{
  "patent_number": "US 10276149",
  "country": "US",
  "title": "How Voice Assistants Change Their Speech Based on How You Talk",
  "original_title": "Dynamic text-to-speech output",
  "summary": "This patent describes a system where a voice-controlled device adjusts its text-to-speech output characteristics, like speed or tone, based on the user's speaking habits or current situation, making responses feel more natural and personalized.",
  "what_it_does": "This patent details a method for a computer system to dynamically adjust how it speaks to a user. First, it receives a user's spoken command, called a \"first utterance,\" and figures out how many words were in it (claim 1). It then compares this to the user's typical speaking patterns, stored in their \"user profile data,\" specifically an \"average number of words of a user command.\" If the current command's word count \"deviates from the average,\" the system uses this difference to select a special speech style, or \"template text data.\" It then takes the actual response text and applies this special style, generating audio with a \"non-default characteristic of speech\" (claim 1). For example, if a user usually speaks long commands but suddenly gives a very short one, the system might interpret that as urgency and respond faster. The patent also covers adjusting speech rate if a user's calendar shows they are busy soon (claim 2) or based on their geographic location (claim 6).",
  "what_it_does_not_cover": [
    "Does not cover a system that always responds with a default speech characteristic, regardless of user input or context.",
    "Does not cover adjusting speech characteristics solely based on the content of the response, without considering user input characteristics or contextual data.",
    "Does not cover a system that changes its speech without first comparing the current user input to an 'average' characteristic from the user's profile.",
    "Does not cover adjusting speech based on biometric data like heart rate or facial expression, unless those directly influence a speech characteristic like 'number of words'.",
    "Does not cover a system that adjusts its output purely based on the server's processing load or network conditions."
  ],
  "filed": "2016-12-21",
  "granted": "2019-04-30",
  "expires": "2036-12-21",
  "status": "active",
  "holder": "Amazon Technologies",
  "holder_url": "https://patentbrief.org/company/amazon-technologies",
  "inventors": [
    {
      "name": "Aaron Takayanagi Barnet",
      "url": "https://patentbrief.org/inventor/aaron-takayanagi-barnet"
    },
    {
      "name": "Nancy Yi Liang",
      "url": "https://patentbrief.org/inventor/nancy-yi-liang"
    }
  ],
  "times_cited": 26,
  "tags": [
    "consumer_electronics",
    "software",
    "telecommunications",
    "ai_ml"
  ],
  "abstract": "Systems, methods, and devices for dynamically outputting TTS content are disclosed. A speech-controlled device captures a spoken command, and sends audio data corresponding thereto to a server(s). The server(s) determines output content responsive to the spoken command. The server(s) may also determine a user that spoke the command and determine an average speech characteristic (e.g., tone, pitch, speed, number of words, etc.) used by the user when speaking commands. The server(s) may also determine a speech characteristic of the presently spoken command, as well as determine a difference between the speech characteristic of the presently spoken command and the average speech characteristic of the user. The server(s) may then cause the speech-controlled device to output audio based on the difference.",
  "url": "https://patentbrief.org/patent/us/10276149/dynamic-text-to-speech-output",
  "markdown_url": "https://patentbrief.org/patent/us/10276149/dynamic-text-to-speech-output/md",
  "google_patents_url": "https://patents.google.com/patent/US10276149",
  "relatedPatents": []
}