JP7160076B2 - Dialogue control device, dialogue control method and program - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a dialog control device, dialog control method and program.

In recent years, technology that realizes interactive dialogue between humans and machines has become pervasive. Artificial intelligence (AI) technology and speech recognition technology are necessary for humans and machines to interact with each other. can't. Techniques for estimating human emotions are required.

For example, Patent Literature 1 discloses a technique for performing natural topic transitions. Specifically, in Patent Document 1, each item (when, where, who, what, etc.), which is an index indicating whether the topic has been talked about, is changed according to whether or not the topic is spoken. Techniques are disclosed.

Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2001-188785

By the way, during a dialogue with a dialogue partner, if the dialogue control device cannot respond to the content uttered by the dialogue partner, it may suddenly change the topic or give an incomprehensible answer. There is a problem that the conversation partner feels uncomfortable when suddenly switched to another story that deviates from the context of the conversation.

In this respect, Patent Document 1 merely changes the topic according to the progress of the dialogue (whether or not the topic has been discussed), and does not disclose a specific solution for solving the above problem. .
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a dialogue control device or the like that allows the dialogue partner to change topics without feeling uncomfortable.

In order to achieve the above object, the dialogue control device of the present invention includes:
determination means for determining whether or not the utterance from the conversation partner includes a predetermined keyword, and whether or not it is possible to respond to the utterance;
When it is determined by the determining means that a response is possible because the predetermined keyword is included in the utterance, a response sentence using the predetermined keyword is created, while the determining means does not include the predetermined keyword. and if an unknown word is included in the utterance from the conversation partner, a topic change for changing to the next topic using a keyword related to the unknown word a creation means for creating a response sentence of
an utterance means for uttering the response sentence created by the creation means;
characterized by comprising

ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, a dialogue partner can change a topic, without feeling a sense of incongruity.

1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a dialogue control device according to an embodiment; FIG. It is a figure which shows an example of a keyword table. It is a figure which shows an example of a response sentence template. FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of a prefix template; It is a figure which shows an example of the template for topic change. FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of an estimate of the time required for a dialogue partner to respond; It is a figure which shows an example of the template for continuation intention confirmation. FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of a flowchart of dialogue control processing;

An outline of a dialogue control device according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIG. This dialogue control device 10 includes, as a physical interface with the dialogue partner, a microphone 40 for picking up the dialogue partner's voice, a speaker 41 for outputting sound to the dialogue partner, and a camera 42 for photographing the dialogue partner.
The dialogue control device 10 estimates emotion from the voice of the microphone 40 and the image of the camera 42 , and carries out a dialogue through the speaker 41 on the topic corresponding to the estimated emotion.

Note that the dialogue control device 10, which is a dialogue engine, may be applied to the robot. This dialogue control device 10 is an artificial intelligence that can be applied to almost all situations that require dialogue with people, and has a wide range of applications such as car navigation systems, smartphone interactive applications, and digital two-dimensional characters. Also, in the following description, the terms "dialogue", "conversation", and "communication" are all synonymous in the sense of interactively exchanging information in natural language.

The dialogue control device 10 includes a control unit 20 and a storage unit 30 in addition to a physical interface (a microphone 40, a speaker 41, and a camera 42) with a dialogue partner.

The control unit 20 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a ROM (Read Only Memory), a RAM (Random Access Memory), and the like. The control unit 20 executes a program stored in the ROM (for example, a program related to dialogue control processing, which will be described later), so that each unit (the determination unit 221, the creation unit 222, the utterance unit 223, the time determination unit 224, the content determination It implements the functions of the unit 225 and the intention confirmation unit 226).

The storage unit 30 is a non-volatile memory such as a hard disk or flash memory, and stores a database (interaction DB (Data Base) 32) and a keyword table 31. FIG. These will be described later.

Next, functions of the control unit 20 will be described.
The control unit 20 includes a determination unit 221, a creation unit 222, an utterance unit 223, a time determination unit 224, a content determination unit 225, and an intention confirmation unit 226 as functions.

