Automated assistance for user request that determines semantics by domain, task, and parameter

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9201865-B2
Application number	US-201313841217-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 15, 2013
Priority date	Mar 15, 2013
Publication date	Dec 1, 2015
Grant date	Dec 1, 2015

Abstract

Systems and methods are disclosed for providing automated assistance for a user by receiving a user request for assistance and determining semantics of the user request and identifying at least one domain, at least one task, and at least one parameter for the user request. The systems and methods can include searching a semantic database on the Internet for the at least one matching domain, task, and parameter and responding to the user request.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method for providing automated assistance for a user using a computing device selected from a group consisting of: a telephone; a wireless communicator; a tablet computer; a laptop computer; a personal digital assistant; a desktop computer; a processor with memory; a kiosk; a consumer electronic device; a consumer entertainment device; a music player; a camera; a television; an electronic gaming unit; and a set-top box, the method comprising:
receiving a user request for assistance spoken in a first language;
translating the user request spoken in the first language to a second language;
determining semantics of the user request and identifying at least one domain, at least one task, and at least one parameter for the user request;
searching a semantic database on the Internet for the at least one matching domain, task, and parameter;
compensating for translation errors based on user history;
generating a response in the second language; and
translating the response to the first language and rendering the response to the user and providing information from one of: music, audiobooks, news, weather, traffic, sports, and processing the user request by an assistant software on a computing cloud to purchase, reserve, or order products or services, wherein the assistant software automatically accesses semantic data and services having one or more triples including subject, predicate, and object available over the Internet to find one or more of: movies, events, performances, exhibits, shows, attractions, travel destinations, hotels, restaurants, bars, pubs, entertainment sites, landmarks, summer camps, resorts, places.

2. The method of claim 1 , comprising searching for the at least one matching domain, task and parameter in one of: a semantic hotel database, a semantic restaurant database, a semantic local event database, semantic concert database, a semantic media database, a semantic book database, a semantic music database, a semantic travel database, and a semantic flight database.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the assistant software is configured based on data-driven triggers, including one of time alarms, calendar alerts, price change triggers, location triggers, push notification from cloud-based servers, and wherein time information is detected from a context of user requests to interpret phrases including one of “in an hour”, “today”, and “tomorrow” and applied to location of theatres, show timings, available seats make a reservation.

4. The method of claim 1 , comprising forwarding the request to a call center agent for handling.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the receiving the user request comprises recognizing user voice.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the second language comprises English, French or Chinese.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the semantic database comprises user generated reviews or recommendations.

8. The method of claim 1 , comprising identifying options available from a third party computer for the user and requesting from the third party computer available options that match the user request.

9. The method of claim 8 , comprising presenting available options to the user to confirm.

10. The method of claim 8 , comprising presenting available time or location options to the user to confirm.

11. The method of claim 8 , comprising automatically making a reservation for an available option on behalf of the user.

12. The method of claim 1 , comprising eliciting more information on the user request and restating the user request as a confirmation to the user.

13. The method of claim 1 , comprising disambiguating alternative parsing by identifying at least two competing semantic interpretations of the user request; and receiving clarification from the user to resolve ambiguity.

14. The method of claim 1 , comprising processing the user input using at least one selected from the group consisting of: data from a short term memory describing at least one previous interaction in a current session; and data from a long term memory describing at least one characteristic of the user.

15. The method of claim 1 , wherein the semantic database comprises a triple store database.

16. The method of claim 1 , comprising managing emails by filtering important emails and responding to the rest on the user's behalf, wherein a user provides guidance on how to pick out key emails and a virtual assistant copies the user before sending out any responses to reduce the risk of errors.

17. The method of claim 1 , comprising performing social chores for the user including writing notes on behalf of the user.

18. The method of claim 1 , comprising performing travel research including finding hotels, booking airfares and mapping out trip itineraries.

19. The method of claim 1 , comprising managing a calendar for the user, dealing with meeting invitations from others, scheduling appointments with clients and helping to plan events.

20. A method for providing automated assistance for a user using a computing device selected from the group consisting of: a telephone; a wireless communicator; a tablet computer; a laptop computer; a personal digital assistant; a desktop computer; a processor with memory; a kiosk; a consumer electronic device; a consumer entertainment device; a music player; a camera; a television; an electronic gaming unit; and a set-top box, the method comprising:
receiving a user request for assistance;
determining semantics of the user request and identifying at least one domain, at least one task, and at least one parameter for the user request;
searching a semantic database on the Internet for the at least one matching domain, task, and parameter; and
responding to the user request by:
receiving user voice with the user request spoken in a first language;
translating the user request spoken in the first language to the second language;
compensating for translation errors based on user history;
searching for responsive data in the second language;
translating the response to the first language and rendering the response to the user and providing information from one of music, audiobooks, news, weather, traffic, sports, and processing the user request by an assistant software on a computing cloud to purchase, reserve, order products or services, wherein the assistant software automatically accesses semantic data and services having one or more triples including subject, predicate, and object available over the Internet to find one or more of movies, events, performances, exhibits, shows, attractions, travel destinations, hotels, restaurants, bars, pubs, entertainment sites, landmarks, summer camps, resorts, places.

Assignees

• Tran Bao

Inventors

• Tran Bao

Classifications

• G06Q10/109 Primary

  Time management, e.g. calendars, reminders, meetings or time accounting · CPC title

• G06F40/53

  Processing of non-Latin text (kana-to-kanji conversion G06F40/129; vowelisation G06F40/232) · CPC title

• G06F40/30

  Semantic analysis · CPC title

• G06F40/58 Primary

  Use of machine translation, e.g. for multi-lingual retrieval, for server-side translation for client devices or for real-time translation · CPC title

• G06Q10/1097

  using calendar-based scheduling for task assignment · CPC title