System and method for providing a natural language interface to a database

1. A method comprising:

extracting, via a processor, key data from a user query;

submitting the key data to a database search engine to perform a search of a database and to retrieve a top n pages from the database, wherein in response to a restriction to access a restricted page of the top n pages, the processor negotiates an access price and provides data to overcome the restriction independent of a user navigating to the restricted page;

prior to responding to the user query, processing the top n pages via a natural language dialog engine;

providing, at a first time, a response comprising a text-based response and an audible response, based at least in part on the processing;

after providing the response at the first time, continuing, without further user input, to find related information associated with the user query using a machine learning process to expand the search; and

presenting an option to the user, at a second time which is later than the first time, to view the related information separate from the response.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the user query is one of a natural language speech query and a text based query.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the key data includes at least one of key words and key phrases.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein submitting the key data to the database search engine further comprises submitting the key data to a plurality of search engines.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the user can select at least one of a text input mode, a speech input mode, and a dialog mode.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein user input is received via a large vocabulary speech recognizer.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the response is a natural language response provided via synthetic speech.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the response is a multimedia response.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the database comprises at least one of the World Wide Web, a multimedia database, a corporate database, and a personal database.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the user query and the response are provided in a dialog mode.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein the user interacts with a virtual agent in a dialog mode.

12. A computing device comprising:

a processor; and

a memory having stored therein instructions which, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to perform a method comprising:

extracting key data from a query;

submitting the key data to a database search engine to execute a search of the database to retrieve a top n pages from the database, wherein in response to a restriction to access a restricted page of the top n pages, the processor negotiates an access price and provides data to overcome the restriction independent of a user navigating to the restricted page;

processing, prior to responding to the query, the top n pages via a natural language dialog engine;

providing a response at a first time, the response comprising an audible response and a text-based response based on processing the top n pages, wherein the response displays an option to view additional material related to the query separate from the response; and

after providing the response at the first time, and without further user input, finding, at a second time which is later than the first time, related information using a machine learning process to expand the search.

13. The computing device of claim 12 , wherein the database is at least one of the World Wide Web, a multimedia database, a corporate database, and a personal database.

14. The computing device of claims 12 , wherein the response is a natural language response provided via synthetic speech.

15. The computing device of claim 12 , wherein the query is one of a natural language speech query and a text based query.

16. A computer-readable storage device having stored therein instructions which, when executed by a computing device, cause the computing device to perform a method comprising:

extracting key data from a query;

submitting the key data to a database search engine to execute a search of the database to retrieve a top n pages from the database, wherein in response to a restriction to access a restricted page of the top n pages, the computing device negotiates an access price and provides data to overcome the restriction independent of a user navigating to the restricted page;

prior to responding to the query, processing the top n pages via a natural language dialog engine;

providing, at a first time, a response comprising an audible response and a text-based response based on the processing of the top n pages, wherein the response displays to the user an option to view related information separate from the provided response; and

after providing the response, continuing, without further user input and at a second time which is later than the first time, to find related information using a machine learning process to expand the search.

17. The computer-readable storage device of claim 16 , wherein the query is received via a large vocabulary speech recognizer.

18. The computer-readable storage device of claim 16 , wherein the user can select a database search engine from a plurality of search engines.

19. The computer-readable storage device of claim 16 , wherein the user can input the query using at least one of a text input mode, a speech input mode, and a dialog mode.

20. The computer-readable storage device of claim 16 , wherein the user can select multiple databases to be searched.