CN115083416A

CN115083416A - Continuous dialogue with digital assistant

Info

Publication number: CN115083416A
Application number: CN202210177263.4A
Authority: CN
Inventors: G·L·韦恩博格; H·J·赛德勒
Original assignee: Apple Inc
Current assignee: Apple Inc
Priority date: 2021-03-11
Filing date: 2022-02-23
Publication date: 2022-09-20
Also published as: CN115083415A

Abstract

The invention is directed to a continuous dialog with a digital assistant. The present invention provides systems and processes for operating an intelligent automated assistant. For example, a first speech input directed to a digital assistant is received from a user. A first response is provided based on the first speech input. A conversation window is initiated, wherein the conversation window is associated with a variable speech threshold. A second speech input is received during the conversation window. In accordance with a determination that the second speech input includes speech directed to the digital assistant, a duration associated with the conversation window is increased. In accordance with a determination that the variable speech threshold does not exceed the predetermined speech threshold, the conversation window is ended.

Description

Continuous dialogue with digital assistant

This application is a divisional application of the invention patent application entitled "continuous dialogue with digital assistant" filed on 2022, 23/2, application No. 202210164797.3.

Technical Field

The present invention relates generally to intelligent automated assistants, and more particularly to a system for continuous dialog with a digital assistant.

Background

Intelligent automated assistants (or digital assistants) may provide an advantageous interface between a human user and an electronic device. Such assistants can allow a user to interact with a device or system in speech and/or text form using natural language. For example, a user may provide a voice input containing a user request to a digital assistant that is running on an electronic device. The digital assistant can interpret the user intent from the speech input and manipulate the user intent into a task. These tasks may then be performed by executing one or more services of the electronic device, and relevant output responsive to the user request may be returned to the user.

When a user interacts with the device, various queries and responses may be exchanged between the user and the digital assistant. When the interaction is similar to an interaction between two or more humans, the flow of interactions between the user and the digital assistant may further enhance the user experience. However, conventional digital assistant systems typically do not include the ability to facilitate robust interaction between a user and the digital assistant. For example, conventional systems may have to require a "trigger" or other input prior to a user request in order to submit such a request to the digital assistant. These systems also do not allow a user to dynamically interrupt or correct the digital assistant, if desired. Accordingly, improved digital assistant systems with continuous dialog capabilities are desired.

Disclosure of Invention

The present invention provides systems and processes for operating an intelligent automated assistant. For example, a first speech input directed to a digital assistant is received from a user. A first response is provided based on the first speech input. A conversation window is initiated, wherein the conversation window is associated with a variable speech threshold. A second speech input is received during the conversation window. In accordance with a determination that the second speech input includes speech directed to the digital assistant, a duration associated with the conversation window is increased. In accordance with a determination that the variable speech threshold does not exceed the predetermined speech threshold, the conversation window is ended.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a system and environment for implementing a digital assistant in accordance with various examples.

Fig. 2A is a block diagram illustrating a portable multifunction device implementing a client-side portion of a digital assistant, in accordance with various examples.

Fig. 2B is a block diagram illustrating exemplary components for event processing according to various examples.

Fig. 3 illustrates a portable multifunction device implementing a client-side portion of a digital assistant, in accordance with various examples.

Fig. 4 is a block diagram of an exemplary multifunction device with a display and a touch-sensitive surface in accordance with various examples.

Fig. 5A illustrates an exemplary user interface of a menu of applications on a portable multifunction device according to various examples.

Fig. 5B illustrates an exemplary user interface of a multifunction device with a touch-sensitive surface separate from a display, in accordance with various examples.

Fig. 6A illustrates a personal electronic device, according to various examples.

Fig. 6B is a block diagram illustrating a personal electronic device, according to various examples.

Fig. 7A is a block diagram illustrating a digital assistant system or server portion thereof according to various examples.

Fig. 7B illustrates functionality of the digital assistant illustrated in fig. 7A according to various examples.

Fig. 7C illustrates a portion of an ontology according to various examples.

Fig. 8 illustrates a process for continuous conversation with a digital assistant, in accordance with various examples.

Fig. 9 illustrates a process for continuous conversation with a digital assistant, in accordance with various examples.

Fig. 10A-10B illustrate a process for continuous conversation with a digital assistant, in accordance with various examples.

Fig. 11 illustrates a process for continuous conversation with a digital assistant, in accordance with various examples.

Fig. 12 illustrates a process for locking on-screen digital assistant interactions, according to various examples.

Fig. 13 illustrates a process for continuous conversation with a digital assistant, in accordance with various examples.

Fig. 14A-14B illustrate a process for continuous conversation with a digital assistant, according to various examples.

Fig. 15A-15B illustrate a process for continuous conversation with a digital assistant, according to various examples.

Fig. 16 illustrates a process for continuous conversation with a digital assistant, in accordance with various examples.

Detailed Description

In the following description of the examples, reference is made to the accompanying drawings in which are shown, by way of illustration, specific examples that may be implemented. It is to be understood that other examples may be used and structural changes may be made without departing from the scope of the various examples.

Conventional techniques for continuous digital assistant interaction often lack effectiveness. In particular, conventional systems typically require one or more trigger inputs in order to begin a digital assistant session. Such trigger inputs may be required if the user wishes to engage in subsequent or additional interactions, resulting in cumbersome and repetitive exchanges between the user and the device. For example, the user may provide a trigger input, such as a verbal trigger or a button press. The user may then provide a voice input that includes the user request. If the response provided by the digital assistant is unsatisfactory or the user otherwise wishes to continue the conversation, a trigger input is typically required for the continuation of the conversation (e.g., submitting a further query and receiving a response). Thus, these conventional systems do not provide an effective and seamless means by which a user can interact with the device.

Although the following description uses the terms "first," "second," etc. to describe various elements, these elements should not be limited by the terms. These terms are only used to distinguish one element from another. For example, a first input may be referred to as a second input, and similarly, a second input may be referred to as a first input, without departing from the scope of the various described examples. The first input and the second input are both inputs, and in some cases are separate and distinct inputs.

The terminology used in the description of the various described examples herein is for the purpose of describing particular examples only and is not intended to be limiting. As used in the description of the various described examples and the appended claims, the singular forms "a," "an," and "the" are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will also be understood that the term "and/or" as used herein refers to and encompasses any and all possible combinations of one or more of the associated listed items. It will be further understood that the terms "comprises," "comprising," "includes," and/or "including," when used in this specification, specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof.

Depending on the context, the term "if" may be interpreted to mean "when …" ("where" or "upon") or "in response to a determination" or "in response to a detection". Similarly, depending on the context, the phrase "if it is determined …" or "if [ the stated condition or event ] is detected" may be interpreted to mean "upon determining …" or "in response to determining …" or "upon detecting [ the stated condition or event ] or" in response to detecting [ the stated condition or event ] ".

1. System and environment

Fig. 1 illustrates a block diagram of a system 100 according to various examples. In some examples, system 100 implements a digital assistant. The terms "digital assistant," "virtual assistant," "intelligent automated assistant," or "automatic digital assistant" refer to any information processing system that interprets natural language input in spoken and/or textual form to infer user intent and perform actions based on the inferred user intent. For example, to act on the inferred user intent, the system performs one or more of the following steps: identifying a task flow having steps and parameters designed to implement the inferred user intent, entering specific requirements into the task flow according to the inferred user intent; executing the task flow by calling a program, a method, a service, an API, etc.; and generating an output response to the user in audible (e.g., voice) and/or visual form.

In particular, the digital assistant is capable of accepting user requests in the form of, at least in part, natural language commands, requests, statements, narratives and/or inquiries. Typically, a user requests to seek an informational answer or perform a task for a digital assistant. Satisfactory responses to user requests include providing requested informational answers, performing requested tasks, or a combination of both. For example, a user presents questions to the digital assistant, such as "where do i now? ". Based on the user's current location, the digital assistant answers "you are near the central park siemens. "the user also requests to perform a task, such as" please invite my friends to join my girlfriend's birthday party the next week. In response, the digital assistant can acknowledge the request by speaking "good, now" and then send an appropriate calendar invitation on behalf of the user to each of the user's friends listed in the user's electronic address book. During the performance of a requested task, the digital assistant sometimes interacts with the user over a long period of time in a continuous conversation involving multiple exchanges of information. Many other methods exist for interacting with a digital assistant to request information or perform various tasks. In addition to providing verbal responses and taking programmed actions, the digital assistant also provides responses in other visual or audio forms, e.g., as text, alerts, music, video, animation, etc.

As shown in fig. 1, in some examples, the digital assistant is implemented according to a client-server model. The digital assistant includes a client-side portion 102 (hereinafter "DA client 102") executing on a user device 104 and a server-side portion 106 (hereinafter "DA server 106") executing on a server system 108. The DA client 102 communicates with the DA server 106 over one or more networks 110. The DA client 102 provides client-side functionality, such as user-oriented input and output processing, as well as communicating with the DA server 106. DA server 106 provides server-side functionality for any number of DA clients 102, each located on a respective user device 104.

In some examples, DA server 106 includes a client-facing I/O interface 112, one or more processing modules 114, data and models 116, and an I/O interface 118 to external services. The client-facing I/O interface 112 facilitates client-facing input and output processing of the DA server 106. The one or more processing modules 114 utilize the data and models 116 to process the speech input and determine a user intent based on the natural language input. Further, the one or more processing modules 114 perform task execution based on the inferred user intent. In some examples, DA server 106 communicates with external services 120 over one or more networks 110 to complete tasks or collect information. I/O interface 118 to external services facilitates such communication.

The user device 104 may be any suitable electronic device. In some examples, user device 104 is a portable multifunction device (e.g., device 200 described below with reference to fig. 2A), a multifunction device (e.g., a mobile phone, and a mobile phone, and a mobile phoneSuch as device 400 described below with reference to fig. 4) or a personal electronic device (e.g., device 600 described below with reference to fig. 6A-6B). A portable multifunction device is for example a mobile phone that also contains other functions such as PDA and/or music player functions. Specific examples of portable multifunction devices include Apple from Apple Inc

iPod

And

and (4) equipment. Other examples of portable multifunction devices include, but are not limited to, ear/head phones, speakers, and laptop or tablet computers. Further, in some examples, user device 104 is a non-portable multifunction device. In particular, the user device 104 is a desktop computer, a game console, a speaker, a television, or a television set-top box. In some examples, the user device 104 includes a touch-sensitive surface (e.g., a touchscreen display and/or a trackpad). Further, the user device 104 optionally includes one or more other physical user interface devices, such as a physical keyboard, mouse, and/or joystick. Various examples of electronic devices, such as multifunction devices, are described in more detail below.

Examples of one or more communication networks 110 include a Local Area Network (LAN) and a Wide Area Network (WAN), such as the internet. The one or more communication networks 110 are implemented using any known network protocol, including various wired or wireless protocols such as Ethernet, Universal Serial Bus (USB), FIREWIRE, Global System for Mobile communications (GSM), Enhanced Data GSM Environment (EDGE), Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA), Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, Voice over Internet protocol (VoIP), Wi-MAX, or any other suitable communication protocol.

The server system 108 is implemented on one or more stand-alone data processing devices or a distributed computer network. In some examples, the server system 108 also employs various virtual devices and/or services of third party service providers (e.g., third party cloud service providers) to provide potential computing resources and/or infrastructure resources of the server system 108.

In some examples, user device 104 communicates with DA server 106 via second user device 122. The second user device 122 is similar or identical to the user device 104. For example, the second user equipment 122 is similar to the

apparatus

200, 400 or 600 described below with reference to fig. 2A, 4 and 6A-6B. The user device 104 is configured to be communicatively coupled to the second user device 122 via a direct communication connection (such as bluetooth, NFC, BTLE, etc.) or via a wired or wireless network (such as a local area Wi-Fi network). In some examples, second user device 122 is configured to act as a proxy between user device 104 and DA server 106. For example, DA client 102 of user device 104 is configured to transmit information (e.g., a user request received at user device 104) to DA server 106 via second user device 122. DA server 106 processes the information and returns relevant data (e.g., data content in response to the user request) to user device 104 via second user device 122.

In some examples, the user device 104 is configured to send an abbreviated request for data to the second user device 122 to reduce the amount of information transmitted from the user device 104. Second user device 122 is configured to determine supplemental information to add to the abbreviated request to generate a complete request for transmission to DA server 106. The system architecture may advantageously allow a user device 104 (e.g., a watch or similar compact electronic device) with limited communication capabilities and/or limited battery power to access services provided by DA server 106 by using a second user device 122 (e.g., a mobile phone, laptop, tablet, etc.) with greater communication capabilities and/or battery power as a proxy to DA server 106. Although only two

user devices

104 and 122 are shown in fig. 1, it should be understood that in some examples, system 100 may include any number and type of user devices configured to communicate with DA server system 106 in this proxy configuration.

While the digital assistant shown in fig. 1 includes both a client-side portion (e.g., DA client 102) and a server-side portion (e.g., DA server 106), in some examples, the functionality of the digital assistant is implemented as a standalone application that is installed on a user device. Moreover, the division of functionality between the client portion and the server portion of the digital assistant may vary in different implementations. For example, in some examples, the DA client is a thin client that provides only user-oriented input and output processing functions and delegates all other functions of the digital assistant to a backend server.

