How a Voice Assistant Automatically Understands Your Spoken or Typed Words

This patent describes how a computer, like a voice assistant, automatically processes spoken or typed words from a user to understand and analyze what they mean.

What it covers

This patent outlines a computer-implemented method for a voice assistant to understand user input. First, the system stores a structured, machine-readable version of the user's speech or text input in its memory, referred to as a 'machine representation'. This machine representation conforms to a specific machine-readable language. Second, the system automatically processes these machine representations to analyze the user's input. For example, if a user asks, "What time is it in London?", the voice assistant would convert this phrase into a structured data format and then automatically analyze that format to identify the request for time and the location "London".

What it doesn't cover

• —Does not cover systems that rely on manual human analysis of user speech or text input.
• —Does not cover processing of non-speech or non-text user input, such as gestures or biometric data.
• —Does not cover systems that do not create or use a structured, machine-readable representation of the user's input.
• —Does not cover analysis of data that does not originate from a user's direct speech or text input.
• —Does not cover systems where the processing of the machine representation is not automated.

The clever bit

The clever bit is the method of converting user speech or text into a structured, machine-readable representation that can then be automatically processed for analysis. This structured format allows the voice assistant to efficiently and accurately interpret complex user requests.

Why it matters

This technology is fundamental to the operation of modern voice assistants and smart devices. It enables computers to understand and respond to human language, making interactions more natural and intuitive. This capability is essential for the widespread adoption of hands-free computing and for accessing information quickly through voice commands.

Real-world examples

• 1.Amazon Alexa
• 2.Google Assistant
• 3.Apple Siri
• 4.Microsoft Cortana
• 5.Most modern smartphone voice commands