The determination unit 221 determines whether or not it is possible to respond to an utterance from the conversation partner. Specifically, the determination unit 221 converts the utterances from the dialogue partner into text, performs morphological analysis on a plurality of words (nouns, adjectives, verbs, particles, etc.), and determines whether or not there is a keyword in the plurality of words. , determines whether or not it is possible to respond. The presence or absence of a keyword is determined using the keyword table 31 of FIG.

This keyword table 31 is created based on a word dictionary or the like, and associates noun words and adjective words for each topic. A noun word indicates a topic-related noun, and an adjective word indicates a topic-related adjective.

The keywords shown in FIG. 2 are only a small part, and in practice, tens of thousands of keywords necessary for dialogue are prepared for each topic. Also, each keyword is associated with a hierarchical relationship (for example, vegetables, which are superordinate concepts, include cabbage and onions, which are subordinate concepts), and similar relationships (such as udon and ramen being similar in terms of noodles). . Further, when an unknown word is uttered by the dialogue partner, the determination unit 221 may add the word as a new keyword and learn it.

As a result of morphological analysis of the conversational partner's speech converted into text by speech recognition, the determination unit 221 determines if a word (noun/adjective) matches a keyword (noun word/adjective word), that is, during an utterance from the conversational partner. If the keyword is included, it is determined that the response is possible. On the other hand, when the keyword is not included in the utterance of the dialogue partner, it is determined that the response is not possible.

In order to increase the number of cases that can be responded to, the control unit 20 may specify a topic and speak to the conversation partner first. For example, if the topic is "food," then "Let's talk about food." If the topic is "animals," "Let's talk about animals." should be started. This is because, in this embodiment, since a keyword is associated with each topic, the response possibility of the dialogue control device 10 decreases if the topic is not specified.

Returning to FIG. 1, the creation unit 222 creates a response sentence for responding to the dialogue partner. The response sentences are: 1) when the determination unit 221 determines that a response is possible, that is, when the keyword is included, and 2) when the determination unit 221 determines that the response is not possible, that is, the keyword is included. There is a response sentence when it is determined that it cannot be done.

In the case of 1) where a response is possible, the creation unit 222 creates a response sentence based on the response sentence template stored in the response DB 321 . This response DB 321 is a database that stores a plurality of different response sentence templates for each topic. The response sentence template can be written in a markup language such as XML (Extensible Markup Language). Specifically, it is described in AIML (Artificial Intelligence Markup Language). create a template for

FIG. 3 shows an example of variations of the response sentence template for the topic "weather". If there is a keyword included in the keyword table 31 in the dialogue partner's utterance, the response sentence template is of a format in which the keyword (noun word/adjective word) is applied to respond. A similar word means a keyword having a similar relationship in the keyword table 31 (such as four seasons, such as spring, summer, autumn and winter). The types of categories (empathy, self-disclosure, information provision, question) are only examples, and more types may be provided.

For example, if there is a keyword "summer" in the dialogue partner's utterance about the topic "weather", the creating unit 222 creates a response sentence template for empathy such as "It's hot in summer. I agree." As a response sentence template, "I like winter better than summer.", and as a question sentence template, "Why do you like summer?" Among these templates, which category is selected may be selected at random, or may be selected according to context or priority from the interaction history. Also, when selecting, a response sentence template that has already been selected should not be selected again during dialogue.

Here, information provision is a template for providing information related to search results on the Internet. The information (probability of precipitation, maximum temperature, etc.) related to this provision of information is actively acquired by the creating unit 222 triggered by a search request from the conversation partner or at an appropriate timing during the conversation. Then, the creation unit 222 applies the acquired information to the response template for providing information and speaks. As for the proper noun of the place, if the name of the place is included in the utterance of the conversation partner, it may be applied.

Note that one response sentence template is commonly used for a plurality of keywords from the viewpoint of improving versatility, but it is not limited to this. A unique response sentence corresponding to a specific keyword may be associated. For example, to the noun word ``lion'' in the topic ``animals,'' ``only male lions have a mane,'' or ``lions are the king of beasts, aren't they?'' A plurality of templates may be associated with each other and randomly selected and uttered.

