IP Library Granted Patent US 10,217,453
Granted Patent B2
US 10,217,453 · App. 15/294,234 · Granted Feb 26, 2019

Virtual assistant configured by selection of wake-up phrase

Inventors: Mark Stevans (Sunnyvale, CA); Monika Almudafar-Depeyrot (Menlo Park, CA); Keyvan Mohajer (Los Gatos, CA)
Assignee: SoundHound, Inc.
G10L13/08G10L13/043G10L15/18G10L15/22G10L15/30G10L2015/025G10L2015/088G10L2015/223
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 10,217,453
App. No.
15/294,234
Granted
Feb 26, 2019
Kind
B2
Abstract

A speech-enabled dialog system responds to a plurality of wake-up phrases. Based on which wake-up phrase is detected, the system's configuration is modified accordingly. Various configurable aspects of the system include selection and morphing of a text-to-speech voice; configuration of acoustic model, language model, vocabulary, and grammar; configuration of a graphic animation; configuration of virtual assistant personality parameters; invocation of a particular user profile; invocation of an authentication function; and configuration of an open sound. Configuration depends on a target market segment. Configuration also depends on the state of the dialog system, such as whether a previous utterance was an information query.

Claims (42)

1. A method of configuring a computerized dialog system, the method comprising:

receiving a request including an indication of which of a plurality of wake-up phrases has been detected;

identifying a knowledge domain associated with the detected wake-up phrase from the plurality of wake-up phrases; and

configuring a text-to-speech (TTS) system, responsive to receiving the request, to use the identified knowledge domain to respond to the request.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the step of configuring includes assigning speech morphing parameters.

3. The method of claim 1 further comprising configuring a language model.

4. The method of claim 1 further comprising configuring an ASR acoustic model.

5. The method of claim 1 further comprising configuring a natural language grammar.

6. The method of claim 1 further comprising configuring a graphic animation.

7. The method of claim 1 further comprising configuring personality parameters.

8. The method of claim 1 further comprising invoking a particular user profile.

9. The method of claim 1 further comprising participating in an authentication function.

10. The method of claim 1 further comprising configuring an open sound.

11. The method of claim 1 wherein the step of configuring varies depending on the state of the dialog system.

12. The method of claim 11 wherein a TTS voice is unavailable in a particular state.

13. A non-transitory computer readable medium storing code that, if executed by one or more computers would cause the one or more computers to:

receive an indication of which of a plurality of wake-up phrases associated with a virtual agent has been detected;

identify a knowledge domain associated with the detected wake-up phrase from the plurality of wake-up phrases; and

configure a text-to-speech (TTS) system to use the identified knowledge domain to respond to a request.

14. A system for hosting virtual assistant plugins, the system comprising:

a digital storage medium for storing a plurality of a text-to-speech (TTS) voices;

a network interface enabled to receive indications of which of a plurality of wake-up phrases has been detected; and

a processing device enabled to identify a knowledge domain associated with the detected wake-up phrase and configure one of the plurality of TTS voices based on a received indication to use the identified knowledge domain to respond to a request.

15. A voice-enabled device comprising at least one non-transitory computer readable medium storing code that, when executed by one or more processors, would cause the device to:

spot for a plurality of wake-up phrases; and

responsive to detecting a wake-up phrase from the plurality of wake-up phrases:

retrieve open sound audio data;

identify a knowledge domain associated with the detected wake-up phrase;

configure the device to use the identified knowledge domain to respond to requests; and

output the open sound audio data.

16. The device of claim 15 , wherein the open sound audio data is stored by the device.

17. The device of claim 15 wherein the retrieving comprises sending to a server an indication of which of the wake-up phrases was detected and the open sound audio data is retrieved from the server.

18. A non-transitory computer readable medium storing code that, if executed by one or more computers, would cause the one or more computers to:

associate one wake-up phrase with each of a plurality of plugins resulting in a plurality of wake-up phrases;

spot one of the plurality of wake-up phrases;

invoke a first plugin associated with the spotted wake-up phrase, wherein the first invoked plugin acts as a virtual assistant

identify a knowledge domain associated with the spotted wake-up phrase;

configure the first invoke plugin to use the identified knowledge domain to cause the one our more computers to respond to requests.

19. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 18 , wherein invoking the first plugin causes the one or more computers to execute code that accesses a web API that provides the functionality of the virtual assistant.

20. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 18 , wherein the one or more computers is caused to:

spot a second one of the plurality of wake-up phrases; and

invoke a second plugin associated with second spotted wake-up phrase, wherein the second invoked plugin is different from the first invoked plugin.

Assignments (10)
SECURITY INTEREST Recorded Aug 9, 2024
From: SOUNDHOUND, INC.
To: MONROE CAPITAL MANAGEMENT ADVISORS, LLC, AS COLLATERAL AGENT
Reel/Frame 068526/0413 →
RELEASE OF SECURITY INTEREST Recorded Jun 11, 2024
From: ACP POST OAK CREDIT II LLC, AS COLLATERAL AGENT
To: SOUNDHOUND, INC.; SOUNDHOUND AI IP, LLC
Reel/Frame 067698/0845 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Jun 27, 2023
From: SOUNDHOUND AI IP HOLDING, LLC
To: SOUNDHOUND AI IP, LLC
Reel/Frame 064205/0676 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Jun 23, 2023
From: SOUNDHOUND, INC.
To: SOUNDHOUND AI IP HOLDING, LLC
Reel/Frame 064083/0484 →
RELEASE OF SECURITY INTEREST Recorded Apr 21, 2023
From: FIRST-CITIZENS BANK & TRUST COMPANY, AS AGENT
To: SOUNDHOUND, INC.
Reel/Frame 063411/0396 →
RELEASE OF SECURITY INTEREST Recorded Apr 19, 2023
From: OCEAN II PLO LLC, AS ADMINISTRATIVE AGENT AND COLLATERAL AGENT
To: SOUNDHOUND, INC.
Reel/Frame 063380/0625 →
SECURITY INTEREST Recorded Apr 17, 2023
From: SOUNDHOUND, INC.; SOUNDHOUND AI IP, LLC
To: ACP POST OAK CREDIT II LLC
Reel/Frame 063349/0355 →
CORRECTIVE ASSIGNMENT TO CORRECT THE COVER SHEET PREVIOUSLY RECORDED AT REEL: 056627 FRAME: 0772. ASSIGNOR(S) HEREBY CONFIRMS THE SECURITY INTEREST. Recorded Apr 12, 2023
From: SOUNDHOUND, INC.
To: OCEAN II PLO LLC, AS ADMINISTRATIVE AGENT AND COLLATERAL AGENT
Reel/Frame 063336/0146 →
SECURITY INTEREST Recorded Jun 18, 2021
From: OCEAN II PLO LLC, AS ADMINISTRATIVE AGENT AND COLLATERAL AGENT
To: SOUNDHOUND, INC.
Reel/Frame 056627/0772 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Nov 8, 2016
From: STEVANS, MARK; ALMUDAFAR-DEPEYROT, MONIKA; MOHAJER, KEYVAN
To: SOUNDHOUND, INC.
Reel/Frame 040246/0118 →
Continuity (1)
Related Publication 20180108343A1 · Apr 19, 2018
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