2. Electronic device

Attention is now directed to embodiments of an electronic device for implementing a client-side portion of a digital assistant. FIG. 2A is a block diagram illustrating a portable multifunction device 200 with a touch-sensitive display system 212 in accordance with some embodiments. The touch sensitive display 212 is sometimes referred to as a "touch screen" for convenience, and is sometimes referred to or called a "touch sensitive display system". Device 200 includes memory 202 (which optionally includes one or more computer-readable storage media), memory controller 222, one or more processing units (CPUs) 220, peripherals interface 218, RF circuitry 208, audio circuitry 210, speaker 211, microphone 213, input/output (I/O) subsystem 206, other input control devices 216, and external ports 224. The device 200 optionally includes one or more optical sensors 264. Device 200 optionally includes one or more contact intensity sensors 265 for detecting the intensity of contacts on device 200 (e.g., a touch-sensitive surface of device 200 such as touch-sensitive display system 212). Device 200 optionally includes one or more tactile output generators 267 for generating tactile outputs on device 200 (e.g., on a touch-sensitive surface such as touch-sensitive display system 212 of device 200 or trackpad 455 of device 400). These components optionally communicate over one or more communication buses or signal lines 203.

As used in this specification and claims, the term "intensity" of a contact on a touch-sensitive surface refers to the force or pressure (force per unit area) of a contact (e.g., a finger contact) on the touch-sensitive surface, or to a substitute (surrogate) for the force or pressure of a contact on the touch-sensitive surface. The intensity of the contact has a range of values that includes at least four different values and more typically includes hundreds of different values (e.g., at least 256). The intensity of the contact is optionally determined (or measured) using various methods and various sensors or combinations of sensors. For example, one or more force sensors below or adjacent to the touch-sensitive surface are optionally used to measure forces at different points on the touch-sensitive surface. In some implementations, force measurements from multiple force sensors are combined (e.g., a weighted average) to determine the estimated contact force. Similarly, the pressure sensitive tip of the stylus is optionally used to determine the pressure of the stylus on the touch-sensitive surface. Alternatively, the size of the contact area detected on the touch-sensitive surface and/or changes thereof, the capacitance of the touch-sensitive surface in the vicinity of the contact and/or changes thereof and/or the resistance of the touch-sensitive surface in the vicinity of the contact and/or changes thereof are optionally used as a substitute for the force or pressure of the contact on the touch-sensitive surface. In some implementations, the surrogate measurement of contact force or pressure is used directly to determine whether an intensity threshold has been exceeded (e.g., the intensity threshold is described in units corresponding to the surrogate measurement). In some implementations, the surrogate measurement of contact force or pressure is converted into an estimated force or pressure, and the estimated force or pressure is used to determine whether an intensity threshold has been exceeded (e.g., the intensity threshold is a pressure threshold measured in units of pressure). The intensity of the contact is used as a property of the user input, allowing the user to access additional device functionality that is otherwise inaccessible to the user on smaller-sized devices with limited real estate for displaying affordances (e.g., on a touch-sensitive display) and/or receiving user input (e.g., via a touch-sensitive display, a touch-sensitive surface, or physical/mechanical controls, such as knobs or buttons).

As used in this specification and claims, the term "haptic output" refers to a physical displacement of a device relative to a previous position of the device, a physical displacement of a component of the device (e.g., a touch-sensitive surface) relative to another component of the device (e.g., a housing), or a displacement of a component relative to a center of mass of the device that is to be detected by a user with the user's sense of touch. For example, where the device or component of the device is in contact with a surface of the user that is sensitive to touch (e.g., a finger, palm, or other portion of the user's hand), the tactile output generated by the physical displacement will be interpreted by the user as a tactile sensation corresponding to a perceived change in a physical characteristic of the device or component of the device. For example, movement of the touch-sensitive surface (e.g., a touch-sensitive display or trackpad) is optionally interpreted by the user as a "down click" or "up click" of a physical actuation button. In some cases, the user will feel a tactile sensation, such as a "press click" or an "up click," even when the physical actuation button associated with the touch-sensitive surface that is physically pressed (e.g., displaced) by the user's movement is not moving. As another example, even when there is no change in the smoothness of the touch sensitive surface, the movement of the touch sensitive surface is optionally interpreted or sensed by the user as "roughness" of the touch sensitive surface. While such interpretation of touch by a user will be limited by the user's individualized sensory perception, many sensory perceptions of touch are common to most users. Thus, when a haptic output is described as corresponding to a particular sensory perception of a user (e.g., "click-down," "click-up," "roughness"), unless otherwise stated, the generated haptic output corresponds to a physical displacement of the device or a component thereof that would generate the sensory perception of a typical (or ordinary) user.

It should be understood that device 200 is only one example of a portable multifunction device, and that device 200 optionally has more or fewer components than shown, optionally combines two or more components, or optionally has a different configuration or arrangement of these components. The various components shown in fig. 2A are implemented in hardware, software, or a combination of both hardware and software, including one or more signal processing and/or application specific integrated circuits.

Memory 202 includes one or more computer-readable storage media. These computer-readable storage media are, for example, tangible and non-transitory. The memory 202 comprises high-speed random access memory and also includes non-volatile memory, such as one or more magnetic disk storage devices, flash memory devices, or other non-volatile solid-state memory devices. Memory controller 222 controls access to memory 202 by other components of device 200.

In some examples, the non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of memory 202 is used to store instructions (e.g., for performing aspects of the processes described below) for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device, such as a computer-based system, processor-containing system, or other system that can fetch the instructions from the instruction execution system, apparatus, or device and execute the instructions. In other examples, the instructions (e.g., for performing aspects of the processes described below) are stored on a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium (not shown) of the server system 108, or divided between the non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of the memory 202 and the non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of the server system 108.

Peripheral interface 218 is used to couple the input and output peripherals of the device to CPU 220 and memory 202. The one or more processors 220 execute or execute various software programs and/or sets of instructions stored in the memory 202 to perform various functions of the device 200 and to process data. In some embodiments, peripherals interface 218, CPU 220, and memory controller 222 are implemented on a single chip, such as chip 204. In some other embodiments, they are implemented on separate chips.

RF (radio frequency) circuitry 208 receives and transmits RF signals, also referred to as electromagnetic signals. The RF circuitry 208 converts electrical signals to/from electromagnetic signals and communicates with communication networks and other communication devices via electromagnetic signals. RF circuitry 208 optionally includes well-known circuitry for performing these functions, including but not limited to an antenna system, an RF transceiver, one or more amplifiers, a tuner, one or more oscillators, a digital signal processor, a codec chipset, a Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) card, memory, and so forth. The RF circuitry 208 optionally communicates with networks such as the internet, also known as the World Wide Web (WWW), intranets, and/or wireless networks such as cellular telephone networks, wireless Local Area Networks (LANs), and/or Metropolitan Area Networks (MANs), and other devices via wireless communications. The RF circuitry 208 optionally includes well-known circuitry for detecting Near Field Communication (NFC) fields, such as by a short-range communication radio. The wireless communication optionally uses any of a number of communication standards, protocols, and technologies, including, but not limited to, Global System for Mobile communications (GSM), Enhanced Data GSM Environment (EDGE), High Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA), High Speed Uplink Packet Access (HSUPA), evolution, data-only (EV-DO), HSPA +, Dual-cell HSPA (DC-HSPDA), Long Term Evolution (LTE), Near Field Communication (NFC), wideband code division multiple Access (W-CDMA), Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA), Bluetooth Low Power consumption (BTLE), Wireless Fidelity (Wi-Fi) (e.g., IEEE802.11 a, IEEE802.11 b, IEEE802.11g, IEEE802.11 n, and/or IEEE802.11 ac), Voice over Internet protocol (VoIP), Wi-MAX, email protocols (e.g., Internet Message Access Protocol (IMAP), and/or Post Office Protocol (POP)) Instant messaging (e.g., extensible messaging and presence protocol (XMPP), session initiation protocol with extensions for instant messaging and presence (SIMPLE), Instant Messaging and Presence Service (IMPS)), and/or Short Message Service (SMS), or any other suitable communication protocol, including communication protocols not yet developed at the filing date of this document.

Audio circuitry 210, speaker 211, and microphone 213 provide an audio interface between a user and device 200. The audio circuit 210 receives audio data from the peripherals interface 218, converts the audio data into an electrical signal, and transmits the electrical signal to the speaker 211. The speaker 211 converts the electrical signals into sound waves audible to a human. The audio circuit 210 also receives electrical signals converted from sound waves by the microphone 213. The audio circuit 210 converts the electrical signals to audio data and transmits the audio data to the peripheral interface 218 for processing. Audio data is retrieved from and/or transmitted to the memory 202 and/or RF circuitry 208 through the peripherals interface 218. In some embodiments, the audio circuit 210 also includes a headset jack (e.g., 312 in fig. 3). The headset jack provides an interface between the audio circuitry 210 and a removable audio input/output peripheral such as an output-only headset or a headset having both an output (e.g., a monaural headset or a binaural headset) and an input (e.g., a microphone).

The I/O subsystem 206 couples input/output peripheral devices on the device 200, such as the touch screen 212 and other input control devices 216, to a peripheral interface 218. The I/O subsystem 206 optionally includes a display controller 256, an optical sensor controller 258, an intensity sensor controller 259, a haptic feedback controller 261, and one or more input controllers 260 for other input or control devices. One or more input controllers 260 receive/transmit electrical signals from/to other input control devices 216. Other input control devices 216 optionally include physical buttons (e.g., push buttons, rocker buttons, etc.), dials, slide switches, joysticks, click wheels, and the like. In some alternative embodiments, input controller 260 is optionally coupled to (or not coupled to) any of: a keyboard, an infrared port, a USB port, and a pointing device such as a mouse. The one or more buttons (e.g., 308 in fig. 3) optionally include an up/down button for volume control of the speaker 211 and/or microphone 213. The one or more buttons optionally include a push button (e.g., 306 in fig. 3).

A quick push of the push button disengages the lock on the touch screen 212 or begins the process of Unlocking the Device using a gesture on the touch screen, as described in U.S. patent application No. 7657849 entitled "Unlocking a Device by Performance measures on an Unlock Image," filed on 23.12.2005, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety. Pressing the push button (e.g., 306) longer turns the device 200 on or off. The user can customize the functionality of one or more buttons. The touch screen 212 is used to implement virtual or soft buttons and one or more soft keyboards.

The touch sensitive display 212 provides an input interface and an output interface between the device and the user. The display controller 256 receives electrical signals from the touch screen 212 and/or transmits electrical signals to the touch screen 212. Touch screen 212 displays visual output to the user. Visual output includes graphics, text, icons, video, and any combination thereof (collectively "graphics"). In some embodiments, some or all of the visual output corresponds to a user interface object.

Touch screen 212 has a touch-sensitive surface, sensor, or group of sensors that accept input from a user based on tactile and/or haptic contact. Touch screen 212 and display controller 256 (along with any associated modules and/or sets of instructions in memory 202) detect contact (and any movement or breaking of the contact) on touch screen 212 and convert the detected contact into interaction with user interface objects (e.g., one or more soft keys, icons, web pages, or images) that are displayed on touch screen 212. In an exemplary embodiment, the point of contact between the touch screen 212 and the user corresponds to a finger of the user.

The touch screen 212 uses LCD (liquid crystal display) technology, LPD (light emitting polymer display) technology, or LED (light emitting diode) technology, although other display technologies may be used in other embodiments. Touch screen 212 and display controller 256 detect contact and any movement or breaking thereof using any of a variety of touch sensing technologies now known or later developed, including but not limited to capacitive, resistive, infrared, and surface acoustic wave technologies, as well as other proximity sensor arrays or other elements for determining one or more points of contact with touch screen 212. In an exemplary embodiment, projected mutual capacitance sensing technology is used, such as that available from Apple Inc. (Cupertino, California)

And iPod

The technique used in (1).

In some embodiments, the touch sensitive display of the touch screen 212 is similar to the following U.S. patents: 6,323,846 (western et al), 6,570,557 (western et al) and/or 6,677,932 (western) and/or the multi-touch sensitive touch pad described in U.S. patent publication 2002/0015024a1, which are all hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety. However, touch screen 212 displays visual output from device 200, while a touch sensitive trackpad does not provide visual output.

In some embodiments, the touch sensitive display of touch screen 212 is as described in the following applications: (1) U.S. patent application No. 11/381313 entitled "Multipoint Touch Surface Controller" filed on 2.5.2006; (2) U.S. patent application No.10/840,862 entitled "Multipoint touch screen" filed on 6.5.2004; (3) U.S. patent application No.10/903,964 entitled "Gestures For Touch Sensitive Input Devices" filed on 30.7.2004; (4) U.S. patent application No.11/048,264 entitled "Gestures For Touch Sensitive Input Devices" filed on 31.1.2005; (5) U.S. patent application No.11/038,590 entitled "model-Based Graphical User Interfaces For Touch Sensitive Input Devices" filed on 18.1.2005; (6) U.S. patent application No.11/228,758 entitled "Virtual Input Device plan On A Touch Screen User Interface" filed On 16.9.2005; (7) U.S. patent application No.11/228,700 entitled "Operation Of A Computer With A Touch Screen Interface," filed on 16.9.2005; (8) U.S. patent application No.11/228,737 entitled "Activating Virtual Keys Of A Touch-Screen Virtual Keys" filed on 16.9.2005; and (9) U.S. patent application No.11/367,749 entitled "Multi-Functional Hand-Held Device" filed 3/2006. All of these applications are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.

The touch screen 212 has, for example, a video resolution of over 100 dpi. In some embodiments, the touch screen has a video resolution of about 160 dpi. The user makes contact with the touch screen 212 using any suitable object or appendage, such as a stylus, finger, or the like. In some embodiments, the user interface is designed to work primarily with finger-based contacts and gestures, which may not be as accurate as stylus-based input due to the large contact area of a finger on the touch screen. In some embodiments, the device translates the rough finger-based input into a precise pointer/cursor position or command for performing the action desired by the user.