In this way, in the case of 1) above, in which a response is possible, the creating unit 222 uses a response sentence template using a keyword to conduct at least several turns of dialogue for each topic, instead of just a question-and-answer session. On the other hand, in the case of the above 2) in which a response is not possible, the creation unit 222 creates a response sentence for connecting to the next topic and a response sentence for changing the topic to switch to the next topic. Specifically, the creation unit 222 creates a response sentence using the introduction template stored in the introduction DB 322 and the topic change template stored in the topic change DB 323 . FIG. 4 shows an example of a variation of the introductory template, and FIG. 5 shows an example of a variation of the topic change template.

As shown in FIG. 4, there is a template expressing ignorance and apology as a preface template for connecting to the next topic. A response sentence for connecting to the next topic, ie, a template for introduction, is a sentence suggesting a conversation partner to change the topic. As an example of the sentence, this embodiment uses a template expressing ignorance and apology. Also, try to apologize before expressing ignorance. For example, regarding the topic “weather”, if the conversation partner utters the noun “El Niño phenomenon” and does not include that noun word as a keyword, “Excuse me, I am not familiar with the El Niño phenomenon.” I've never seen it before."

On the other hand, the creation unit 222 creates a response sentence for topic change with reference to FIG. 5 following the response sentence for connecting to the next topic. Here, the response sentence for changing the topic is a response sentence for switching to the next topic following the response sentence for connecting to the next topic uttered before the topic change. Here, changing the topic includes not only changing the topic in the keyword table 31 but also changing the topic during the dialogue to another topic. In other words, if the topic during the dialogue is "weather", in addition to changing from "weather" to another topic (for example, "animals"), another topic within "weather" (for example, from today's weather topic to seasonal topic).

Here, FIG. 5 shows variations of the topic conversion template. The noun word used when changing the topic should be related to an unknown word. For example, regarding the topic "weather", if the conversation partner utters the noun "pollen" and the noun word is not included as a keyword, it is preferable to select a noun word related to the unknown word "pollen" to change the topic. Since the unknown word "pollen" includes the noun word "flower", the creating unit 222 selects "flower" as the noun word and changes the topic by saying, "By the way, are you interested in flowers?"

Without being limited to this, it is also possible to access the Internet to search for currently hot topics about "flowers" and select noun words of hot topics about "flowers." For example, as a result of searching for "flower", if there are many hits about "cherry blossoms in bloom", the creation unit 222 selects "cherry blossom" and "full bloom" as noun words and says, "Aside from that, the cherry blossoms are in full bloom today. and so on, changing the topic.
In this way, even if there is an unknown word in the utterance of the conversation partner, a noun word related to that word is selected to change the topic. However, when it is difficult to select noun words related to unknown words, as in the case of the ``El Niño phenomenon'' above, noun words (for example, words that are still uttered in the same topic ``weather'') should be selected without considering the relevance. or a completely different topic such as "animals") and create a response sentence for changing the topic.

As described above, in the case of 1) above, in which a response is possible, the creation unit 222 creates a response sentence using keywords (noun words/adjective words) contained in the voice of the dialogue partner based on the response sentence template. On the other hand, in the case of the above 2) where it is impossible to respond, the creation unit 222 prepares a response sentence (response sentence consisting of apology and ignorance) for connecting to the next topic and a response sentence for changing the topic. Create based on a conversion template.

Now, returning to FIG. 1 , the utterance unit 223 utters the response sentence created by the creation unit 222 through the speaker 41 . Specifically, the utterance unit 223 utters a response sentence associated with the keyword in the case of 1) above in which a response is possible. On the other hand, the utterance unit 223 utters, in order, a response sentence for connecting to the next topic and a response sentence for topic change in the case of 2) above, in which the response is impossible.

Next, the time determination unit 224 determines whether or not there is a response from the dialogue partner to the utterance by the utterance unit 223 within a predetermined time. The predetermined time is a measure of whether or not the response from the conversation partner is slow, and is, for example, 5 seconds.

The content determination unit 225 determines whether or not the content of the utterance by the utterance unit 223 requires time for response. This determination is made based on the estimated time required for the dialogue partner to respond as shown in FIG. That is, in the table of FIG. 6, the length of time required for the dialogue partner to respond is associated with the category of the response sentence template of FIG. 3 (empathy, self-disclosure, information provision, question). In general, questions increase response time because they require the interlocutor to think. Regarding the topic change category, whether or not the dialogue partner is interested in the changed topic (whether or not they want to talk) is a closed question that can be answered with Yes or No, so the standard response time is short. set.

