back by a first device,
the voice response time information is delivered by a second device via communication,
the second device extracts the voice response time information indicating the time suitable for the voice response to the content being played in the first device from metadata including the voice response time information for a part of time on the playback time axis of the content, and
the processing circuitry is configured to control the timing of the voice response on the basis of the voice response time information delivered via communication.

13. An information processing apparatus, comprising:
processing circuitry configured to control a timing of a voice response upon using a voice AI assistance service in cooperation with content on a basis of an utterance of a viewer,
wherein the processing circuitry is configured to:
upon waiting until the timing of the voice response is reached, cause information indicating a waiting state to be generated;
present a waiting state notification notifying the viewer that the information processing apparatus is in the waiting state based on the generated information; and
upon receiving an instruction to start the voice response from the viewer, cause the voice response in the waiting state to be started;
wherein the waiting state notification is an icon or a lamp,
wherein upon receiving the instruction to start the voice response from the viewer, the icon is erased when the waiting state notification is an icon notice, and
wherein upon receiving the instruction to start the voice response from the viewer, the lamp is turned off when the waiting state notification is a lamp notice.

14. The information processing apparatus according to claim 13 , wherein the processing circuitry is configured to access an AI assistance server that provides the AI assistance service and another server that provides the content.

15. The information processing apparatus according to claim 13 , further comprising a user interface configured to receive the voice response.

16. The information processing apparatus according to claim 15 , comprises a display device configured to display images of the content and the waiting state notification.

17. The information processing apparatus according to

Assignees

• Saturn Licensing Llc

Inventors

• TSURU Takumi

Classifications

• H04N21/44218 Primary

  Detecting physical presence or behaviour of the user, e.g. using sensors to detect if the user is leaving the room or changes his face expression during a TV programme (methods or arrangements for recognising human body or animal bodies or body parts G06V40/10; methods or arrangements for acquiring or recognising human faces, facial parts, facial sketches, facial expressions G06V40/16; methods or arrangements for recognising movements or behaviour G06V40/20; arrangements for identifying users in broadcast systems H04H60/45) · CPC title

• G10L13/00

  Speech synthesis; Text to speech systems · CPC title

• G10L15/22

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

• G10L15/30

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

• H04N21/235

  Processing of additional data, e.g. scrambling of additional data or processing content descriptors · CPC title