In some embodiments, in addition to a touch screen, device 200 includes a touch pad (not shown) for activating or deactivating particular functions. In some embodiments, the trackpad is a touch-sensitive area of the device that, unlike a touchscreen, does not display visual output. The trackpad is a touch-sensitive surface separate from the touch screen 212 or an extension of the touch-sensitive surface formed by the touch screen.

The device 200 also includes a power system 262 for powering the various components. Power system 262 includes a power management system, one or more power sources (e.g., battery, Alternating Current (AC)), a recharging system, a power failure detection circuit, a power converter or inverter, a power status indicator (e.g., a Light Emitting Diode (LED)), and any other components associated with the generation, management, and distribution of power in a portable device.

The device 200 also includes one or more optical sensors 264. Fig. 2A shows an optical sensor coupled to optical sensor controller 258 in I/O subsystem 206. The optical sensor 264 includes a Charge Coupled Device (CCD) or a Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor (CMOS) phototransistor. The optical sensor 264 receives light projected through one or more lenses from the environment and converts the light into data representing an image. In conjunction with the imaging module 243 (also called a camera module), the optical sensor 264 captures still images or video. In some embodiments, the optical sensor is located at the rear of the device 200, opposite the touch screen display 212 at the front of the device, such that the touch screen display is used as a viewfinder for still and/or video image acquisition. In some embodiments, the optical sensor is located in the front of the device so that images of the user are acquired for the video conference while the user views other video conference participants on the touch screen display. In some implementations, the position of the optical sensor 264 can be changed by the user (e.g., by rotating a lens and sensor in the device housing) such that a single optical sensor 264 is used with a touch screen display for both video conferencing and still image and/or video image capture.

Device 200 optionally further comprises one or more contact intensity sensors 265. FIG. 2A shows a contact intensity sensor coupled to intensity sensor controller 259 in I/O subsystem 206. Contact intensity sensor 265 optionally includes one or more piezoresistive strain gauges, capacitive force sensors, electrical force sensors, piezoelectric force sensors, optical force sensors, capacitive touch-sensitive surfaces, or other intensity sensors (e.g., sensors for measuring the force (or pressure) of a contact on a touch-sensitive surface). Contact intensity sensor 265 receives contact intensity information (e.g., pressure information or a surrogate for pressure information) from the environment. In some embodiments, at least one contact intensity sensor is juxtaposed or adjacent to the touch-sensitive surface (e.g., touch-sensitive display system 212). In some embodiments, at least one contact intensity sensor is located on the back of device 200, opposite touch screen display 212, which is located on the front of device 200.

The device 200 also includes one or more proximity sensors 266. Fig. 2A shows a proximity sensor 266 coupled to the peripheral interface 218. Alternatively, the proximity sensor 266 is coupled to the input controller 260 in the I/O subsystem 206. The proximity sensor 266 performs as described in the following U.S. patent applications: 11/241839, entitled "Proximant Detector In Handfeld Device"; no.11/240,788, entitled "Proximaty Detector In Handheld Device"; no.11/620,702, entitled "Using Ambient Light Sensor To increment Proximity Sensor Output"; no.11/586,862, entitled "Automated Response To And Sensing Of User Activity In Portable Devices"; and U.S. patent application No.11/638,251, entitled Methods And Systems For Automatic Configuration Of Peripherals, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety. In some embodiments, the proximity sensor turns off and disables the touch screen 212 when the multifunction device is placed near the user's ear (e.g., when the user is making a phone call).

Device 200 optionally further comprises one or more tactile output generators 267. Fig. 2A shows a tactile output generator coupled to a tactile feedback controller 261 in the I/O subsystem 206. Tactile output generator 267 optionally includes one or more electro-acoustic devices such as speakers or other audio components; and/or an electromechanical device such as a motor, solenoid, electroactive aggregator, piezoelectric actuator, electrostatic actuator, or other tactile output generating component for converting energy into linear motion (e.g., a component for converting an electrical signal into a tactile output on the device). Contact intensity sensor 265 receives haptic feedback generation instructions from haptic feedback module 233 and generates haptic output on device 200 that can be felt by a user of device 200. In some embodiments, at least one tactile output generator is juxtaposed or adjacent to a touch-sensitive surface (e.g., touch-sensitive display system 212), and optionally generates tactile output by moving the touch-sensitive surface vertically (e.g., into/out of the surface of device 200) or laterally (e.g., back and forth in the same plane as the surface of device 200). In some embodiments, at least one tactile output generator sensor is located on the back of device 200, opposite touch screen display 212, which is located on the front of device 200.

The device 200 also includes one or more accelerometers 268. Fig. 2A shows accelerometer 268 coupled to peripherals interface 218. Alternatively, accelerometer 268 is coupled to input controller 260 in I/O subsystem 206. Accelerometer 268 performs as described in the following U.S. patent publications: U.S. patent publication No. 20050190059, "accumulation-Based Detection System For Portable Electronic Devices" And U.S. patent publication No. 20060017692, "Methods And applications For Operating A Portable Device Based On An Accelerometer," both of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety. In some embodiments, information is displayed in a portrait view or a landscape view on the touch screen display based on analysis of data received from one or more accelerometers. Device 200 optionally includes a magnetometer (not shown) and a GPS (or GLONASS or other global navigation system) receiver (not shown) in addition to the one or more accelerometers 268 for obtaining information about the position and orientation (e.g., portrait or landscape) of device 200.

In some embodiments, the software components stored in memory 202 include an operating system 226, a communication module (or set of instructions) 228, a contact/motion module (or set of instructions) 230, a graphics module (or set of instructions) 232, a text input module (or set of instructions) 234, a Global Positioning System (GPS) module (or set of instructions) 235, a digital assistant client module 229, and an application program (or set of instructions) 236. In addition, memory 202 stores data and models, such as user data and models 231. Further, in some embodiments, memory 202 (fig. 2A) or 470 (fig. 4) stores device/global internal state 257, as shown in fig. 2A and 4. Device/global internal state 257 includes one or more of: an active application state indicating which applications (if any) are currently active; a display state indicating what applications, views, or other information occupy various areas of the touch screen display 212; sensor status, including information obtained from the various sensors of the device and the input control device 216; and location information regarding the location and/or pose of the device.

The operating system 226 (e.g., Darwin, RTXC, LINUX, UNIX, OS X, iOS, WINDOWS, or embedded operating systems such as VxWorks) includes various software components and/or drivers for controlling and managing general system tasks (e.g., memory management, storage device control, power management, etc.) and facilitates communication between various hardware and software components.

The communication module 228 facilitates communication with other devices via the one or more external ports 224 and also includes various software components for processing data received by the RF circuitry 208 and/or the external ports 224. External port 224 (e.g., Universal Serial Bus (USB), firewire, etc.) is adapted to couple directly to other devices or indirectly through a network (e.g., the internet, wireless LAN, etc.). In some embodiments, the external port is an external port

(trademark of Apple inc.) the 30-pin connectors used on devices are the same or similar and/or compatible multi-pin (e.g., 30-pin) connectors.

The contact/motion module 230 optionally detects contact with the touch screen 212 (in conjunction with the display controller 256) and other touch sensitive devices (e.g., a trackpad or a physical click wheel). The contact/motion module 230 includes various software components for performing various operations related to contact detection, such as determining whether contact has occurred (e.g., detecting a finger-down event), determining contact intensity (e.g., force or pressure of contact, or a substitute for force or pressure of contact), determining whether there is movement of contact and tracking movement across the touch-sensitive surface (e.g., detecting one or more finger-dragging events), and determining whether contact has ceased (e.g., detecting a finger-up event or a break in contact). The contact/motion module 230 receives contact data from the touch-sensitive surface. Determining movement of the point of contact optionally includes determining velocity (magnitude), velocity (magnitude and direction), and/or acceleration (change in magnitude and/or direction) of the point of contact, the movement of the point of contact being represented by a series of contact data. These operations are optionally applied to single point contacts (e.g., single finger contacts) or multiple point simultaneous contacts (e.g., "multi-touch"/multiple finger contacts). In some embodiments, the contact/motion module 230 and the display controller 256 detect contact on a touch pad.

In some embodiments, the contact/motion module 230 uses a set of one or more intensity thresholds to determine whether an operation has been performed by the user (e.g., determine whether the user has "clicked" on an icon). In some embodiments, at least a subset of the intensity thresholds are determined as a function of software parameters (e.g., the intensity thresholds are not determined by the activation thresholds of particular physical actuators and may be adjusted without changing the physical hardware of device 200). For example, the mouse "click" threshold of the trackpad or touchscreen can be set to any one of a wide range of predefined thresholds without changing the trackpad or touchscreen display hardware. Additionally, in some implementations, a user of the device is provided with software settings for adjusting one or more intensity thresholds of a set of intensity thresholds (e.g., by adjusting individual intensity thresholds and/or by adjusting multiple intensity thresholds at once with a system-level click on an "intensity" parameter).

The contact/motion module 230 optionally detects gesture input by the user. Different gestures on the touch-sensitive surface have different contact patterns (e.g., different motions, timings, and/or intensities of detected contacts). Thus, the gesture is optionally detected by detecting a particular contact pattern. For example, detecting a finger tap gesture includes detecting a finger-down event, and then detecting a finger-up (lift-off) event at the same location (or substantially the same location) as the finger-down event (e.g., at the location of the icon). As another example, detecting a finger swipe gesture on the touch-sensitive surface includes detecting a finger-down event, then detecting one or more finger-dragging events, and then subsequently detecting a finger-up (lift-off) event.

Graphics module 232 includes various known software components for rendering and displaying graphics on touch screen 212 or other display, including components for changing the visual impact (e.g., brightness, transparency, saturation, contrast, or other visual characteristics) of displayed graphics. As used herein, the term "graphic" includes any object that may be displayed to a user, including without limitation text, web pages, icons (such as user interface objects including soft keys), digital images, videos, animations and the like.

In some embodiments, graphics module 232 stores data representing graphics to be used. Each graphic is optionally assigned a corresponding code. The graphic module 232 receives one or more codes specifying a graphic to be displayed, if necessary together with coordinate data and other graphic attribute data from an application program or the like, and then generates screen image data to output to the display controller 256.

Haptic feedback module 233 includes various software components for generating instructions for use by one or more haptic output generators 267 in producing haptic outputs at one or more locations on device 200 in response to user interaction with device 200.

Text input module 234, which in some examples is a component of graphics module 232, provides a soft keyboard for entering text in various applications (e.g., contacts 237, email 240, IM 241, browser 247, and any other application that requires text input).

The GPS module 235 determines the location of the device and provides this information for use in various applications (e.g., to the phone 238 for use in location-based dialing; to the camera 243 as picture/video metadata; and to applications that provide location-based services, such as weather desktop widgets, local yellow pages desktop widgets, and map/navigation desktop widgets).

The digital assistant client module 229 includes various client side digital assistant instructions to provide client side functionality of the digital assistant. For example, the digital assistant client module 229 can accept acoustic (e.g., voice input), text input, touch input, and/or gesture input through various user interfaces of the portable multifunction device 200 (e.g., the microphone 213, the one or more accelerometers 268, the touch-sensitive display system 212, the one or more optical sensors 264, the other input control device 216, etc.). The digital assistant client module 229 can also provide output in audio form (e.g., speech output), visual form, and/or tactile form through various output interfaces of the portable multifunction device 200 (e.g., the speaker 211, the touch-sensitive display system 212, the one or more tactile output generators 267, etc.). For example, the output may be provided as voice, sound, alarm, text message, menu, graphics, video, animation, vibration, and/or a combination of two or more of the foregoing. During operation, digital assistant client module 229 communicates with DA server 106 using RF circuitry 208.

The user data and model 231 includes various data associated with the user (e.g., user-specific vocabulary data, user preference data, user-specified name pronunciations, data from the user's electronic address book, to-do, shopping lists, etc.) to provide client-side functionality of the digital assistant. Further, the user data and models 231 include various models (e.g., speech recognition models, statistical language models, natural language processing models, ontologies, task flow models, service models, etc.) for processing user input and determining user intent.

In some examples, the digital assistant client module 229 utilizes various sensors, subsystems, and peripherals of the portable multifunction device 200 to gather additional information from the surroundings of the portable multifunction device 200 to establish a context associated with the user, the current user interaction, and/or the current user input. In some examples, the digital assistant client module 229 provides the context information, or a subset thereof, along with the user input to the DA server 106 to help infer the user intent. In some examples, the digital assistant also uses the contextual information to determine how to prepare and communicate the output to the user. The context information is referred to as context data.

In some examples, contextual information accompanying the user input includes sensor information, such as lighting, ambient noise, ambient temperature, images or video of the surrounding environment, and the like. In some examples, the context information may also include physical states of the device, such as device orientation, device location, device temperature, power level, velocity, acceleration, motion pattern, cellular signal strength, and the like. In some examples, information related to the software state of DA server 106, such as the running process of portable multifunction device 200, installed programs, past and current network activities, background services, error logs, resource usage, etc., is provided to DA server 106 as contextual information associated with the user input.

In some examples, digital assistant client module 229 selectively provides information (e.g., user data 231) stored on portable multifunction device 200 in response to requests from DA server 106. In some examples, the digital assistant client module 229 also elicits additional input from the user via a natural language dialog or other user interface upon request by the DA server 106. Digital assistant client module 229 communicates this additional input to DA server 106 to assist DA server 106 in intent inference and/or to implement the user intent expressed in the user request.

The digital assistant is described in more detail below with reference to fig. 7A-7C. It should be appreciated that the digital assistant client module 229 may include any number of sub-modules of the digital assistant module 726 described below.