Next, the intention confirming unit 226 confirms the conversation partner's intention to continue the dialogue according to the determination results of the time determining unit 224 and the content determining unit 225 . When confirming the intention to continue the dialogue, the time determination unit 224 determines that there is no response within a predetermined time, and the content determination unit 225 determines that the content of the utterance does not require time for a response. For example, even though the content of the utterance of the dialogue control device 10 is self-disclosure, which does not take much time to respond, the response time of the dialogue partner is 5 seconds or more.

When confirming the intention to continue the dialogue, the intention confirmation unit 226 refers to the template for confirming the intention to continue dialogue shown in FIG.
On the other hand, when the intention to continue the dialogue is not confirmed, a) when the time determination unit 224 determines that there is a response within the predetermined time, or b) at the same time when the time determination unit 224 determines that there is no response within the predetermined time. Either when the content determination unit 225 determines that the content of the utterance requires time for response.

The functions of the control unit 20 of the interaction control device 10 have been described above with reference to a plurality of templates. The interaction control processing by each of these functions will be described below with reference to the flowchart of FIG. This dialogue control process is triggered when the dialogue partner is captured by the camera 42 while the dialogue function of the dialogue control device 10 is turned on.

First, the control unit 20 selects a topic and speaks (step S10). In this step, the topic of dialogue is narrowed down to one of the topics in the keyword table (keyword table 31, which is an example in this embodiment) in order to increase the possibility of response. For example, the control unit 20 utters "Let's talk about food" for the randomly selected topic "food".

Next, the determination unit 221 recognizes the speech from the conversation partner (step S11), and determines whether or not it is possible to respond to the conversation partner's speech (step S12). Here, the determination unit 221 morphologically analyzes the text-converted speech and determines whether or not there is a keyword (noun word/adjective word) included in the keyword table 31 .

As a result of speech recognition, if the conversation partner clearly has no intention to talk about the selected topic, such as "I'm not interested in that topic" or "I don't want to talk about this topic", the control unit 20 proceeds to step It is possible to return to S10 and select a topic again, or wait until the conversation partner speaks something without selecting a topic.

Now, if it is possible to respond to the dialogue partner's utterance (step S12; Yes), that is, if the keyword is included in the utterance, the creation unit 222 creates a response sentence associated with the keyword. (Step S13). For example, when the conversation partner utters the noun word "ramen" on the topic "food", the creation unit 222 creates a response sentence template for empathy, "ramen is delicious, isn't it? I like it too." For the response sentence template for the question, "I prefer udon to ramen." Which response sentence should be created can be determined according to the dialogue history, priority, and context.

On the other hand, if it is not possible to respond to the dialogue partner's utterance (step S12; No), that is, if the keyword is not included in the utterance, the creation unit 222 creates a response sentence to lead to the next topic ( Step S14), and then create a response sentence for topic change (step S15). For example, when an unknown word "avocado" is uttered for the topic "food", the creation unit 222 uses the introductory template and the topic change template to generate, for example, "I'm sorry. I'm not familiar with avocado." By the way, are you interested in animals?" As for the unknown word "avocado", it is difficult to select a related noun word, so the topic is changed to the next topic "animal" without considering the relevance.

After step S13 or step S15, the utterance unit 223 utters the created response sentence (step S16). Subsequently, the time determination unit 224 determines whether or not there is a response from the dialogue partner within a predetermined time (step S17). Here, if there is a response from the conversation partner within a predetermined period of time (step S17; Yes), the process returns to step S11 to continue the conversation by recognizing the speech from the conversation partner.

The utterances from the interlocutor here may be mere back-and-forth or Yes/No answers. For example, "Ramen is delicious, isn't it? I also like it." In this case, since it is not possible to determine the presence or absence of a keyword, the dialogue control device 10 may appropriately insert a pause to prompt the dialogue partner to speak further, or ask a question to prompt the dialogue partner to speak.

