Systems and methods for selecting a voice to use during a communication with a user
A computing device having the capability to dynamically select a voice that will be used by a speech synthesizer in creating synthesized speech for use in communicating with a user of the computing device is provided. For example, in some embodiments, the computing device: i) employs the speech synthesizer to have a first audible communication with the user using a first voice; ii) stores user satisfaction data that can be used to determine a user's satisfaction with an action the user took in response to the first audible communication; and iii) determines whether a different voice should be used during a second audible communication with the user based on the stored user satisfaction data.
1. A method in a computing device for audibly communicating with a particular user of the computing device, the method comprising:
performing a first audible communication with the particular user using a first voice;
obtaining information indicating an effectiveness of the first voice in influencing the particular user to make a change to an operational parameter of the computing device or make a purchase, wherein obtaining the information indicating the effectiveness of the first voice comprises obtaining a first value that indicates a total number of times the particular user accepted a recommendation that was made to the particular user using the first voice;
determining, based on the first value that indicates the total number of times the particular user accepted a recommendation that was made to the particular user using the first voice, whether to perform a second audible communication with the particular user using a second voice that replaces the first voice; and
performing the second audible communication with the particular user using the second voice, wherein
the first audible communication comprises synthesized speech that was synthesized using the first voice, and
the second audible communication comprises synthesized speech that was synthesized using the second voice having a different voice characteristic than the first voice.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein
the second voice is different than the first voice with respect to at least one voice characteristic, and
the at least one voice characteristic is an emotion, an intonation, a gender, a pitch, an accent, or a tone.
3. The method of claim 1 , wherein
performing the first audible communication comprises audibly providing to the particular user a recommendation to make the change to the operational parameter of the computing device, and
obtaining the information indicating the effectiveness of the first voice comprises determining whether the particular user made the change to the operational parameter of the computing device.
4. The method of claim 3 , wherein obtaining the information indicating the effectiveness of the first voice comprises determining whether the particular user reversed the change to the operational parameter.
5. The method of claim 1 , wherein obtaining the information indicating the effectiveness of the first voice further comprises:
determining whether the particular user made the change to the operational parameter of the computing device or made the purchase; and
as a result of determining that the particular user made the change to the operational parameter of the computing device or made the purchase, updating the first value.
6. The method of claim 5 , wherein
the recommendation is a particular type of recommendation, and
the first value indicates a total number of times the particular user accepted recommendations of the particular type that were made to the particular user using the first voice.
7. The method of claim 6 , further comprising, prior to performing the first audible communication with the particular user using the first voice, storing a second value that indicates a total number of times that the first voice was used to audibly provide to the particular user a recommendation of the particular type.
8. The method of claim 7 , further comprising:
storing a third value that indicates a total number of times that the second voice was used to audibly provide to the particular user a recommendation of the particular type, and
storing a fourth value that indicates a total number of times the particular user accepted recommendations of the particular type that were made to the particular user using the second voice.
9. The method of claim 5 , wherein the method further comprises, prior to performing the first audible communication with the particular user using the first voice, storing a second value that indicates a total number of times the particular user accepted a recommendation that was made to the particular user using the second voice.
10. The method of claim 9 , wherein the method further comprises, prior to performing the first audible communication with the particular user using the first voice:
storing a third value that indicates a total number of times that the first voice was used to audibly provide to the particular user a recommendation, and
storing a fourth value that indicates a total number of times that the second voice was used to audibly provide to the particular user a recommendation.
11. The method of claim 1 , wherein
performing the first audible communication comprises audibly providing to the particular user a recommendation to make the purchase.
12. The method of claim 11 , wherein
obtaining the information indicating the effectiveness of the first voice comprises determining whether the particular user made the purchase.
13. The method of claim 1 , the information indicating the effectiveness of the first voice in influencing the particular user to change an operational parameter of the computer device comprises information indicating the effectiveness of the first voice in influencing the particular user to activate a module of the computing device.
14. A computer program product comprising a non-transitory computer readable medium storing a computer program for configuring a computing device to perform the method of claim 1 .
15. A computing device, the computing device comprising:
a memory; and
a processor coupled to the memory, wherein the computing device is configured to:
perform a first audible communication with the particular user using a first voice;
obtain information indicating an effectiveness of the first voice in influencing the particular user to make a change to an operational parameter of the computing device or make a purchase, wherein obtaining the information indicating the effectiveness of the first voice comprises obtaining a first value that indicates a total number of times the particular user accepted a recommendation that was made to the particular user using the first voice;
determine, based on the first value that indicates a total number of times the particular user accepted a recommendation that was made to the particular user using the first voice, whether to perform a second audible communication with the particular user using a second voice that replaces the first voice; and
perform the second audible communication with the particular user using the second voice, wherein
the first audible communication comprises synthesized speech that was synthesized using the first voice, and
the second audible communication comprises synthesized speech that was synthesized using the second voice having a different voice characteristic than the first voice.
16. The computing device of claim 15 , wherein
the second voice is different than the first voice with respect to at least one voice characteristic, and
the at least one voice characteristic is an emotion, an intonation, a gender, a pitch, an accent, or a tone.
17. The computing device of claim 15 , wherein
the computing device is configured to perform the first audible communication by audibly providing to the particular user a recommendation to make the change to the operational parameter of the computing device, and
the computing device is configured to obtain the information indicating the effectiveness of the first voice by performing a process that includes determining whether the particular user made the change to the operational parameter of the computing device.
18. The computing device of claim 17 , wherein
the process further comprises: as a result of determining that the particular user made the change to the operational parameter of the computing device, updating the first value.
19. The computing device of claim 18 , wherein
the recommendation is a particular type of recommendation, and
the first value indicates a total number of times the particular user accepted recommendations of the particular type that were made to the particular user using the first voice.
20. The computing device of claim 19 , wherein the computing device is further configured to store a second value that indicates a total number of times that the first voice was used to audibly provide to the particular user a recommendation of the particular type.
21. The computing device of claim 20 , wherein the computing device is further configured to:
store a third value that indicates a total number of times that the second voice was used to audibly provide to the particular user a recommendation of the particular type, and
store a fourth value that indicates a total number of times the particular user accepted recommendations of the particular type that were made to the particular user using the second voice.
22. The computing device of claim 17 , wherein the process further comprises determining whether the particular user reversed the configuration change.
23. The computing device of claim 15 , wherein the first audible communication comprises a recommendation that the particular user make a purchase.
24. The computing device of claim 23 , wherein
the computing device is configured to obtain the information indicating the effectiveness of the first voice by performing a process that includes determining whether the particular user made the purchase.