The application programs 236 include the following modules (or sets of instructions), or a subset or superset thereof:

a contacts module 237 (sometimes referred to as a contact list or contact list);

a phone module 238;

a video conferencing module 239;

email client module 240;

an Instant Messaging (IM) module 241;

fitness support module 242;

a camera module 243 for still images and/or video images;

the image management module 244;

a video player module;

a music player module;

a browser module 247;

a calendar module 248;

desktop applet modules 249 that, in some examples, include one or more of the following: a weather desktop applet 249-1, a stock desktop applet 249-2, a calculator desktop applet 249-3, an alarm desktop applet 249-4, a dictionary desktop applet 249-5, other desktop applets acquired by a user, and a user-created desktop applet 249-6;

a desktop applet creator module 250 for forming a user-created desktop applet 249-6;

A search module 251;

a video and music player module 252 that incorporates a video player module and a music player module;

a notepad module 253;

a map module 254; and/or

Online video module 255.

Examples of other application programs 236 stored in memory 202 include other word processing application programs, other image editing application programs, drawing application programs, rendering application programs, JAVA-enabled application programs, encryption, digital rights management, voice recognition, and voice reproduction.

In conjunction with the touch screen 212, the display controller 256, the contact/motion module 230, the graphics module 232, and the text input module 234, the contacts module 237 is used to manage an address book or contact list (e.g., stored in the application internal state 292 of the contacts module 237 in memory 202 or memory 470) including: adding one or more names to the address book; deleting the name from the address book; associating a phone number, email address, physical address, or other information with a name; associating the image with a name; classifying and classifying names; providing a telephone number or email address to initiate and/or facilitate communications through the telephone 238, video conferencing module 239, email 240, or IM 241; and so on.

In conjunction with the RF circuitry 208, the audio circuitry 210, the speaker 211, the microphone 213, the touch screen 212, the display controller 256, the contact/motion module 230, the graphics module 232, and the text input module 234, the phone module 238 is operable to enter a sequence of characters corresponding to a phone number, access one or more phone numbers in the contacts module 237, modify an already entered phone number, dial a corresponding phone number, conduct a conversation, and disconnect or hang up when the conversation is completed. As described above, wireless communication uses any of a variety of communication standards, protocols, and technologies.

In conjunction with the RF circuitry 208, the audio circuitry 210, the speaker 211, the microphone 213, the touch screen 212, the display controller 256, the optical sensor 264, the optical sensor controller 258, the contact/motion module 230, the graphics module 232, the text input module 234, the contacts module 237, and the phone module 238, the video conference module 239 includes executable instructions to initiate, conduct, and terminate video conferences between the user and one or more other participants according to user instructions.

In conjunction with RF circuitry 208, touch screen 212, display controller 256, contact/motion module 230, graphics module 232, and text input module 234, email client module 240 includes executable instructions to create, send, receive, and manage emails in response to user instructions. In conjunction with the image management module 244, the e-mail client module 240 makes it very easy to create and send an e-mail having a still image or a video image photographed by the camera module 243.

In conjunction with the RF circuitry 208, the touch screen 212, the display controller 256, the contact/motion module 230, the graphics module 232, and the text input module 234, the instant message module 241 includes executable instructions for: inputting a sequence of characters corresponding to an instant message, modifying previously input characters, transmitting a corresponding instant message (e.g., using a Short Message Service (SMS) or Multimedia Message Service (MMS) protocol for a phone-based instant message or XMPP, SIMPLE, or IMPS for an internet-based instant message), receiving an instant message, and viewing the received instant message. In some embodiments, the transmitted and/or received instant messages include graphics, photos, audio files, video files, and/or other attachments as supported in MMS and/or Enhanced Messaging Service (EMS). As used herein, "instant message" refers to both telephony-based messages (e.g., messages sent using SMS or MMS) and internet-based messages (e.g., messages sent using XMPP, SIMPLE, or IMPS).

In conjunction with RF circuitry 208, touch screen 212, display controller 256, contact/motion module 230, graphics module 232, text input module 234, GPS module 235, map module 254, and music player module, fitness support module 242 includes executable instructions for: creating fitness (e.g., having time, distance, and/or calorie burning goals); communicating with fitness sensors (sports equipment); receiving fitness sensor data; calibrating a sensor for monitoring fitness; selecting and playing music for fitness; and displaying, storing, and transmitting the workout data.

In conjunction with the touch screen 212, the display controller 256, the one or more optical sensors 264, the optical sensor controller 258, the contact/motion module 230, the graphics module 232, and the image management module 244, the camera module 243 includes executable instructions for: capturing still images or video (including video streams) and storing them in the memory 202, modifying features of the still images or video, or deleting the still images or video from the memory 202.

In conjunction with the touch screen 212, the display controller 256, the contact/motion module 230, the graphics module 232, the text input module 234, and the camera module 243, the image management module 244 includes executable instructions for arranging, modifying (e.g., editing), or otherwise manipulating, labeling, deleting, presenting (e.g., in a digital slide or album), and storing still and/or video images.

In conjunction with RF circuitry 208, touch screen 212, display controller 256, contact/motion module 230, graphics module 232, and text input module 234, browser module 247 includes executable instructions for browsing the internet according to user instructions, including searching, linking to, receiving, and displaying web pages or portions thereof, as well as attachments and other files linked to web pages.

In conjunction with the RF circuitry 208, the touch screen 212, the display controller 256, the contact/motion module 230, the graphics module 232, the text input module 234, the email client module 240, and the browser module 247, the calendar module 248 includes executable instructions to create, display, modify, and store calendars and data associated with calendars (e.g., calendar entries, to-do items, etc.) according to user instructions.

In conjunction with the RF circuitry 208, the touch screen 212, the display controller 256, the contact/motion module 230, the graphics module 232, the text input module 234, and the browser module 247, the desktop applet module 249 is a mini-application (e.g., a weather desktop applet 249-1, a stock desktop applet 249-2, a calculator desktop applet 249-3, an alarm desktop applet 249-4, and a dictionary desktop applet 249-5) or a mini-application created by a user (e.g., a user-created desktop applet 249-6) that may be downloaded and used by the user. In some embodiments, the desktop applet includes an HTML (hypertext markup language) file, a CSS (cascading style sheet) file, and a JavaScript file. In some embodiments, the desktop applet includes an XML (extensible markup language) file and a JavaScript file (e.g., Yahoo! desktop applet).

In conjunction with RF circuitry 208, touch screen 212, display controller 256, contact/motion module 230, graphics module 232, text input module 234, and browser module 247, desktop applet creator module 250 is used by a user to create a desktop applet (e.g., to change a user-specified portion of a web page into a desktop applet).

In conjunction with touch screen 212, display controller 256, contact/motion module 230, graphics module 232, and text input module 234, search module 251 includes executable instructions for searching memory 202 for text, music, sound, images, video, and/or other files that match one or more search criteria (e.g., one or more user-specified search terms) according to user instructions.

In conjunction with the touch screen 212, display controller 256, contact/motion module 230, graphics module 232, audio circuitry 210, speakers 211, RF circuitry 208, and browser module 247, the video and music player module 252 includes executable instructions that allow a user to download and playback recorded music and other sound files stored in one or more file formats, such as MP3 or AAC files, as well as executable instructions for displaying, rendering, or otherwise playing back video (e.g., on the touch screen 212 or on an external display connected via the external port 224). In some embodiments, the device 200 optionally includes the functionality of an MP3 player, such as an iPod (trademark of Apple inc.).

In conjunction with the touch screen 212, the display controller 256, the contact/motion module 230, the graphics module 232, and the text input module 234, the notepad module 253 includes executable instructions to create and manage notepads, backlogs, and the like according to user instructions.

In conjunction with RF circuitry 208, touch screen 212, display controller 256, contact/motion module 230, graphics module 232, text input module 234, GPS module 235, and browser module 247, map module 254 is used to receive, display, modify, and store maps and data associated with maps (e.g., driving directions, data related to stores and other points of interest at or near a particular location, and other location-based data) according to user instructions.

In conjunction with touch screen 212, display controller 256, contact/motion module 230, graphics module 232, audio circuit 210, speaker 211, RF circuit 208, text input module 234, email client module 240, and browser module 247, online video module 255 includes instructions that allow a user to access, browse, receive (e.g., by streaming and/or downloading), playback (e.g., on the touch screen or on a connected external display via external port 224), send emails with links to particular online videos, and otherwise manage online videos in one or more file formats, such as h.264. In some embodiments, the link to a particular online video is sent using instant messaging module 241 instead of email client module 240. Additional description of Online video applications can be found in U.S. provisional patent application No.60/936,562 entitled "Portable Multi function Device, Method, and Graphical User Interface for Playing Online video," filed on.20.2007, and U.S. patent application No.11/968,067 entitled "Portable Multi function Device, Method, and Graphical User Interface for Playing Online video," filed on.31.2007, which are both hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety.

Each of the modules and applications described above corresponds to a set of executable instructions for performing one or more of the functions described above as well as the methods described in this patent application (e.g., the computer-implemented methods and other information processing methods described herein). These modules (e.g., sets of instructions) need not be implemented as separate software programs, procedures or modules, and thus various subsets of these modules may be combined or otherwise rearranged in various embodiments. For example, a video player module may be combined with a music player module into a single module (e.g., video and music player module 252 in fig. 2A). In some embodiments, memory 202 stores a subset of the modules and data structures described above. In addition, memory 202 stores additional modules and data structures not described above.

In some embodiments, device 200 is a device on which the operation of a predefined set of functions is performed exclusively through a touch screen and/or a trackpad. By using a touch screen and/or touch pad as the primary input control device for operation of the device 200, the number of physical input control devices (such as push buttons, dials, etc.) on the device 200 is reduced.

The predefined set of functions performed exclusively through the touchscreen and/or trackpad optionally includes navigation between user interfaces. In some embodiments, the trackpad, when touched by a user, navigates device 200 from any user interface displayed on device 200 to a main, home, or root menu. In such embodiments, a "menu button" is implemented using a touch pad. In some other embodiments, the menu button is a physical push button or other physical input control device, rather than a touch pad.

Fig. 2B is a block diagram illustrating exemplary components for event processing, according to some embodiments. In some embodiments, memory 202 (fig. 2A) or memory 470 (fig. 4) includes event classifier 270 (e.g., in operating system 226) and corresponding application 236-1 (e.g., any of the aforementioned applications 237 through 251, 255, 480 through 490).

The event sorter 270 receives the event information and determines the application 236-1 to which the event information is to be delivered and the application view 291 of the application 236-1. Event sorter 270 includes event monitor 271 and event dispatcher module 274. In some embodiments, the application 236-1 includes an application internal state 292 that indicates one or more current application views that are displayed on the touch-sensitive display 212 when the application is active or executing. In some embodiments, device/global internal state 257 is used by event classifier 270 to determine which application(s) are currently active, and application internal state 292 is used by event classifier 270 to determine the application view 291 to which to deliver event information.

In some embodiments, the application internal state 292 includes additional information, such as one or more of the following: resume information to be used when the application 236-1 resumes execution, user interface state information indicating that information is being displayed or is ready for display by the application 236-1, a state queue for enabling a user to return to a previous state or view of the application 236-1, and a repeat/undo queue of previous actions taken by the user.

The event monitor 271 receives event information from the peripheral interface 218. The event information includes information about a sub-event (e.g., a user touch on the touch-sensitive display 212 as part of a multi-touch gesture). Peripherals interface 218 transmits information it receives from I/O subsystem 206 or sensors such as proximity sensor 266, one or more accelerometers 268, and/or microphone 213 (through audio circuitry 210). Information received by peripheral interface 218 from I/O subsystem 206 includes information from touch-sensitive display 212 or a touch-sensitive surface.

In some embodiments, event monitor 271 sends requests to peripheral interface 218 at predetermined intervals. In response, peripheral interface 218 transmits event information. In other embodiments, peripheral interface 218 transmits event information only when there is a significant event (e.g., receiving input above a predetermined noise threshold and/or receiving input for more than a predetermined duration).

In some embodiments, event classifier 270 also includes hit view determination module 272 and/or activity event recognizer determination module 273.

When the touch-sensitive display 212 displays more than one view, the hit view determination module 272 provides a software process for determining where within one or more views a sub-event has occurred. The view consists of controls and other elements that the user can see on the display.

Another aspect of the user interface associated with an application is a set of views, sometimes referred to herein as application views or user interface windows, in which information is displayed and touch-based gestures occur. The application view (of the respective application) in which the touch is detected corresponds to a programmatic hierarchy of applications or a programmatic level within the view hierarchy. For example, the lowest level view in which a touch is detected is referred to as a hit view, and the set of events considered to be correct inputs is determined based at least in part on the hit view of the initial touch that initiated the touch-based gesture.

Hit view determination module 272 receives information related to sub-events of the touch-based gesture. When the application has multiple views organized in a hierarchy, hit view determination module 272 identifies the hit view as the lowest view in the hierarchy that should handle the sub-event. In most cases, the hit view is the lowest level view in which the initiating sub-event (e.g., the first sub-event in the sequence of sub-events that form an event or potential event) occurs. Once the hit view is identified by hit view determination module 272, the hit view typically receives all sub-events related to the same touch or input source for which it was identified as the hit view.

The activity event identifier determination module 273 determines which view or views within the view hierarchy should receive a particular sequence of sub-events. In some implementations, the activity event recognizer determination module 273 determines that only the hit view should receive a particular sequence of sub-events. In other embodiments, the activity event recognizer determination module 273 determines that all views that include the physical location of the sub-event are actively participating views, and thus determines that all actively participating views should receive a particular sequence of sub-events. In other embodiments, even if the touch sub-event is completely confined to the area associated with one particular view, the higher views in the hierarchy will remain as actively participating views.