On the other hand, if there is no response from the dialogue partner within the predetermined time (step S17; No), the content determination unit 225 determines whether or not the utterance in step S16 takes a long time to respond (step S18). Here, the content determination unit 225 refers to the table in FIG. 6 and determines whether or not the content of the utterance takes time to respond. That is, in the above example, it is determined that responses to utterances of sympathy, self-disclosure, and topic changes other than the question "What flavor of ramen do you like?" do not take much time.

Here, if the speech in step S16 takes a long time to respond (step S18; Yes), the process returns to step S11. This is the case where the dialogue partner responds to the question "What flavor of ramen do you like?"
On the other hand, if the utterance in step S16 does not take a long time to respond (step S18; No), the intention confirmation unit 226 confirms the dialogue continuation intention (step S19). For example, after responding with a response sentence template for sympathy "Ramen is delicious, isn't it? I like it too." This is the case when there was no For example, when the conversation partner is silent, or when a response such as "I'm not interested in animals" is received from the conversation partner after a predetermined time has elapsed.

In such a case, the intention confirmation unit 226 utters, for example, "Do you want to continue the conversation?" S20). If the conversation partner indicates an intention not to continue the conversation, such as "I do not want to continue the conversation", it is determined that the conversation will not be continued (step S20; No), and the process ends. On the other hand, if there is an indication of intention to continue the conversation, such as "I want to continue the conversation" from the conversation partner, it is determined to continue the conversation (step S20; Yes), returning to step S15, the creation unit 222 performs the following: Create a response sentence for changing the topic to change the topic. Here, the topic is changed to a topic other than the topics already mentioned ("food" and "animals" in the above example). Accordingly, in step S16, when the intention confirming unit 226 confirms the dialogue continuation intention, the utterance unit 223, when the dialogue partner indicates the intention to continue the dialogue, generates a topic change topic for changing to the next topic. Say the response sentence.

The dialog control processing by the dialog control device 10 has been described above. In the following, a description will be given with reference to specific example 1 of this dialogue control process. It is assumed that the dialogue takes place between the dialogue control device 10 of FIG. 1 and the dialogue partner, and the dialogues are denoted by (1), (2), etc. in chronological order.

(Specific example 1)
(1) Dialogue control device 10: "Let's talk about the weather."
(2) Conversation partner: "Okay. Is it cool today?"
(3) Dialogue control device 10: "Today's maximum temperature is ○○°C."
(4) Conversation partner: "It's cool today, isn't it?"
(5) Dialogue control device 10: "It's been cool lately, isn't it?"

(6) Conversation partner: "Yes. Is there a lot of pollen today?"
(7) Dialogue control device 10: "I'm sorry. I don't know much about pollen."
(8) Dialogue control device 10: "Aside from that, it seems that the cherry blossoms are in full bloom today."
(9) Conversation partner: "Yes, I want to go see cherry blossoms."
(10) Dialogue control device 10: "I'm sorry. I've never heard of Hanami."

(11) Dialogue controller 10: "By the way, are you interested in flowers?"
(12) Conversation partner: "I'm not very interested..."
(13) Dialogue controller 10: "Would you like to continue the conversation?"
(14) Dialogue partner: "Yes."
(15) Dialogue control device 10: "By the way..."

(15) The dialogue continues after that. In this specific example 1, in (1) the topic "weather" is selected and uttered, in (3) the search result (maximum temperature) triggered by a question from the dialogue partner is provided, and in (5) the dialogue is performed. Show empathy by using the adjective word "cool" from the other party. Up to this point, it is an example in which it is possible to respond to an utterance from a dialogue partner (loop of steps S11 to 13, 16 and 17).

In (7), since the noun word "pollen" uttered by the dialogue partner is not included in the keyword, the response sentence to lead to the next topic expresses apology and ignorance. Subsequently, in (8), the topic is changed using the topic "flower" related to the unknown word "pollen" and the currently hot topic "cherry blossoms in full bloom" (steps S14 to S16).

Subsequently, since the noun word "hanami" uttered by the conversational partner in (10) is not included in the keywords, the speaker expresses apology and ignorance in a response sentence to lead to the next topic. Subsequently, in (11), the subject is changed to the topic "flower" related to the unknown word "hanami". Up to this point, it is the case where it is not possible to respond to the speech from the dialogue partner (loop of steps S11, 12, 14 to 17).

