Conferencing session facilitation systems and methods using virtual assistant systems and artificial intelligence algorithms

1 . A system, comprising:

a plurality of devices comprising a visual indicator device and an audio device, wherein the audio device has a visual indicator, and wherein the audio device is located a first location in a physical environment and the visual indicator device is located at a second location in the physical environment; and

one or more processors in communication with the visual indicator device, the audio device, and a virtual assistant system, any of the one or more processors configured to:

receive a first signal from the virtual assistant system, wherein the first signal is configured to indicate a state of the virtual assistant system; and

in response to receiving the first signal,

(1) transmit a second signal to the audio device at the first location in the physical environment to control the visual indicator of the audio device to indicate the state of the virtual assistant system; and

(2) transmit a third signal to the visual indicator device at the second location in the physical environment to control the visual indicator device to indicate the state of the virtual assistant system.

2 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the visual indicator of the audio device is synchronized with the visual indicator device.

3 . The system of claim 1 , further comprising an activation switch in communication with the one or more processors, wherein the one or more processors is further configured to:

route a voice command to the virtual assistant system when the activation switch is activated; and

not route the voice command to the virtual assistant system when the activation switch is not activated.

4 . The system of claim 3 , wherein the one or more processors is further configured to: control the visual indicator device and the visual indicator of the audio device, based on the state of the activation switch.

5 . The system of claim 4 , wherein the one or more processors is further configured to control the visual indicator device and the visual indicator of the audio device to be in a first state when the activation switch is activated and to be in a second state when the activation switch is not activated.

6 . The system of claim 1 , wherein any of the one or more processors is further configured to:

receive a signal associated with a voice command;

determine a parameter of the audio device to control, based on executing an artificial intelligence algorithm that analyzes (1) the signal associated with the voice command and (2) one or more of a characteristic of the physical environment or a characteristic of a conferencing session; and

responsive to the determination, transmit a signal to control the parameter of the audio device.

7 . The system of claim 6 ,

wherein any of the one or more processors is further configured to process and route the voice command sensed by the audio device to the virtual assistant system; and

wherein any of the one or more processors is configured to receive the signal associated with the voice command from the virtual assistant system.

8 . The system of claim 6 , wherein any of the one or more processors is configured to determine the parameter of the audio device to control, based on executing the artificial intelligence algorithm to further analyze one or more of the characteristic of the physical environment or the characteristic of the conferencing session over a period of time.

9 . The system of claim 6 , wherein the parameter of the audio device to control comprises one or more of a location of a beam of a microphone, a deployment of the beam of the microphone, a volume of a loudspeaker, or a parameter of a digital signal processor.

10 . The system of claim 6 , wherein any of the one or more processors is configured to determine the parameter of the audio device to control, based on executing the artificial intelligence algorithm to further analyze an existing parameter of the audio device.

11 . The system of claim 6 , wherein the characteristic of the physical environment comprises one or more of a presence of an object in the physical environment or a location of the object in the physical environment.

12 . The system of claim 6 , wherein the characteristic of the conferencing session comprises one or more of scheduling information, participant information, meeting topic information, location information, or a far-end audio signal.

13 . The system of claim 6 , wherein any of the one or more processors is configured to determine the parameter of the audio device to control, based on executing the artificial intelligence algorithm to further analyze natural language of the signal associated with the voice command.

14 . The system of claim 1 , wherein any of the one or more processors is configured to:

receive a setting to configure interaction with the virtual assistant system by a participant of a conferencing session, based on a permission level associated with the participant;

process and route audio of the participant sensed by the audio device to the virtual assistant system, when the permission level associated with the participant is to allow the interaction with the virtual assistant system; and

block the audio of the participant from being routed from the audio device to the virtual assistant system, when the permission level associated with the participant is to disallow the interaction with the virtual assistant system.

15 . The system of claim 14 , wherein any of the one or more processors is further configured to automatically configure the permission level associated with the participant for the interaction with the virtual assistant system, based on a voice of the participant.

16 . The system of claim 14 , wherein any of the one or more processors is further configured to configure routing of audio from the virtual assistant system to the participant, based on the permission level associated with the participant.

17 . The system of claim 14 , wherein the permission level associated with the participant is related to a location of the participant.

18 . A method, comprising:

receiving a first signal from a virtual assistant system, wherein the first signal is configured to indicate a state of the virtual assistant system; and

in response to receiving the first signal,

(1) transmitting a second signal to an audio device located at a first location in a physical environment to control a visual indicator of the audio device to indicate the state of the virtual assistant system; and

(2) transmitting a third signal to a visual indicator device located at a second location in the physical environment to control the visual indicator device to indicate the state of the virtual assistant system.

19 . The method of claim 18 , further comprising:

receiving a signal associated with a voice command;

determining a parameter of the audio device to control, based on executing an artificial intelligence algorithm that analyzes (1) the signal associated with the voice command and (2) one or more of a characteristic of the physical environment or a characteristic of a conferencing session; and

responsive to the determination, transmitting a signal to control the parameter of the one or more audio device.

20 . The method of claim 18 , further comprising:

receiving a setting to configure interaction with the virtual assistant system by a participant of a conferencing session, based on a permission level associated with the participant;

processing and routing audio of the participant sensed by the audio device to the virtual assistant system, when the permission level associated with the participant is to allow the interaction with the virtual assistant system; and

blocking the audio of the participant from being routed from the audio device to the virtual assistant system, when the permission level associated with the participant is to disallow the interaction with the virtual assistant system.