Event dispatcher module 274 dispatches the event information to an event recognizer (e.g., event recognizer 280). In embodiments that include the activity event recognizer determination module 273, the event dispatcher module 274 delivers the event information to the event recognizer determined by the activity event recognizer determination module 273. In some embodiments, the event dispatcher module 274 stores event information in an event queue, which is retrieved by the respective event receiver 282.

In some embodiments, the operating system 226 includes an event classifier 270. Alternatively, the application 236-1 includes an event classifier 270. In yet another embodiment, the event sorter 270 is a stand-alone module or is part of another module stored in the memory 202 (such as the contact/motion module 230).

In some embodiments, the application 236-1 includes a plurality of event handlers 290 and one or more application views 291, each of which includes instructions for handling touch events occurring within a respective view of the application's user interface. Each application view 291 of the application 236-1 includes one or more event recognizers 280. Typically, the respective application view 291 includes a plurality of event recognizers 280. In other embodiments, one or more of the event recognizers 280 are part of a separate module that is a higher-level object such as a user interface toolkit (not shown) or the application 236-1 that inherits methods and other properties from it. In some embodiments, the respective event handlers 290 include one or more of: data updater 276, object updater 277, GUI updater 278, and/or event data 279 received from event classifier 270. Event handler 290 updates application internal state 292 with or calls data updater 276, object updater 277 or GUI updater 278. Alternatively, one or more of the application views 291 include one or more respective event handlers 290. Additionally, in some embodiments, one or more of the data updater 276, the object updater 277, and the GUI updater 278 are included in a respective application view 291.

The corresponding event identifier 280 receives event information (e.g., event data 279) from the event classifier 270 and identifies events from the event information. Event recognizer 280 includes an event receiver 282 and an event comparator 284. In some embodiments, event recognizer 280 also includes metadata 283 and at least a subset of event delivery instructions 288 (which include sub-event delivery instructions).

Event receiver 282 receives event information from event sorter 270. The event information includes information about a sub-event such as a touch or a touch movement. According to the sub-event, the event information further includes additional information such as the location of the sub-event. When the sub-event involves motion of a touch, the event information also includes the velocity and direction of the sub-event. In some embodiments, the event comprises rotation of the device from one orientation to another (e.g., from a portrait orientation to a landscape orientation, or vice versa), and the event information comprises corresponding information about the current orientation of the device (also referred to as the device pose).

Event comparator 284 compares the event information to predefined event or sub-event definitions and, based on the comparison, determines an event or sub-event or determines or updates the state of an event or sub-event. In some embodiments, event comparator 284 includes an event definition 286. The event definition 286 contains definitions of events (e.g., predefined sub-event sequences), such as event 1(287-1), event 2(287-2), and other events. In some embodiments, sub-events in the event (287) include, for example, touch start, touch end, touch move, touch cancel, and multi-touch. In one example, the definition of event 1(287-1) is a double click on a displayed object. For example, a double tap includes a first touch on the displayed object for a predetermined length of time (touch start), a first lift-off on the displayed object for a predetermined length of time (touch end), a second touch on the displayed object for a predetermined length of time (touch start), and a second lift-off on the displayed object for a predetermined length of time (touch end). In another example, the definition of event 2(287-2) is a drag on the displayed object. For example, dragging includes a predetermined length of time of touch (or contact) on the displayed object, movement of the touch across the touch-sensitive display 212, and liftoff of the touch (touch end). In some embodiments, the events also include information for one or more associated event handlers 290.

In some embodiments, the event definitions 287 include definitions of events for respective user interface objects. In some embodiments, event comparator 284 performs a hit test to determine which user interface object is associated with a sub-event. For example, in an application view that displays three user interface objects on the touch-sensitive display 212, when a touch is detected on the touch-sensitive display 212, the event comparator 284 performs a hit test to determine which of the three user interface objects is associated with the touch (sub-event). If each displayed object is associated with a respective event handler 290, the event comparator uses the results of the hit test to determine which event handler 290 should be activated. For example, the event comparator 284 selects the event handler associated with the sub-event and the object that triggered the hit test.

In some embodiments, the definition of the respective event (287) further includes a delay action that delays delivery of the event information until it has been determined that the sequence of sub-events does or does not correspond to the event type of the event recognizer.

When the respective event recognizer 280 determines that the sequence of sub-events does not match any event in the event definition 286, the respective event recognizer 280 enters an event not possible, event failed, or event end state, after which subsequent sub-events of the touch based gesture are ignored. In this case, other event recognizers (if any) that remain active for the hit view continue to track and process sub-events of the ongoing touch-based gesture.

In some embodiments, respective event recognizer 280 includes metadata 283 with configurable attributes, flags, and/or lists that indicate how the event delivery system should perform sub-event delivery to actively participating event recognizers. In some embodiments, metadata 283 includes configurable attributes, flags, and/or lists that indicate how or how event recognizers interact with each other. In some embodiments, metadata 283 includes configurable attributes, flags, and/or lists that indicate whether a sub-event is delivered to different levels in a view or programmatic hierarchy.

In some embodiments, when one or more particular sub-events of an event are identified, the respective event identifier 280 activates the event handler 290 associated with the event. In some embodiments, the respective event identifier 280 delivers event information associated with the event to the event handler 290. Activating the event handler 290 is different from sending (and deferring) sub-events to the corresponding hit view. In some embodiments, event recognizer 280 throws a marker associated with the recognized event, and event handler 290 associated with the marker retrieves the marker and performs a predefined process.

In some embodiments, the event delivery instructions 288 include sub-event delivery instructions that deliver event information about sub-events without activating an event handler. Instead, the sub-event delivery instructions deliver event information to event handlers associated with the sequence of sub-events or to actively participating views. Event handlers associated with the sequence of sub-events or with actively participating views receive the event information and perform a predetermined process.

In some embodiments, the data updater 276 creates and updates data used in the application 236-1. For example, data updater 276 updates a phone number used in contacts module 237 or stores a video file used in a video player module. In some embodiments, the object updater 277 creates and updates an object used in the application 236-1. For example, object updater 277 creates a new user interface object or updates the location of a user interface object. The GUI updater 278 updates the GUI. For example, GUI updater 278 prepares display information and sends the display information to graphics module 232 for display on a touch-sensitive display.

In some embodiments, event handler 290 includes or has access to data updater 276, object updater 277, and GUI updater 278. In some embodiments, the data updater 276, the object updater 277, and the GUI updater 278 are included in a single module of the respective application 236-1 or application view 291. In other embodiments, they are included in two or more software modules.

It should be understood that the above discussion of event processing with respect to user touches on a touch sensitive display also applies to other forms of user input that utilize an input device to operate multifunction device 200, not all of which are initiated on a touch screen. For example, mouse movements and mouse button presses, optionally in conjunction with single or multiple keyboard presses or holds; contact movement on the touchpad, such as tapping, dragging, scrolling, and the like; inputting by a stylus; movement of the device; verbal instructions; a detected eye movement; inputting biological characteristics; and/or any combination thereof, is optionally used as input corresponding to sub-events defining the event to be identified.

Fig. 3 illustrates a portable multifunction device 200 with a touch screen 212 in accordance with some embodiments. The touch screen optionally displays one or more graphics within the User Interface (UI) 300. In this embodiment, as well as other embodiments described below, a user can select one or more of these graphics by making gestures on the graphics, for example, with one or more fingers 302 (not drawn to scale in the figure) or one or more styluses 303 (not drawn to scale in the figure). In some embodiments, selection of one or more graphics will occur when the user breaks contact with the one or more graphics. In some embodiments, the gesture optionally includes one or more taps, one or more swipes (left to right, right to left, up, and/or down), and/or a rolling of a finger (right to left, left to right, up, and/or down) that has made contact with device 200. In some implementations or in some cases, inadvertent contact with a graphic does not select the graphic. For example, when the gesture corresponding to the selection is a tap, a swipe gesture that sweeps over an application icon optionally does not select the corresponding application.

The device 200 also includes one or more physical buttons, such as a "home" or menu button 304. As previously described, menu button 304 is used to navigate to any application 236 in a set of applications executing on device 200. Alternatively, in some embodiments, the menu buttons are implemented as soft keys in a GUI displayed on touch screen 212.

In some embodiments, device 200 includes a touch screen 212, menu buttons 304, a push button 306 for powering the device on/off and for locking the device, one or more volume adjustment buttons 308, a Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) card slot 310, a headset jack 312, and a docking/charging external port 224. Pressing the button 306 optionally serves to turn the device on/off by pressing the button and holding the button in a pressed state for a predefined time interval; locking the device by depressing the button and releasing the button before the predefined time interval has elapsed; and/or unlocking the device or initiating an unlocking process. In an alternative embodiment, device 200 also accepts verbal input through microphone 213 for activating or deactivating certain functions. Device 200 also optionally includes one or more contact intensity sensors 265 for detecting the intensity of contacts on touch screen 212, and/or one or more tactile output generators 267 for generating tactile outputs for a user of device 200.

Fig. 4 is a block diagram of an exemplary multifunction device with a display and a touch-sensitive surface in accordance with some embodiments. The device 400 need not be portable. In some embodiments, the device 400 is a laptop computer, desktop computer, tablet computer, multimedia player device, navigation device, educational device (such as a child learning toy), gaming system, or control device (e.g., a home controller or industrial controller). Device 400 typically includes one or more processing units (CPUs) 410, one or more network or other communications interfaces 460, memory 470, and one or more communication buses 420 for interconnecting these components. The communication bus 420 optionally includes circuitry (sometimes referred to as a chipset) that interconnects and controls communication between system components. Device 400 includes an input/output (I/O) interface 430 with a display 440, which is typically a touch screen display. The I/O interface 430 also optionally includes a keyboard and/or mouse (or other pointing device) 450 and a trackpad 455, a tactile output generator 457 (e.g., similar to one or more tactile output generators 267 described above with reference to fig. 2A), a sensor 459 (e.g., an optical sensor, an acceleration sensor, a proximity sensor, a touch-sensitive sensor, and/or a contact intensity sensor (similar to one or more contact intensity sensors 265 described above with reference to fig. 2A)) for generating tactile outputs on the device 400. Memory 470 comprises high-speed random access memory, such as DRAM, SRAM, ddr ram or other random access solid state memory devices; and optionally includes non-volatile memory, such as one or more magnetic disk storage devices, optical disk storage devices, flash memory devices, or other non-volatile solid-state storage devices. Memory 470 optionally includes one or more storage devices located remotely from CPU 410. In some embodiments, memory 470 stores programs, modules, and data structures similar to or a subset of the programs, modules, and data structures stored in memory 202 of portable multifunction device 200 (fig. 2A). In addition, memory 470 optionally stores additional programs, modules, and data structures not present in memory 202 of portable multifunction device 200. For example, memory 470 of device 400 optionally stores drawing module 480, presentation module 482, word processing module 484, website creation module 486, disk editing module 488, and/or spreadsheet module 490, while memory 202 of portable multifunction device 200 (FIG. 2A) optionally does not store these modules.

Each of the above-described elements in fig. 4 is stored in one or more of the previously mentioned memory devices in some examples. Each of the above modules corresponds to a set of instructions for performing a function described above. The modules or programs (e.g., sets of instructions) described above need not be implemented as separate software programs, procedures or modules, and thus various subsets of these modules may be combined or otherwise rearranged in various embodiments. In some embodiments, memory 470 stores a subset of the modules and data structures described above. In addition, memory 470 stores additional modules and data structures not described above.

Attention is now directed to embodiments of user interfaces that may be implemented on, for example, portable multifunction device 200.

Fig. 5A illustrates an exemplary user interface of an application menu on a portable multifunction device 200 according to some embodiments. A similar user interface is implemented on the device 400. In some embodiments, the user interface 500 includes the following elements, or a subset or superset thereof:

one or more signal strength indicators 502 of one or more wireless communications, such as cellular signals and Wi-Fi signals;

time 504;

A bluetooth indicator 505;

a battery status indicator 506;

tray 508 with icons for common applications, such as:

icon 516, labeled "telephone," of phone module 238, optionally including an indicator 514 of the number of missed calls or voice messages;

icon 518 of email client module 240, labeled "mail", optionally including an indicator 510 of the number of unread emails;

icon 520 labeled "browser" of browser module 247; and

an icon 522 labeled "iPod" of video and music player module 252 (also referred to as iPod (trademark of Apple inc.) module 252); and

icons for other applications, such as:

icon 524 of IM module 241, labeled "message"; (ii) a

Icon 526 labeled "calendar" of the o-calendar module 248; (ii) a

Icon 528 of image management module 244 labeled "photo"; (ii) a

Icon 530 labeled "camera" for camera module 243; (ii) a

Icon 532 labeled "online video" for online video module 255; (ii) a

An icon 534 labeled "stock market" of the stock market desktop applet 249-2; (ii) a

Icon 536 of map module 254 labeled "map"; (ii) a

Icon 538 of weather desktop applet 249-1 labeled "weather"; (ii) a

Icon 540 labeled "clock" of alarm clock desktop applet 249-4; (ii) a

Icon 542 labeled "fitness support" of fitness support module 242; (ii) a

Icon 544 labeled "notepad" of notepad module 253; and

an icon 546 labeled "settings" for setting applications or modules, which provides access to the settings of the device 200 and its various applications 236.

It should be noted that the icon labels shown in fig. 5A are merely exemplary. For example, icon 522 of video and music player module 252 is optionally labeled "music" or "music player". Other tabs are optionally used for the various application icons. In some embodiments, the label of the respective application icon includes a name of the application corresponding to the respective application icon. In some embodiments, the label of a particular application icon is different from the name of the application corresponding to the particular application icon.