Subsequently, in response to the topic change of "flower" in (11), it is assumed that the utterance "I'm not very interested..." from the dialogue partner in (12) is a response after a predetermined time has elapsed (steps S17 and No in step S18). Therefore, in (13), the dialogue partner confirms the dialogue continuation intention (step S19), and since the dialogue partner indicates the dialogue continuation intention in (14), the dialogue control device 10 Continue the dialogue by switching topics.

As described above, according to the dialogue control device 10, by providing each function (the determination unit 221, the creation unit 222, and the utterance unit 223), when it is not possible to respond to the utterance from the dialogue partner, it is possible to connect to the next topic. Say the response sentence. For this reason, there is no sudden change of topic or an incomprehensible answer. Therefore, the dialogue partner is not abruptly switched to another conversation that deviates from the context of the conversation, so that the dialogue partner can change the topic without feeling uncomfortable.

In addition, the creating unit 222 creates a sentence suggesting a change of topic to the dialogue partner as a response sentence for connecting to the next topic. In this embodiment, as an example, a response sentence expressing ignorance or apology is created. By expressing ignorance while avoiding hurting the feelings of the dialogue partner by apologizing, the dialogue partner can guess the topic change. Therefore, by inserting one cushion as an introduction before changing the topic, it is possible to change the topic to a convenient one for the dialogue control device 10 .

Further, when the determination unit 221 determines that a response is possible, that is, when it determines that the keyword is included in the dialogue partner's speech, the creation unit 222 creates a response sentence associated with the keyword. Therefore, when a keyword is included, the dialogue partner can enjoy several turns of conversation with the dialogue control device 10 .

Further, when the determination unit 221 determines that the response is not possible, the creation unit 222 creates a topic change response for switching to a topic related to a word (especially an unknown word) included in the utterance of the conversation partner. create a sentence. For this reason, the topic is changed to another related topic in a natural flow from the point of view of the conversation partner, so that the topic can be changed without making the conversation partner feel uncomfortable. Also, when changing to another topic, keywords related to current seasonal topics (“cherry blossom” and “full bloom” in the above example) are selected from among the topics to change the topic. Therefore, the conversation partner can switch to the latest topic of interest, so that the conversation partner can enjoy the conversation without getting bored.

In addition, the dialogue control device 10 is provided with each function (a time determination unit 224, a content determination unit 225, and an intention confirmation unit 226). to confirm their intention to continue dialogue. In other words, the intention confirming unit 226 determines whether the dialogue partner is slow to respond (no response within a predetermined time) even though the utterance content of the dialogue control device 10 does not require much time to respond. Confirm intention to continue.

Here, as a case where the response of the dialogue partner is slow, there is a case where the dialogue partner has to consider the content of the response. In other words, when the dialogue control device 10 asks a dialogue partner a question that cannot be answered with Yes or No (an open question), the dialogue partner needs to think once before responding. In this case, immediately confirming the dialogue continuation intention just because the dialogue partner's response is slow hurts the dialogue partner's feelings. According to the present invention, even if the response of the dialogue partner is slow, the intention to continue the dialogue is confirmed according to whether or not the utterance content of the dialogue control device 10 requires time for the response. For this reason, it is possible to confirm the intention to continue the dialogue with higher accuracy and without offending the feelings of the dialogue partner than in the case of immediately confirming the intention to continue the dialogue if the response is delayed.

This completes the description of the embodiment, but the above embodiment is an example, and the configuration of the dialogue control device 10 and the contents of the dialogue control processing are not limited to those described in the above embodiment.

In the above-described embodiment, from the viewpoint of increasing the responsiveness of the dialogue control device 10, the control unit 20 first identifies the topic and then starts the dialogue, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, step S10 of selecting a topic and speaking may be skipped, and speech recognition may be performed on the conversation partner's speech. In this case, even if the conversational partner makes an utterance unrelated to the topic and the response possibility is lowered, the conversational partner can continue the dialogue without feeling uncomfortable because the topic is changed after the introduction.

