Electronic devices with voice command and contextual data processing capabilities

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9412392-B2
Application number	US-201414165520-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jan 27, 2014
Priority date	Oct 2, 2008
Publication date	Aug 9, 2016
Grant date	Aug 9, 2016

Abstract

An electronic device may capture a voice command from a user. The electronic device may store contextual information about the state of the electronic device when the voice command is received. The electronic device may transmit the voice command and the contextual information to computing equipment such as a desktop computer or a remote server. The computing equipment may perform a speech recognition operation on the voice command and may process the contextual information. The computing equipment may respond to the voice command. The computing equipment may also transmit information to the electronic device that allows the electronic device to respond to the voice command.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method for processing voice commands, performed at a electronic device capable of communicating with remote computing equipment over a communications path, the method comprising:
in response to user input, recording at least a portion of a voice command on the electronic device;
storing contextual information of the electronic device when the electronic device is recording the at least a portion of the voice command; and
after recording the at least a portion of the voice command and storing the contextual information of the electronic device, uploading the at least a portion of the recorded voice command and the stored contextual information from the electronic device to the remote computing equipment over the communications path.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the contextual information is associated with an operational state of the electronic device when the electronic device is recording the at least a portion of the voice command.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the operational state of the electronic comprises one or more applications running on the electronic device when the electronic device is recording the at least a portion of the voice command.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein the one or more applications comprises an Internet browsing application, a voice over Internet protocol (VOIP) telephone call application, an email application, a media playback application, a mapping application, a business productivity application, a calendar application, or a game application.

5. The method of claim 3 , wherein the contextual information comprises a status of the one or more applications.

6. The method of claim 3 , wherein the one or more applications comprises a media playback application, and wherein the contextual information comprises information associated with a media object being played by the media playback application when the electronic device is recording the at least a portion of the voice command.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein the information associated with the media object comprises a track name, a title, an artist name, an album name, a year, or a gene associated with the media object.

8. The method of claim 3 , wherein the one or more applications comprises an Internet browsing application, and wherein the contextual information comprises a current web address.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the contextual information comprises a location of the electronic device when the electronic device is recording the at least a portion of the voice command.

10. The method of claim 9 , wherein the location of the electronic device is received from a location sensor of the electronic device.

11. The method of claim 9 , wherein the location of the electronic device is received from a user of the electronic device.

12. The method of claim 1 , wherein the contextual information comprises a date and time that the electronic device is recording the at least a portion of the voice command.

13. The method of claim 1 , wherein the contextual information comprises information associated with a current or previous telephone call.

14. The method of claim 13 , wherein the information associated with the current or previous telephone call comprises a telephone number or contact information associated with the current or previous telephone call.

15. The method of claim 1 , wherein the contextual information comprises an orientation of the electronic device when the electronic device is recording the at least a portion of the voice command.

16. The method of claim 1 , wherein the contextual information comprises information associated with an operation occurring in the background of the electronic device.

17. The method of claim 16 , wherein the operation occurring in the background of the electronic device comprises a media playback application running in the background of the electronic device.

18. The method of claim 1 , wherein the contextual information comprises a list of media files available on the electronic device.

19. The method of claim 1 , wherein the contextual information comprises an image, an audio clip, or a video clip captured by the electronic device.

20. The method of claim 1 , wherein at least a portion of the contextual information is generated from the voice command.

21. The method of claim 20 , wherein the at least a portion of the contextual information generated from the voice command comprises an item of interest to a user of the electronic device.

22. The method of claim 21 , wherein the item of interest to the user of the electronic device comprises an event or a retail establishment.

23. The method of claim 21 , wherein the at least a portion of the contextual information generated from the voice command further comprises a time, a location, a type, a title, or a distance from a location associated with the item of interest to the user of the electronic device.

24. A electronic device configured to process voice commands, comprising:
one or more input devices;
a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium comprising computer instructions for:
in response to user input at the one or more input devices, recording at least a portion of a voice command on the electronic device;
storing contextual information of the electronic device when the electronic device is recording the at least a portion of the voice command; and
after recording the at least a portion of the voice command and storing the contextual information of the electronic device, uploading the at least a portion of the recorded voice command and the stored contextual information from the electronic device to a remote computing equipment; and

one or more processors capable of executing the computer instructions.

25. The electronic device of claim 24 , wherein the contextual information is associated with an operational state of the electronic device when the electronic device is recording the at least a portion of the voice command.

26. The electronic device of claim 25 , wherein the operational state of the electronic comprises one or more applications running on the electronic device when the electronic device is recording the at least a portion of the voice command.

27. The electronic device of claim 26 , wherein the one or more applications comprises an Internet browsing application, a voice over Internet protocol (VOIP) telephone call application, an email application, a media playback application, a mapping application, a business productivity application, a calendar application, or a game application.

28. The electronic device of claim 26 , wherein the contextual information comprises a status of the one or more applications.

29. The electronic device of claim 26 , wherein the one or more applications comprises a media playback application, and wherein the contextual information comprises information associated with a media object being played by the media playback application when the electronic device is recording the at least a portion of the voice command.

30. The electronic device of claim 29 , wherein the information associated with the media object comprises a track name, a title, an artist name, an album name, a year, or a gene associated with the media object.

31. The electronic device of claim 26 , wherein the one or more applications comprises an Inter

Assignees

• Apple Inc

Inventors

• Lindahl Aram M

Classifications

• G10L21/06 Primary

  Transformation of speech into a non-audible representation, e.g. speech visualisation or speech processing for tactile aids (G10L15/26 takes precedence) · CPC title

• G10L2015/228

  of application context · CPC title

• G10L15/30 Primary

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

• G06F3/167

  Audio in a user interface, e.g. using voice commands for navigating, audio feedback · CPC title

• G06F16/43

  Querying · CPC title