Fig. 5B illustrates an exemplary user interface on a device (e.g., device 400 of fig. 4) having a touch-sensitive surface 551 (e.g., tablet or trackpad 455 of fig. 4) separate from a display 550 (e.g., touchscreen display 212). The device 400 also optionally includes one or more contact intensity sensors (e.g., one or more of sensors 459) to detect the intensity of contacts on the touch-sensitive surface 551 and/or one or more tactile output generators 457 to generate tactile outputs for a user of the device 400.

Although some of the examples that follow will be given with reference to input on the touch screen display 212 (where the touch-sensitive surface and the display are combined), in some embodiments, the device detects input on a touch-sensitive surface that is separate from the display, as shown in fig. 5B. In some implementations, the touch-sensitive surface (e.g., 551 in fig. 5B) has a major axis (e.g., 552 in fig. 5B) that corresponds to a major axis (e.g., 553 in fig. 5B) on the display (e.g., 550). According to these embodiments, the device detects contacts (e.g., 560 and 562 in fig. 5B) with the touch-sensitive surface 551 at locations that correspond to respective locations on the display (e.g., in fig. 5B, 560 corresponds to 568 and 562 corresponds to 570). As such, when the touch-sensitive surface (e.g., 551 in fig. 5B) is separated from the display (e.g., 550 in fig. 5B) of the multifunction device, user inputs (e.g.,

contacts

560 and 562 and their movement) detected by the device on the touch-sensitive surface are used by the device to manipulate the user interface on the display. It should be understood that similar methods are optionally used for the other user interfaces described herein.

Additionally, although the following examples are given primarily with reference to finger inputs (e.g., finger contact, a single-finger tap gesture, a finger swipe gesture), it should be understood that in some embodiments, one or more of these finger inputs are replaced by an input from another input device (e.g., a mouse-based input or a stylus input). For example, a swipe gesture is optionally replaced by a mouse click (e.g., rather than a contact) followed by movement of the cursor along the path of the swipe (e.g., rather than movement of the contact). As another example, a flick gesture is optionally replaced by a mouse click (e.g., instead of detecting a contact, followed by ceasing to detect a contact) while the cursor is over the location of the flick gesture. Similarly, when multiple user inputs are detected simultaneously, it should be understood that multiple computer mice are optionally used simultaneously, or mouse and finger contacts are optionally used simultaneously.

Fig. 6A illustrates an exemplary personal electronic device 600. The device 600 includes a body 602. In some embodiments, device 600 includes some or all of the features described with respect to devices 200 and 400 (e.g., fig. 2A-4). In some embodiments, device 600 has a touch-sensitive display screen 604, hereinafter referred to as touch screen 604. Instead of, or in addition to, the touch screen 604, the device 600 has a display and a touch-sensitive surface. As with devices 200 and 400, in some embodiments, touch screen 604 (or touch-sensitive surface) has one or more intensity sensors for detecting the intensity of a contact (e.g., touch) being applied. One or more intensity sensors of touch screen 604 (or touch-sensitive surface) provide output data representing the intensity of a touch. The user interface of device 600 responds to the touch based on the strength of the touch, meaning that different strengths of the touch can invoke different user interface operations on device 600.

Techniques for detecting and processing touch intensities may be found, for example, in related applications: international patent Application Ser. No. PCT/US2013/040061 entitled "Device, Method, and Graphical User Interface for Displaying User Interface Objects reforming to an Application", filed on 8.5.2013, and International patent Application Ser. No. PCT/US2013/069483 entitled "Device, Method, and Graphical User Interface for translating Betwen Touch Input to Display Output references", filed 11.11.2013, each of which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.

In some embodiments, device 600 has one or

more input mechanisms

606 and 608. Input mechanisms 606 and 608 (if included) are in physical form. Examples of physical input mechanisms include push buttons and rotatable mechanisms. In some embodiments, device 600 has one or more attachment mechanisms. Such attachment mechanisms, if included, may allow device 600 to be attached with, for example, a hat, glasses, earrings, necklace, shirt, jacket, bracelet, watchband, bracelet, pants, belt, shoe, purse, backpack, and the like. These attachment mechanisms allow the user to wear the device 600.

Fig. 6B illustrates an exemplary personal electronic device 600. In some embodiments, the apparatus 600 includes some or all of the components described with respect to fig. 2A, 2B, and 4. Device 600 has a bus 612 that operatively couples I/O portion 614 to one or more computer processors 616 and a memory 618. I/O portion 614 is connected to display 604, which may have a touch sensitive component 622 and optionally also a touch intensity sensitive component 624. Further, I/O portion 614 interfaces with communications unit 630 for receiving applications and operating system data using Wi-Fi, bluetooth, Near Field Communication (NFC), cellular, and/or other wireless communications technologies. Device 600 includes input mechanisms 606 and/or 608. For example, input mechanism 606 is a rotatable input device or a depressible input device and a rotatable input device. In some examples, input mechanism 608 is a button.

In some examples, input mechanism 608 is a microphone. The personal electronic device 600 includes, for example, various sensors, such as a GPS sensor 632, an accelerometer 634, an orientation sensor 640 (e.g., a compass), a gyroscope 636, a motion sensor 638, and/or combinations thereof, all of which are operatively connected to the I/O portion 614.

The memory 618 of the personal electronic device 600 is a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium for storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the one or more computer processors 616, cause the computer processors to perform the techniques and processes described above, for example. The computer-executable instructions are also stored and/or transmitted, for instance, within any non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device, such as a computer-based system, processor-containing system, or other system that can fetch the instructions from the instruction execution system, apparatus, or device and execute the instructions. The personal electronic device 600 is not limited to the components and configuration of fig. 6B, but may include other components or additional components in a variety of configurations.

As used herein, the term "affordance" refers to a user-interactive graphical user interface object displayed, for example, on a display screen of device 200, 400, and/or 600 (fig. 2A, 4, and 6A-6B). For example, images (e.g., icons), buttons, and text (e.g., hyperlinks) each constitute an affordance.

As used herein, the term "focus selector" refers to an input element that is used to indicate the current portion of the user interface with which the user is interacting. In some implementations that include a cursor or other position marker, the cursor acts as a "focus selector" such that when an input (e.g., a press input) is detected on a touch-sensitive surface (e.g., trackpad 455 in fig. 4 or touch-sensitive surface 551 in fig. 5B) while the cursor is over a particular user interface element (e.g., a button, window, slider, or other user interface element), the particular user interface element is adjusted according to the detected input. In some implementations that include a touch screen display (e.g., the touch-sensitive display system 212 in fig. 2A or the touch screen 212 in fig. 5A) that enables direct interaction with user interface elements on the touch screen display, a contact detected on the touch screen serves as a "focus selector" such that when an input (e.g., a press input by the contact) is detected at a location of a particular user interface element (e.g., a button, window, slider, or other user interface element) on the touch screen display, the particular user interface element is adjusted in accordance with the detected input. In some implementations, the focus is moved from one area of the user interface to another area of the user interface without corresponding movement of a cursor or movement of a contact on the touch screen display (e.g., by moving the focus from one button to another using tab or arrow keys); in these implementations, the focus selector moves according to movement of the focus between different regions of the user interface. Regardless of the particular form taken by the focus selector, the focus selector is typically a user interface element (or contact on a touch screen display) that is controlled by the user in order to deliver the user's intended interaction with the user interface (e.g., by indicating to the device the element with which the user of the user interface desires to interact). For example, upon detecting a press input on a touch-sensitive surface (e.g., a trackpad or touchscreen), the position of a focus selector (e.g., a cursor, contact, or selection box) over a respective button will indicate that the user desires to activate the respective button (as opposed to other user interface elements shown on the device display).

As used in the specification and in the claims, the term "characteristic intensity" of a contact refers to a characteristic of the contact based on one or more intensities of the contact. In some embodiments, the characteristic intensity is based on a plurality of intensity samples. The characteristic intensity is optionally based on a predefined number of intensity samples or a set of intensity samples acquired during a predetermined time period (e.g., 0.05 seconds, 0.1 seconds, 0.2 seconds, 0.5 seconds, 1 second, 2 seconds, 5 seconds, 10 seconds) relative to a predefined event (e.g., after detecting contact, before detecting contact liftoff, before or after detecting contact start movement, before or after detecting contact end, before or after detecting increase in intensity of contact, and/or before or after detecting decrease in intensity of contact). The characteristic intensity of the contact is optionally based on one or more of: maximum value of contact strength, mean value of contact strength, average value of contact strength, value at the first 10% of contact strength, half maximum value of contact strength, 90% maximum value of contact strength, and the like. In some embodiments, the duration of the contact is used in determining the characteristic intensity (e.g., when the characteristic intensity is an average of the intensity of the contact over time). In some embodiments, the characteristic intensity is compared to a set of one or more intensity thresholds to determine whether the user has performed an operation. For example, the set of one or more intensity thresholds includes a first intensity threshold and a second intensity threshold. In this example, a contact whose characteristic intensity does not exceed the first threshold results in a first operation, a contact whose characteristic intensity exceeds the first intensity threshold but does not exceed the second intensity threshold results in a second operation, and a contact whose characteristic intensity exceeds the second threshold results in a third operation. In some embodiments, a comparison between the characteristic strength and one or more thresholds is used to determine whether to perform one or more operations (e.g., whether to perform the respective operation or forgo performing the respective operation) rather than to determine whether to perform the first operation or the second operation.

In some implementations, a portion of the gesture is recognized for determining the feature intensity. For example, the touch-sensitive surface receives a continuous swipe contact that transitions from a starting location and reaches an ending location where the intensity of the contact increases. In this example, the characteristic strength of the contact at the end position is based only on a portion of the continuous swipe contact, rather than the entire swipe contact (e.g., the swipe contact is only located at the end position). In some embodiments, a smoothing algorithm is applied to the intensity of the swipe contact before determining the characteristic intensity of the contact. For example, the smoothing algorithm optionally includes one or more of: a non-weighted moving average smoothing algorithm, a triangular smoothing algorithm, a median filter smoothing algorithm, and/or an exponential smoothing algorithm. In some cases, these smoothing algorithms eliminate narrow spikes or dips in the intensity of the swipe contact for the purpose of determining the feature intensity.

The intensity of a contact on the touch-sensitive surface is characterized relative to one or more intensity thresholds, such as a contact detection intensity threshold, a light press intensity threshold, a deep press intensity threshold, and/or one or more other intensity thresholds. In some embodiments, the light press intensity threshold corresponds to an intensity that: at which the device will perform the operations typically associated with clicking a button of a physical mouse or touch pad. In some embodiments, the deep press intensity threshold corresponds to an intensity that: at which the device will perform a different operation than that typically associated with clicking a button of a physical mouse or touch pad. In some embodiments, when a contact is detected whose characteristic intensity is below a light press intensity threshold (e.g., and above a nominal contact detection intensity threshold, a contact below the nominal contact detection intensity threshold is no longer detected), the device will move the focus selector in accordance with the movement of the contact across the touch-sensitive surface without performing operations associated with the light press intensity threshold or the deep press intensity threshold. Generally, unless otherwise stated, these intensity thresholds are consistent between different sets of user interface drawings.

Increasing the contact characteristic intensity from an intensity below the light press intensity threshold to an intensity between the light press intensity threshold and the deep press intensity threshold is sometimes referred to as a "light press" input. Increasing the contact characteristic intensity from an intensity below the deep press intensity threshold to an intensity above the deep press intensity threshold is sometimes referred to as a "deep press" input. Increasing the contact characteristic intensity from an intensity below the contact detection intensity threshold to an intensity between the contact detection intensity threshold and the light press intensity threshold is sometimes referred to as detecting a contact on the touch surface. The decrease in the characteristic intensity of the contact from an intensity above the contact detection intensity threshold to an intensity below the contact detection intensity threshold is sometimes referred to as detecting lift-off of the contact from the touch surface. In some embodiments, the contact detection intensity threshold is zero. In some embodiments, the contact detection intensity threshold is greater than zero.

In some embodiments described herein, one or more operations are performed in response to detecting a gesture that includes a respective press input or in response to detecting a respective press input performed with a respective contact (or contacts), wherein the respective press input is detected based at least in part on detecting an increase in intensity of the contact (or contacts) above a press input intensity threshold. In some embodiments, the respective operation is performed in response to detecting an increase in intensity of the respective contact above a press input intensity threshold (e.g., a "down stroke" of the respective press input). In some embodiments, the press input includes an increase in intensity of the respective contact above a press input intensity threshold and a subsequent decrease in intensity of the contact below the press input intensity threshold, and the respective operation is performed in response to detecting a subsequent decrease in intensity of the respective contact below the press input threshold (e.g., an "up stroke" of the respective press input).

In some embodiments, the device employs intensity hysteresis to avoid accidental input sometimes referred to as "jitter," where the device defines or selects a hysteresis intensity threshold having a predefined relationship to the press input intensity threshold (e.g., the hysteresis intensity threshold is X intensity units lower than the press input intensity threshold, or the hysteresis intensity threshold is 75%, 90%, or some reasonable proportion of the press input intensity threshold). Thus, in some embodiments, the press input includes an increase in intensity of the respective contact above a press input intensity threshold and a subsequent decrease in intensity of the contact below a hysteresis intensity threshold corresponding to the press input intensity threshold, and the respective operation is performed in response to detecting a subsequent decrease in intensity of the respective contact below the hysteresis intensity threshold (e.g., an "upstroke" of the respective press input). Similarly, in some embodiments, a press input is detected only when the device detects an increase in contact intensity from an intensity at or below the hysteresis intensity threshold to an intensity at or above the press input intensity threshold and optionally a subsequent decrease in contact intensity to an intensity at or below the hysteresis intensity, and a corresponding operation is performed in response to detecting the press input (e.g., depending on the circumstances, the increase in contact intensity or the decrease in contact intensity).