In the above-described embodiment, the keyword table 31 associates noun words and adjective words with each topic, but is not limited to this. For example, each topic may be associated with a verb word (such as the verb "to solve" in mathematics), and a response sentence template using this verb may be prepared. Further, the variation of the dialogue of the dialogue control device 10 may be increased by associating the keyword with not only the keyword for each topic but also for each scenario performed on a daily basis. For example, a scenario "greeting" is associated with keywords "good morning." "hello." "good evening." should be prepared.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, as shown in FIG. 6, the length of time required for the dialogue partner to respond is set according to the category, but the present invention is not limited to this. FIG. 6 is an example, and the length may be set more finely. For example, the category "question" may be associated with "long" for open questions and "short" for closed questions. Also, depending on the content of sympathy and self-disclosure, the time may be set longer. In short, setting of length of time is a design matter determined by the contents of speech of the dialogue control device 10 .

Also, although the example of "dialogue" in which voices are used to respond to each other has been described, it is also possible to use a keyboard and a display to perform a textual dialogue. For example, the dialogue control device 10 may be incorporated into a PC or the like so that the conversation of the specific example 1 described above can be enjoyed between the user (dialogue partner) and the PC (dialogue control device 10) as if it were a text chat. In this case, emotions cannot be estimated based on the prosody of the voice. It is possible to perform emotion estimation from

Each function of the dialogue control device 10 of the present invention can also be implemented by a computer such as a normal PC. Specifically, in the above-described embodiment, the program for the dialogue control processing performed by the dialogue control device 10 is pre-stored in the ROM of the control unit 20 . However, the program is distributed by storing it in a computer-readable recording medium such as a flexible disk, CD-ROM (Compact Disc Read Only Memory), DVD (Digital Versatile Disc), MO (Magneto-Optical Disc), etc. may be installed in the computer to configure a computer capable of realizing each of the functions described above. Furthermore, by installing the interaction control device 10 of the present invention in a robot, a robot having a communication function can be realized.

Although the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the present invention is not limited to such specific embodiments, and the present invention includes the invention described in the claims and their equivalents. be The invention described in the original claims of the present application is appended below.

(Appendix 1)
Determination means for determining whether or not it is possible to respond to an utterance from a dialogue partner;
an utterance means for uttering a response sentence for connecting to the next topic when the determination means determines that the response is not possible;
A dialog control device comprising:

(Appendix 2)
Further comprising a creation means for creating a response sentence for connecting to the next topic when the determination means determines that the response is not possible,
the utterance means utters the response sentence created by the creation means;
The dialogue control device according to appendix 1, characterized by:

(Appendix 3)
The creation means creates a sentence suggesting a topic change to the dialogue partner as a response sentence for connecting to the next topic.
The interaction control device according to appendix 2, characterized by:

(Appendix 4)
The sentence suggesting the change of topic to the dialogue partner is a sentence expressing ignorance or apology,
The interaction control device according to appendix 3, characterized by:

(Appendix 5)
The determination means determines that a response is possible when a keyword is included in the speech from the dialogue partner, and determines that a response is not possible when the keyword is not included,
The creation means creates a response sentence associated with the keyword when the determination means determines that a response is possible.
5. The dialogue control device according to any one of appendices 2 to 4, characterized by:

(Appendix 6)
When the determination means determines that the response is not possible, the creation means creates a response sentence for switching to the next topic in addition to the response sentence for connecting to the next topic,
The utterance means utters the response sentence for changing the topic following the utterance of the response sentence for connecting to the next topic.
6. The dialogue control device according to any one of Appendices 2 to 5, characterized by:

(Appendix 7)
The next topic to be changed by the topic change response sentence is a topic related to the words included in the utterance from the conversation partner.
The interaction control device according to appendix 6, characterized by:

(Appendix 8)
The interaction control device further comprises:
time determination means for determining whether or not the dialogue partner has responded to the utterance by the utterance means within a predetermined time;
content determination means for determining whether or not the content of the utterance by the utterance means requires time for response;
intention confirmation means for confirming the dialogue continuation intention with the dialogue partner according to the judgment results of the time judgment means and the content judgment means;
8. A dialogue control device according to any one of appendices 1 to 7, characterized by comprising:

(Appendix 9)
The intention confirmation means continues the dialogue when the time determination means determines that there is no response within the predetermined time and the content determination means determines that the content of the utterance does not require time for a response. confirm your intentions
The dialogue control device according to appendix 8, characterized by:

(Appendix 10)
When the intention confirming means confirms the intention to continue the dialogue and the dialogue partner indicates the intention to continue the dialogue, the utterance means utters a topic change response sentence for changing to the next topic. do,
A dialogue control device according to appendix 8 or 9, characterized in that:

(Appendix 11)
The intention confirmation means is configured such that when the time determination means determines that there is a response within the predetermined time, or at the same time that the time determination means determines that there is no response within the predetermined time, the content determination means confirms the utterance. If it is determined that the content requires time to respond, it does not confirm the intention to continue the dialogue,
If the intention confirmation means does not confirm the intention to continue the dialogue, the determination means determines whether or not it is possible to respond to a response from the dialogue partner.
11. The dialogue control device according to any one of appendices 8 to 10, characterized in that:

(Appendix 12)
a determination step of determining whether or not it is possible to respond to an utterance from the conversation partner;
an utterance step of uttering a response sentence for connecting to the next topic when it is determined that the response is not possible in the determination step;
A dialogue control method characterized by comprising:

(Appendix 13)
the computer,
Determination means for determining whether or not it is possible to respond to an utterance from the conversation partner;
utterance means for uttering a response sentence for connecting to the next topic when the determination means determines that the response is not possible;
A program to function as

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10... Dialogue control apparatus 20... Control part 221... Determination part 222... Creation part 223... Speech part 224... Time determination part 225... Contents determination part 226... Intention confirmation part 30... Storage part 31 Keyword table 32 Dialogue DB 321 Response DB 322 Introduction DB 323 Topic change DB 324 Confirmation DB 40 Microphone 41 Speaker 42 Camera

Claims (5)

determination means for determining whether or not the utterance from the conversation partner includes a predetermined keyword, and whether or not it is possible to respond to the utterance;
When it is determined by the determining means that a response is possible because the predetermined keyword is included in the utterance, a response sentence using the predetermined keyword is created, while the determining means does not include the predetermined keyword. If it is determined that it is not possible to respond with and if the utterance from the dialogue partner contains an unknown word, a keyword related to the unknown word is used to change the topic to the next topic. a creation means for creating a response sentence of
an utterance means for uttering the response sentence created by the creation means;
A dialog control device comprising: When it is determined by the determining means that a response is not possible because the predetermined keyword is not included, and when an unknown word is included in the utterance from the dialogue partner, the creating means relates to the unknown word. 2. The dialog control device according to claim 1, wherein the response sentence for changing the topic is created using a keyword for changing the topic and a template for changing the topic. When the determining means determines that the response is not possible because the predetermined keyword is not included and the utterance from the dialogue partner includes an unknown word, the creating means further uses a prefix database. 3. The dialog control device according to claim 1, wherein a response sentence for connecting to the next topic is created by using the command. A dialog control method performed by a dialog control device,
a determination step of determining whether or not it is possible to respond to the utterance based on whether or not the utterance from the dialogue partner includes a predetermined keyword;
If it is determined in the determination step that the utterance includes the predetermined keyword and the response is possible, a response sentence using the predetermined keyword is created, while the determination step includes the predetermined keyword. If it is determined that it is not possible to respond because there is no response, and if an unknown word is included in the utterance from the dialogue partner, a keyword related to the unknown word is used to change the topic to the next topic. a creation step of creating a response sentence for conversion;
an utterance step of uttering the response sentence created in the creation step;
A dialog control method, comprising: the computer of the dialogue controller,
Determination means for determining whether or not it is possible to respond to the utterance based on whether or not the utterance from the conversation partner includes a predetermined keyword;
When it is determined by the determining means that a response is possible because the predetermined keyword is included in the utterance, a response sentence using the predetermined keyword is created, while the determining means does not include the predetermined keyword. If it is determined that it is not possible to respond with and if the utterance from the dialogue partner contains an unknown word, a keyword related to the unknown word is used to change the topic to the next topic. creation means for creating a response sentence for
utterance means for uttering the response sentence created by the creation means;
A program characterized by functioning as

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