VOICE ASSISTANT
Systems and methods are disclosed for providing automated assistance for a user by receiving a user request for assistance from an appliance with a microphone and speaker and plugged into an electrical grid; translating the request to a language and determining semantics of the user request and identifying at least one domain, at least one task, and at least one parameter for the user request; searching a semantic database on the Internet for the at least one matching domain, task, and parameter; and accessing semantic data and services having one or more triples including subject, predicate, and object available over the Internet; and responding to the user request.
1 . A method for providing voice assistance, comprising:
receiving a user request for assistance from an appliance with a microphone and speaker and plugged into an electrical grid;
translating the request to a language and determining semantics of the user request and identifying at least one domain, at least one task, and at least one parameter for the user request;
searching a semantic database on the Internet for the at least one matching domain, task, and parameter; and accessing semantic data and services having one or more triples including subject, predicate, and object available over the Internet; and
responding to the user request.
2 . The method of claim 1 , comprising searching for the at least one matching domain, task and parameter in one of: a semantic hotel database, a semantic restaurant database, a semantic local event database, semantic concert database, a semantic media database, a semantic book database, a semantic music database, a semantic travel database, and a semantic flight database.
3 . The method of claim 1 , comprising:
receiving user voice with the user request spoken in a first language;
translating the user request spoken in the first language to the second language;
generating a response in the second language; and
translating the response to the first language and rendering the response to the user.
4 . The method of claim 1 , comprising forwarding the request to a call center agent for handling.
5 . The method of claim 1 , comprising ordering an item, a service, a ticket, a pass or a reservation based on user voice request.
6 . The method of claim 1 , comprising accessing one or more semantic web services, each service accessed through an application program interface (API) to retrieve data matching the domain, task, and parameter;
7 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the appliance comprises automobile voice control device, a telephone system, an answering machine, an audio voicemail on integrated messaging services, a consumer appliance with voice input, a clock radio, a home entertainment system, or a game console.
8 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the semantic database comprises user generated reviews or recommendations.
9 . The method of claim 1 , comprising identifying options available from a third party computer for the user and requesting from the third party computer available options that match the user request.
10 . The method of claim 9 , comprising presenting available options to the user to confirm.
11 . The method of claim 9 , comprising presenting available time or location options to the user to confirm.
12 . The method of claim 9 , comprising automatically making a reservation for an available option on behalf of the user.
13 . The method of claim 1 , comprising eliciting more information on the user request and restating the user request as a confirmation to the user.
14 . The method of claim 1 , comprising disambiguating alternative parsing by identifying at least two competing semantic interpretations of the user request; and receiving clarification from the user to resolve ambiguity.
15 . The method of claim 1 , comprising processing the user input using at least one selected from the group consisting of: data from a short term memory describing at least one previous interaction in a current session; and data from a long term memory describing at least one characteristic of the user.
16 . The method of claim 1 , comprising scheduling meetings, create reminders, check stocks, sports scores, and the weather.
17 . The method of claim 1 , comprising managing emails by filtering important emails and responding to the rest on the user's behalf, wherein a user provides guidance on how to pick out key emails and a virtual assistant copies the user before sending out any responses to reduce the risk of errors.
18 . The method of claim 1 , comprising inferencing personal information including calendar entries and completes a task based on the personal information or performing social chores for the user including writing notes on behalf of the user.
19 . The method of claim 1 , comprising performing travel research including finding hotels, booking airfares and mapping out trip itineraries.
20 . An appliance, comprising:
a microphone and one or more speakers;
a processor coupled to the Internet, microphone and one or more speakers and receiving power from a power grid and communicating with a cloud server running voice assistant code to:
receive a user request for assistance from an appliance with a microphone and speaker and plugged into an electrical grid;
translate the request to a language and determining semantics of the user request and identifying at least one domain, at least one task, and at least one parameter for the user request;
search a semantic database on the Internet for the at least one matching domain, task, and parameter; and accessing semantic data and services having one or more triples including subject, predicate, and object available over the Internet; and
respond to the user request.