For ease of explanation, optionally, a description of an operation performed in response to a press input associated with a press input intensity threshold or in response to a gesture that includes a press input is triggered in response to detection of any of the following: the contact intensity increases above the press input intensity threshold, the contact intensity increases from an intensity below the hysteresis intensity threshold to an intensity above the press input intensity threshold, the contact intensity decreases below the press input intensity threshold, and/or the contact intensity decreases below the hysteresis intensity threshold corresponding to the press input intensity threshold. Additionally, in examples in which operations are described as being performed in response to detecting that the intensity of the contact decreases below the press input intensity threshold, the operations are optionally performed in response to detecting that the intensity of the contact decreases below a hysteresis intensity threshold that corresponds to and is less than the press input intensity threshold.

3. Digital assistant system

Fig. 7A illustrates a block diagram of a digital assistant system 700, according to various examples. In some examples, the digital assistant system 700 is implemented on a standalone computer system. In some examples, the digital assistant system 700 is distributed across multiple computers. In some examples, some of the modules and functionality of the digital assistant are divided into a server portion and a client portion, where the client portion is located on one or more user devices (e.g., device 104, device 122, device 200, device 400, or device 600) and communicates with the server portion (e.g., server system 108) over one or more networks, e.g., as shown in fig. 1. In some examples, digital assistant system 700 is a specific implementation of server system 108 (and/or DA server 106) shown in fig. 1. It should be noted that the digital assistant system 700 is only one example of a digital assistant system, and that the digital assistant system 700 has more or fewer components than shown, combines two or more components, or may have a different configuration or layout of components. The various components shown in fig. 7A are implemented in hardware, software instructions for execution by one or more processors, firmware (including one or more signal processing integrated circuits and/or application specific integrated circuits), or a combination thereof.

The digital assistant system 700 comprises a memory 702, an input/output (I/O) interface 706, a network communication interface 708, and one or more processors 704. These components may communicate with each other via one or more communication buses or signal lines 710.

In some examples, the memory 702 includes non-transitory computer-readable media, such as high-speed random access memory and/or non-volatile computer-readable storage media (e.g., one or more disk storage devices, flash memory devices, or other non-volatile solid-state memory devices).

In some examples, I/O interface 706 couples input/output devices 716, such as a display, a keyboard, a touch screen, and a microphone, of digital assistant system 700 to user interface module 722. I/O interface 706, in conjunction with user interface module 722, receives user input (e.g., voice input, keyboard input, touch input, etc.) and processes the input accordingly. In some examples, for example when the digital assistant is implemented on a standalone user device, the digital assistant system 700 includes any of the components and I/O communication interfaces described with respect to device 200, device 400, or device 600 in fig. 2A, 4, 6A-6B, respectively. In some examples, the digital assistant system 700 represents a server portion of a digital assistant implementation and may interact with a user through a client-side portion located on a user device (e.g., device 104, device 200, device 400, or device 600).

In some examples, the network communication interface 708 includes one or more wired communication ports 712 and/or wireless transmission and reception circuitry 714. The one or more wired communication ports receive and transmit communication signals via one or more wired interfaces, such as ethernet, Universal Serial Bus (USB), FIREWIRE, and the like. The wireless circuitry 714 receives and transmits RF and/or optical signals to and from the communication network and other communication devices. The wireless communication uses any of a number of communication standards, protocols, and technologies, such as GSM, EDGE, CDMA, TDMA, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, VoIP, Wi-MAX, or any other suitable communication protocol. Network communication interface 708 enables communication between digital assistant system 700 and other devices via a network, such as the internet, an intranet, and/or a wireless network, such as a cellular telephone network, a wireless Local Area Network (LAN), and/or a Metropolitan Area Network (MAN).

In some examples, memory 702 or the computer-readable storage medium of memory 702 stores programs, modules, instructions, and data structures, including all or a subset of the following: an operating system 718, a communications module 720, a user interface module 722, one or more application programs 724, and a digital assistant module 726. In particular, memory 702 or the computer-readable storage medium of memory 702 stores instructions for performing the processes described above. The one or more processors 704 execute the programs, modules, and instructions and read data from, or write data to, the data structures.

The operating system 718 (e.g., Darwin, RTXC, LINUX, UNIX, iOS, OS X, WINDOWS, or embedded operating systems such as VxWorks) includes various software components and/or drivers for controlling and managing general system tasks (e.g., memory management, storage device control, power management, etc.) and facilitates communication between various hardware, firmware, and software components.

The communications module 720 facilitates communications between the digital assistant system 700 and other devices via the network communications interface 708. For example, the communication module 720 communicates with the RF circuitry 208 of an electronic device, such as the

devices

200, 400, or 600 shown in fig. 2A, 4, 6A-6B, respectively. The communications module 720 also includes various components for processing data received by the wireless circuitry 714 and/or the wired communications port 712.

User interface module 722 receives commands and/or input from a user (e.g., from a keyboard, touch screen, pointing device, controller, and/or microphone) via I/O interface 706 and generates user interface objects on a display. User interface module 722 also prepares and communicates output (e.g., voice, sound, animation, text, icons, vibration, haptic feedback, lighting, etc.) to the user via I/O interface 706 (e.g., through a display, audio channel, speaker, touch pad, etc.).

The application programs 724 include programs and/or modules configured to be executed by the one or more processors 704. For example, if the digital assistant system is implemented on a standalone user device, the applications 724 include user applications such as games, calendar applications, navigation applications, or mail applications. If the digital assistant system 700 is implemented on a server, the application programs 724 include, for example, an asset management application, a diagnostic application, or a scheduling application.

The memory 702 also stores a digital assistant module 726 (or a server portion of a digital assistant). In some examples, the digital assistant module 726 includes the following sub-modules, or a subset or superset thereof: an input/output processing module 728, a Speech To Text (STT) processing module 730, a natural language processing module 732, a dialog flow processing module 734, a task flow processing module 736, a service processing module 738, and a speech synthesis processing module 740. Each of these modules has access to one or more of the following systems or data and models, or a subset or superset thereof, of the digital assistant module 726: ontology 760, vocabulary index 744, user data 748, task flow model 754, service model 756, and ASR system 758.

In some examples, using the processing modules, data, and models implemented in the digital assistant module 726, the digital assistant can perform at least some of the following: converting the speech input to text; identifying a user intent expressed in a natural language input received from a user; proactively elicit and obtain information needed to fully infer a user's intent (e.g., by disambiguating words, games, intent, etc.); determining a task flow for satisfying the inferred intent; and executing the task flow to satisfy the inferred intent.

In some examples, as shown in fig. 7B, I/O processing module 728 may interact with a user through I/O device 716 in fig. 7A or with a user device (e.g., device 104, device 200, device 400, or device 600) through network communication interface 708 in fig. 7A to obtain user input (e.g., voice input) and provide a response to the user input (e.g., as voice output). The I/O processing module 728 optionally obtains contextual information associated with the user input from the user device along with or shortly after receiving the user input. The contextual information includes user-specific data, vocabulary, and/or preferences related to user input. In some examples, the context information also includes software and hardware states of the user device at the time the user request is received, and/or information relating to the user's surroundings at the time the user request is received. In some examples, the I/O processing module 728 also sends follow-up questions to the user related to the user request and receives answers from the user. When a user request is received by the I/O processing module 728 and the user request includes speech input, the I/O processing module 728 forwards the speech input to the STT processing module 730 (or speech recognizer) for speech-to-text conversion.

STT processing module 730 includes one or more ASR systems 758. The one or more ASR systems 758 may process speech input received through the I/O processing module 728 to generate recognition results. Each ASR system 758 includes a front-end speech preprocessor. A front-end speech preprocessor extracts representative features from speech input. For example, a front-end speech preprocessor performs a fourier transform on a speech input to extract spectral features characterizing the speech input as a sequence of representative multi-dimensional vectors. In addition, each ASR system 758 includes one or more speech recognition models (e.g., acoustic models and/or language models) and implements one or more speech recognition engines. Examples of speech recognition models include hidden markov models, gaussian mixture models, deep neural network models, n-gram language models, and other statistical models. Examples of speech recognition engines include dynamic time warping based engines and Weighted Finite State Transducer (WFST) based engines. The extracted representative features of the front-end speech preprocessor are processed using one or more speech recognition models and one or more speech recognition engines to produce intermediate recognition results (e.g., phonemes, phoneme strings, and sub-words), and ultimately text recognition results (e.g., words, word strings, or symbol sequences). In some examples, the voice input is processed, at least in part, by a third party service or on a device of the user (e.g., device 104, device 200, device 400, or device 600) to produce a recognition result. Once STT processing module 730 generates a recognition result that includes a text string (e.g., a word, or a sequence of words, or a sequence of symbols), the recognition result is passed to natural language processing module 732 for intent inference. In some examples, STT processing module 730 generates a plurality of candidate text representations of the speech input. Each candidate text representation is a sequence of words or symbols corresponding to the speech input. In some examples, each candidate text representation is associated with a speech recognition confidence score. Based on the speech recognition confidence scores, STT processing module 730 ranks the candidate text representations and provides n-best (e.g., n-highest ranked) candidate text representations to natural language processing module 732 for intent inference, where n is a predetermined integer greater than zero. For example, in one example, only the highest ranked (n ═ 1) candidate text representations are delivered to natural language processing module 732 for intent inference. As another example, the 5 highest ranked (n ═ 5) candidate text representations are passed to natural language processing module 732 for intent inference.

More details regarding the Speech to text process are described in U.S. utility model patent application serial No. 13/236942 entitled "conversation Speech recognitions Results," filed on 20/9/2011, the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.

In some examples, STT processing module 730 includes a vocabulary of recognizable words and/or accesses the vocabulary via speech-to-alphabet conversion module 731. Each vocabulary word is associated with one or more candidate pronunciations for the word represented in the speech recognition phonetic alphabet. In particular, the vocabulary of recognizable words includes words associated with a plurality of candidate pronunciations. For example, the word includes

And

is associated with the word "tomato". In addition, the vocabulary words are associated with custom candidate pronunciations based on previous speech input from the user. Such custom candidate pronunciations are stored in STT processing module 730 and are associated with a particular user via a user profile on the device. In some examples, the candidate pronunciations for the word are determined based on the spelling of the word and one or more linguistic and/or phonetic rules. In some examples, the candidate pronunciations are generated manually, e.g., based on known standard pronunciations.

In some examples, candidate pronunciations are ranked based on their prevalence. For example, candidate pronunciations

Is ranked higher than

As the former is a more common pronunciation (e.g., among all users, for users in a particular geographic area, or for any other suitable subset of users). In some examples, the candidate pronunciations are ranked based on whether the candidate pronunciations are custom candidate pronunciations associated with the user. For example, the custom candidate pronunciation is ranked higher than the standard candidate pronunciation. This can be used to identify proper nouns with unique pronunciations that deviate from the canonical pronunciation. In some examples, the candidate pronunciation is associated with one or more speech features such as a geographic origin, country, or ethnicity. For example, candidate pronunciations

Associated with the United states and candidate pronunciations

Is associated with the united kingdom. Further, the ranking of the candidate pronunciations is based on one or more characteristics of the user in a user profile stored on the device (e.g., a user profile for the deviceSuch as geographic origin, country, race, etc.). For example, it may be determined from a user profile that the user is associated with the united states. Candidate pronunciation based on user association with the United states

Comparable candidate pronunciation (associated with the United states)

Higher (associated with the uk). In some examples, one of the ranked candidate pronunciations may be selected as a predicted pronunciation (e.g., the most likely pronunciation).

Upon receiving a speech input, the STT processing module 730 is used to determine a phoneme (e.g., using a sound model) corresponding to the speech input, and then attempt to determine a word (e.g., using a language model) that matches the phoneme. For example, if STT processing module 730 first identifies a phoneme sequence corresponding to a portion of the speech input

It may then determine that the sequence corresponds to the word "tomato" based on the vocabulary index 744.

In some examples, STT processing module 730 uses fuzzy matching techniques to determine words in the utterance. Thus, for example, STT processing module 730 determines a phoneme sequence

Corresponding to the word "tomato", even if the particular phoneme sequence is not a candidate phoneme sequence for the word.

The natural language processing module 732 of the digital assistant ("natural language processor") takes the n-best candidate textual representations ("word sequences" or "symbol sequences") generated by the STT processing module 730 and attempts to associate each candidate textual representation with one or more "actionable intents" identified by the digital assistant. An "executable intent" (or "user intent") represents a task that can be performed by the digital assistant and that can have an associated task flow implemented in the task flow model 754. An associated task stream is a series of programmed actions and steps taken by the digital assistant to perform a task. The capability scope of the digital assistant depends on the number and variety of task flows that have been implemented and stored in task flow model 754, or in other words, on the number and variety of "actionable intents" that the digital assistant recognizes. However, the effectiveness of a digital assistant also depends on the assistant's ability to infer the correct "executable intent or intents" from a user request expressed in natural language.

In some examples, natural language processing module 732 receives context information associated with the user request, for example, from I/O processing module 728, in addition to the sequence of words or symbols obtained from STT processing module 730. The natural language processing module 732 optionally uses the context information to clarify, supplement, and/or further define information contained in the candidate text representation received from the STT processing module 730. Contextual information includes, for example, user preferences, hardware and/or software states of the user device, sensor information collected before, during, or shortly after a user request, previous interactions (e.g., conversations) between the digital assistant and the user, and so forth. As described herein, in some examples, contextual information is dynamic and varies with time, location, content, and other factors of a conversation.

