IP Library Granted Patent US 11,809,885
Granted Patent B2
US 11,809,885 · App. 17/158,070 · Granted Nov 7, 2023

Agent device, agent system, and recording medium

Inventors: Eiichi Maeda (Itabashi-ku, JP); Chikage Kubo (Chofu, JP); Keiko Nakano (Kawasaki, JP); Hiroyuki Nishizawa (Itabashi-ku, JP)
Assignee: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
G06F9/453B60K37/02G06F40/35G10L15/26B60K2370/148B60K2370/1575B60K2370/164
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 11,809,885
App. No.
17/158,070
Granted
Nov 7, 2023
Kind
B2
Abstract

An agent device receives input information that is input by the user, in a case in which the input information is a question from the user, executes inference processing on the input information to infer an intent of the question in order to acquire a response to the question based on the intent, in a case in which a plurality of the responses are acquired, provides the notification device with option information that includes the plurality of responses as options, in a case in which new input information is received, determines whether the new input information is information requiring the inference processing or is selection information relating to a selection result from selection of the options, and in a case in which the new input information is the selection information, provides the notification device with response information regarding the response associated with the selection result without executing the inference processing.

Claims (37)

1. An agent device comprising:

a memory; and

a processor coupled to the memory, the processor being configured to:

receive, from a notification device for notifying information to a user, input information that is input by the user,

in a case in which the input information is a question from the user, execute inference processing on the input information to infer an intent of the question in order to acquire a response to the question based on the intent,

in a case in which a plurality of the responses are acquired, provide the notification device with option information that includes the plurality of responses as options,

in a case in which new input information is received, determine whether the new input information is information requiring the inference processing or is selection information relating to a selection result from selection of the options, and

in a case in which the new input information is the selection information, provide the notification device with response information regarding, among the acquired plurality of responses, the response associated with the selection result without executing the inference processing.

2. The agent device of claim 1 , wherein:

the processor is configured to perform the inference processing by inputting the received input information into a trained model generated employing information regarding a plurality of expressions relevant to a hypothetical question and information regarding correct responses to the plurality of expressions.

3. The agent device of claim 1 , wherein:

in a case in which the input information acquired from the notification device is information requiring the inference processing, the processor is configured to convert the input information to text and provide the input information that has been converted to text, and in a case in which the input information acquired from the notification device is information corresponding to the selection result, the processor is configured to provide the selection information.

4. The agent device of claim 3 , wherein:

in a case in which the option information is provided, the processor is configured to store specific information configured to specify the notification device and to store the option information, at the memory;

in a case in which the specific information and input information associated with the selection result have been acquired from the notification device, the processor is configured to specify a response associated with the selection result based on the specific information and the option information, and to provide identification information identifying the response associated with the selection result, as the selection information; and

the processor is configured to provide the notification device with response information relating to a response that corresponds to the identification information.

5. The agent device of claim 1 , wherein as the option information, the processor is configured to provide the notification device with numbers identifying a plurality of the responses together with the responses.

6. An agent system comprising an agent device, and a notification device installed in a vehicle, the agent device including

a memory, and

a processor coupled to the memory, the processor being configured to

receive, from a notification device for notifying information to a user, input information that is input by the user;

in a case in which the input information is a question from the user, execute inference processing on the input information to infer an intent of the question in order to acquire a response to the question based on intent;

in a case in which a plurality of the responses are acquired, provide the notification device with option information that includes the plurality of responses as options;

in a case in which new input information is received, determine whether the new input information is information requiring the inference processing or is selection information relating to a selection result from selection of the options; and

in a case in which the new input information is the selection information, provide the notification device with response information regarding, among the acquired plurality of responses, the response associated with the selection result without executing the inference processing.

7. The agent system of claim 6 , further comprising an interface device including:

a memory; and

a processor coupled to the memory, wherein in a case in which the input information acquired from the notification device is information requiring the inference processing, the processor of the interface device is configured to convert the input information to text and provide the input information that has been converted to text, and in a case in which the input information acquired from the notification device is information corresponding to the selection result, the processor of the interface device is configured to provide the selection information.

8. A non-transitory recording medium storing a program that is executable by a computer to perform processing, the processing comprising:

receiving, from a notification device for notifying information to a user, input information that is input by the user;

in a case in which the input information is a question from the user, executing inference processing on the input information to infer an intent of the question in order to acquire a response to the question based on the intent;

in a case in which a plurality of the responses are acquired, providing the notification device with option information that includes the plurality of responses as options;

in a case in which new input information has been received, determining whether the new input information is information requiring the inference processing or is selection information relating to a selection result from selection of the options; and

in a case in which the new input information is the selection information, providing the notification device with response information regarding, among the acquired plurality of responses, the response associated with the selection result without executing the inference processing.

9. The agent device of claim 1 , wherein the processor is configured to determine that the new input information is the selection information, in a case in which the new input information includes a number or a linguistic feature allocated to the options.

10. The agent system of claim 6 , wherein the processor is configured to determine that the new input information is the selection information, in a case in which the new input information includes a number or a linguistic feature allocated to the options.

11. The non-transitory recording medium of claim 8 , wherein determining whether the new input information is selection information is based on whether the new input information includes a number or a linguistic feature allocated to the options.

Assignments (1)
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Jan 26, 2021
From: MAEDA, EIICHI; KUBO, CHIKAGE; NAKANO, KEIKO; NISHIZAWA, HIROYUKI
To: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
Reel/Frame 055109/0233 →
Priority Claims (1)
JP 2020-013026 · Jan 29, 2020 · national
Continuity (1)
Related Publication 20210232414A1 · Jul 29, 2021