IP Library Granted Patent US 7,624,017
Granted Patent B1
US 7,624,017 · App. 11/924,682 · Granted Nov 24, 2009

System and method for configuring voice synthesis

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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 7,624,017
App. No.
11/924,682
Granted
Nov 24, 2009
Kind
B1
Abstract

Systems and methods for providing synthesized speech in a manner that takes into account the environment where the speech is presented. A method embodiment includes, based on a listening environment and at least one other parameter associated with at least one other parameter, selecting an approach from the plurality of approaches for presenting synthesized speech in a listening environment, presenting synthesized speech according to the selected approach and based on natural language input received from a user indicating that an inability to understand the presented synthesized speech, selecting a second approach from the plurality of approaches and presenting subsequent synthesized speech using the second approach.

Claims (29)

1. A method for controlling a spoken dialog system, the method comprising:

based on a listening environment and at least one other parameter associated with at least one of a connection characteristic, a spectral difference, or a bandwidth availability, selecting an approach from a plurality of approaches for presenting synthesized speech in the listening environment;

presenting synthesized speech according to the selected approach; and

based on natural language input received from a user indicating an inability to understand the presented synthesized speech, selecting a second approach from the plurality of approaches and presenting subsequent synthesized speech using the second approach.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the at least one other parameter further comprises at least one of physiological aspects, psychological aspects of perception, and historical data.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein selecting an approach further comprises matching the listening environment to at least one entity associated with an approach for presenting the synthesized speech.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein the at least one entity comprises phonemes or phoneme classes.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein selecting an approach further comprises specifying phonemes for use in presenting the synthesized speech.

6. A system for generating speech, the system comprising:

a suggestion module that receives environmental input associated with a listening environment and generates a first suggestion of an approach for presenting speech in the listening environment;

a historical suggestion module that receives the environmental input and generates a second suggestion for presenting speech in the listening environment based on historical data for presenting speech in the listening environment;

a selection module that receives at least the first and second suggestion and selects the approach for presenting the speech; and

a speech synthesis module that presents speech in the listening environment based at least in part on the selected approach.

7. The system of claim 6 , further comprising:

a modification module that receives the selected approach and a separate input and modifies the selected approach based on the input and outputs a modified selection; and wherein the speech synthesis module receives the modified selection and presents speech in the listening environment based on the modified selection.

8. The system of claim 7 , wherein the separate input comprises input from a user.

9. The system of claim 8 , wherein the user input requests at least one of the following speech characteristics: lower, higher, softer, louder, slower, faster, higher pitched, or lower pitched.

10. The system of claim 7 , wherein the separate input is an instruction from a user to modify synthesized speech.

11. The system of claim 7 , wherein the input to the modification module results in different phonemes being selected for speech synthesis than would be selected based on output from the selection module.

12. A computer-implemented method of synthesized speech, the method comprising:

receiving environmental input and generating a first suggestion for a first approach to present speech in a listening environment;

receiving the environmental input and generating a second suggestion for a second approach to present speech in the listening environment based on historical data associated with presenting speech in the listening environment;

receiving the suggestion of the first approach and the suggestion of the second approach and generating a selection of an approach based on the first suggestion and second suggestion;

receiving separate input regarding how to present the speech;

modifying the selected approach based on the separate input; and

presenting speech in the listening environment based on the modified selected approach.

13. The method of claim 12 , wherein the separate input is user input.

14. The method of claim 12 , further comprising:

selecting phonemes for presenting the speech based on the modified selected approach.

Assignments (17)
RELEASE OF SECURITY INTEREST Recorded Sep 4, 2025
From: RUNWAY GROWTH FINANCE CORP., AS AGENT
To: INTERACTIONS CORPORATION; INTERACTIONS LLC
Reel/Frame 072802/0931 →
RELEASE OF SECURITY INTEREST IN INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RECORDED AT REEL/FRAME: 036100/0925 Recorded Jul 1, 2022
From: SILICON VALLEY BANK
To: INTERACTIONS LLC
Reel/Frame 060559/0576 →
RELEASE OF SECURITY INTEREST IN INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RECORDED AT REEL/FRAME: 049388/0082 Recorded Jun 30, 2022
From: SILICON VALLEY BANK
To: INTERACTIONS LLC
Reel/Frame 060558/0474 →
TERMINATION AND RELEASE OF SECURITY INTEREST IN INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY Recorded May 23, 2022
From: ORIX GROWTH CAPITAL, LLC
To: INTERACTIONS CORPORATION; INTERACTIONS LLC
Reel/Frame 061749/0825 →
RELEASE OF SECURITY INTEREST Recorded May 18, 2020
From: BEARCUB ACQUISITIONS LLC
To: ARES VENTURE FINANCE, L.P.
Reel/Frame 052693/0866 →
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY SECURITY AGREEMENT Recorded Jun 5, 2019
From: INTERACTIONS LLC
To: SILICON VALLEY BANK
Reel/Frame 049388/0082 →
ASSIGNMENT OF IP SECURITY AGREEMENT Recorded Nov 17, 2017
From: ARES VENTURE FINANCE, L.P.
To: BEARCUB ACQUISITIONS LLC
Reel/Frame 044481/0034 →
CORRECTIVE ASSIGNMENT TO CORRECT THE CHANGE PATENT 7146987 TO 7149687 PREVIOUSLY RECORDED ON REEL 036009 FRAME 0349. ASSIGNOR(S) HEREBY CONFIRMS THE ASSIGNMENT. Recorded Nov 17, 2015
From: INTERACTIONS LLC
To: ARES VENTURE FINANCE, L.P.
Reel/Frame 037134/0712 →
FIRST AMENDMENT TO INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY SECURITY AGREEMENT Recorded Jul 13, 2015
From: INTERACTIONS LLC
To: SILICON VALLEY BANK
Reel/Frame 036100/0925 →
SECURITY INTEREST Recorded Jun 23, 2015
From: INTERACTIONS LLC
To: ARES VENTURE FINANCE, L.P.
Reel/Frame 036009/0349 →
SECURITY INTEREST Recorded Dec 19, 2014
From: INTERACTIONS LLC
To: ORIX VENTURES, LLC
Reel/Frame 034677/0768 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Dec 16, 2014
From: AT&T ALEX HOLDINGS, LLC
To: INTERACTIONS LLC
Reel/Frame 034642/0640 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Dec 11, 2014
From: AT&T INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY II, L.P.
To: AT&T ALEX HOLDINGS, LLC
Reel/Frame 034482/0414 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Dec 9, 2014
From: ROSEN, KENNETH H.; CRESWELL, CARROLL W.; FARAH, JEFFREY J.; BANSAL, PRADEEP K.; SYRDAL, ANN K.
To: AT&T CORP.
Reel/Frame 034442/0126 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Dec 9, 2014
From: AT&T CORP.
To: AT&T PROPERTIES, LLC
Reel/Frame 034442/0334 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Dec 9, 2014
From: AT&T PROPERTIES, LLC
To: AT&T INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY II, L.P.
Reel/Frame 034442/0430 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Sep 15, 2014
From: ROSEN, KENNETH H.; CRESWELL, CARROL W.; FARAH, JEFFREY J.; BANSAL, PRADEEP K.; SYRDAL, ANN K.
To: AT&T INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY II, L.P.
Reel/Frame 033736/0916 →