In some examples, the natural language processing is based on, for example, ontology 760. Ontology 760 is a hierarchical structure that contains many nodes, each node representing an "actionable intent" or "attribute" related to one or more of the "actionable intents" or other "attributes". As described above, an "actionable intent" refers to a task that a digital assistant is capable of performing, i.e., that task is "actionable" or can be performed. "Properties" represent parameters associated with a sub-aspect of an actionable intent or another property. The connection between the actionable intent node and the property node in the ontology 760 defines how the parameters represented by the property node pertain to the task represented by the actionable intent node.

In some examples, ontology 760 consists of actionable intent nodes and property nodes. Within ontology 760, each actionable intent node is connected to one or more property nodes either directly or through one or more intermediate property nodes. Similarly, each property node is connected to one or more actionable intent nodes either directly or through one or more intermediate property nodes. For example, as shown in FIG. 7C, ontology 760 includes a "restaurant reservation" node (i.e., an actionable intent node). The property nodes "restaurant," "date/time" (for reservations), and "party size" are all directly connected to the actionable intent node (i.e., "restaurant reservation" node).

Further, the property nodes "cuisine", "price section", "phone number", and "location" are child nodes of the property node "restaurant", and are each connected to the "restaurant reservation" node (i.e., actionable intent node) through the intermediate property node "restaurant". As another example, as shown in FIG. 7C, ontology 760 also includes a "set reminder" node (i.e., another actionable intent node). The property nodes "date/time" (for set reminders) and "subject" (for reminders) are both connected to the "set reminders" node. Since the property "date/time" is related to both the task of making a restaurant reservation and the task of setting a reminder, the property node "date/time" is connected to both the "restaurant reservation" node and the "set reminder" node in ontology 760.

The actionable intent node, along with its linked property nodes, is described as a "domain". In the present discussion, each domain is associated with a respective executable intent and refers to a set of nodes (and relationships between those nodes) associated with a particular executable intent. For example, ontology 760 shown in FIG. 7C includes an example of a restaurant reservation field 762 and an example of a reminder field 764 within ontology 760. The restaurant reservation domain includes the actionable intent node "restaurant reservation," the attribute nodes "restaurant," date/time, "and" party size, "and the child attribute nodes" cuisine, "" price range, "" phone number, "and" location. The reminder field 764 includes the actionable intent node "set reminder" and property nodes "subject" and "date/time". In some examples, ontology 760 is comprised of multiple domains. Each domain shares one or more attribute nodes with one or more other domains. For example, in addition to the restaurant reservation field 762 and reminder field 764, the "date/time" property node is associated with many different fields (e.g., a scheduling field, a travel reservation field, a movie tickets field, etc.).

Although fig. 7C shows two exemplary domains within ontology 760, other domains include, for example, "find movie", "initiate phone call", "find direction", "arrange meeting", "send message", and "provide answer to question", "read list", "provide navigation instructions", "provide instructions for task", etc. The "send message" field is associated with a "send message" actionable intent node and further includes attribute nodes such as "one or more recipients", "message type", and "message body". The attribute node "recipient" is further defined, for example, by child attribute nodes such as "recipient name" and "message address".

In some examples, ontology 760 includes all domains (and thus actionable intents) that a digital assistant is able to understand and act upon. In some examples, ontology 760 is modified, such as by adding or removing entire domains or nodes, or by modifying relationships between nodes within ontology 760.

In some examples, nodes associated with multiple related actionable intents are clustered under a "super domain" in ontology 760. For example, a "travel" super-domain includes a cluster of attribute nodes and actionable intent nodes related to travel. Executable intent nodes related to travel include "airline reservations," "hotel reservations," "car rentals," "get routes," "find points of interest," and so on. An actionable intent node under the same super-domain (e.g., a "travel" super-domain) has multiple attribute nodes in common. For example, executable intent nodes for "airline reservations," hotel reservations, "" car rentals, "" get routes, "and" find points of interest "share one or more of the attribute nodes" start location, "" destination, "" departure date/time, "" arrival date/time, "and" party people.

In some examples, each node in ontology 760 is associated with a set of words and/or phrases that are related to the property or executable intent represented by the node. The respective set of words and/or phrases associated with each node is a so-called "vocabulary" associated with the node. The respective set of words and/or phrases associated with each node is stored in the lexical index 744 associated with the property or actionable intent represented by the node. For example, returning to fig. 7B, the vocabulary associated with the node of the "restaurant" attribute includes words such as "food," "drinks," "cuisine," "hunger," "eating," "pizza," "fast food," "meal," and so forth. As another example, the words associated with the node of actionable intent of "initiate a phone call" include words and phrases such as "call," "make phone call," "dial," "make phone with … …," "call the number," "call to," and the like. The vocabulary index 744 optionally includes words and phrases in different languages.

The natural language processing module 732 receives candidate text representations (e.g., one or more text strings or one or more symbol sequences) from the STT processing module 730 and, for each candidate representation, determines which nodes the words in the candidate text representation relate to. In some examples, if a word or phrase in a candidate text representation is found to be associated with one or more nodes in ontology 760 (via lexical index 744), then the word or phrase "triggers" or "activates" those nodes. Based on the number and/or relative importance of the activated nodes, the natural language processing module 732 selects one of the actionable intents as the task that the user intends for the digital assistant to perform. In some examples, the domain with the most "triggered" nodes is selected. In some examples, the domain with the highest confidence (e.g., based on the relative importance of its respective triggered node) is selected. In some examples, the domain is selected based on a combination of the number and importance of triggered nodes. In some examples, additional factors are also considered in selecting a node, such as whether the digital assistant has previously correctly interpreted a similar request from the user.

The user data 748 includes user-specific information such as user-specific vocabulary, user preferences, user addresses, a user's default second language, a user's contact list, and other short-term or long-term information for each user. In some examples, natural language processing module 732 uses user-specific information to supplement information contained in the user input to further define the user intent. For example, for a user request "invite my friend to my birthday party," natural language processing module 732 can access user data 748 to determine which people "friends" are and where and when the "birthday party" will be held without the user explicitly providing such information in their request.

It is to be appreciated that in some examples, natural language processing module 732 is implemented with one or more machine learning mechanisms (e.g., neural networks). In particular, one or more machine learning mechanisms are configured to receive candidate text representations and contextual information associated with the candidate text representations. Based on the candidate text representations and the associated context information, one or more machine learning mechanisms are configured to determine an intent confidence score based on a set of candidate actionable intents. The natural language processing module 732 may select one or more candidate actionable intents from a set of candidate actionable intents based on the determined intent confidence scores. In some examples, an ontology (e.g., ontology 760) is also utilized to select one or more candidate actionable intents from a set of candidate actionable intents.

Additional details of Searching for ontologies based on symbolic strings are described in U.S. utility patent application serial No. 12/341743, entitled "Method and Apparatus for Searching Using An Active Ontology," filed on 22.12.2008, the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.

In some examples, once natural language processing module 732 identifies an executable intent (or domain) based on a user request, natural language processing module 732 generates a structured query to represent the identified executable intent. In some examples, the structured query includes parameters for one or more nodes within the domain that can execute the intent, and at least some of the parameters are populated with specific information and requirements specified in the user request. For example, the user says "help me reserve a seat at 7 pm at a sushi shop. In this case, the natural language processing module 732 can correctly recognize the executable intention as "restaurant reservation" based on the user input. According to the ontology, the structured query of the "restaurant reservation" domain includes parameters such as { cuisine }, { time }, { date }, { party size }, and the like. In some examples, based on the speech input and text derived from the speech input using STT processing module 730, natural language processing module 732 generates a partially structured query for the restaurant reservation field, where the partially structured query includes parameters { cuisine ═ sushi class "} and { time ═ 7 pm" }. However, in this example, the user utterance contains insufficient information to complete a structured query associated with the domain. Thus, other necessary parameters such as { party number } and { date } are not specified in the structured query based on currently available information. In some examples, natural language processing module 732 populates some parameters of the structured query with the received contextual information. For example, in some examples, if the user requests a sushi store that is "nearby," the natural language processing module 732 populates the { location } parameter in the structured query with the GPS coordinates from the user device.

In some examples, natural language processing module 732 identifies a plurality of candidate executable intents for each candidate text representation received from STT processing module 730. Additionally, in some examples, a respective structured query is generated (partially or wholly) for each identified candidate executable intent. The natural language processing module 732 determines an intent confidence score for each candidate actionable intent and ranks the candidate actionable intents based on the intent confidence scores. In some examples, the natural language processing module 732 passes the generated one or more structured queries (including any completed parameters) to the task flow processing module 736 ("task flow processor"). In some examples, the structured query or queries for m-best (e.g., m highest ranked) candidate actionable intents are provided to task flow processing module 736, where m is a predetermined integer greater than zero. In some examples, the one or more structured queries for the m best candidate actionable intents are provided to task flow processing module 736 along with the corresponding one or more candidate textual representations.

Additional details for Inferring User Intent based on multiple candidate actionable intents determined From multiple candidate textual representations of Speech input are described in U.S. utility model patent application serial No. 14/298725 entitled "System and Method for introducing User Intent From Speech Inputs" filed 6.6.2014, the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.

Task flow processing module 736 is configured to receive one or more structured queries from natural language processing module 732, complete the structured queries (if necessary), and perform the actions required to "complete" the user's final request. In some examples, the various processes necessary to accomplish these tasks are provided in the task flow model 754. In some examples, task flow model 754 includes procedures for obtaining additional information from a user, as well as task flows for performing actions associated with an executable intent.

As described above, to complete a structured query, the task flow processing module 736 needs to initiate additional conversations with the user in order to obtain additional information and/or clarify potentially ambiguous utterances. When such interaction is necessary, task flow processing module 736 invokes dialog flow processing module 734 to participate in a dialog with the user. In some examples, the dialog flow processor module 734 determines how (and/or when) to request additional information from the user, and receives and processes the user response. The questions are provided to the user and the answers are received from the user through the I/O processing module 728. In some examples, the conversation flow processing module 734 presents the conversation output to the user via audible output and/or visual output and receives input from the user via a spoken or physical (e.g., click) response. Continuing with the above example, when the task flow processing module 736 invokes the conversation flow processing module 734 to determine "party size" and "date" information for a structured query associated with the domain "restaurant reservation," the conversation flow processing module 734 generates a message such as "a few bits in a line? "and" which day to book? "and the like to the user. Upon receiving an answer from the user, the dialog flow processing module 734 may populate the structured query with missing information or pass the information to the task flow processing module 736 to complete the missing information from the structured query.

Once the task flow processing module 736 has completed the structured query for the executable intent, the task flow processing module 736 begins executing the final task associated with the executable intent. Thus, the task flow processing module 736 performs the steps and instructions in the task flow model according to the specific parameters contained in the structured query. For example, a task flow model for the actionable intent "restaurant reservation" includes steps and instructions for contacting a restaurant and actually requesting a reservation for a particular party size at a particular time. For example, using structured queries such as: { restaurant reservation, restaurant ABC cafe, date 3/12/2012, time 7pm, party number 5}, task flow processing module 736 may perform the following steps: (1) logging into a server of an ABC cafe or a coffee shop such as

The restaurant reservation system of (1), (2) entering date, time, and party size information in the form of a website, (3) submitting a form, and (4) forming a calendar entry for the reservation in the user's calendar.

In some examples, the task flow processing module 736 either completes the task requested in the user input or provides the informational answer requested in the user input with the assistance of the service processing module 738 ("service processing module"). For example, the service processing module 738 initiates phone calls, sets calendar entries, invokes map searches, invokes or interacts with other user applications installed on the user device, and invokes or interacts with third-party services (e.g., restaurant reservation portal, social networking site, bank portal, etc.) on behalf of the task flow processing module 736. In some examples, the protocols and Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) required for each service are specified by respective ones of service models 756. The service handling module 738 accesses the appropriate service model for a service and generates a request for the service according to the protocol and API required by the service in accordance with the service model.

For example, if a restaurant has enabled an online reservation service, the restaurant submits a service model that specifies the necessary parameters to make the reservation and an API to communicate the values of the necessary parameters to the online reservation service. The service processing module 738, when requested by the task flow processing module 736, can establish a network connection with the online booking service using the Web address stored in the service model and send the necessary parameters for booking (e.g., time, date, party size) to the online booking interface in a format according to the API of the online booking service.

In some examples, the natural language processing module 732, the conversation flow processing module 734, and the task flow processing module 736 are used jointly and iteratively to infer and define the user's intent, to obtain information to further clarify and refine the user's intent, and to ultimately generate a response (i.e., output to the user, or complete a task) to satisfy the user's intent. The generated response is a dialog response to the speech input that at least partially satisfies the user intent. Additionally, in some examples, the generated response is output as a speech output. In these examples, the generated response is sent to a speech synthesis processing module 740 (e.g., a speech synthesizer), where the generated response may be processed to synthesize the dialog response in speech form. In other examples, the generated response is data content related to satisfying the user request in the voice input.

In examples where the task flow processing module 736 receives multiple structured queries from the natural language processing module 732, the task flow processing module 736 first processes a first structured query of the received structured queries in an attempt to complete the first structured query and/or to perform one or more tasks or actions represented by the first structured query. In some examples, the first structured query corresponds to a highest ranked executable intent. In other examples, the first structured query is selected from structured queries received based on a combination of a corresponding speech recognition confidence score and a corresponding intent confidence score. In some examples, if the task flow processing module 736 encounters an error during processing of the first structured query (e.g., due to an inability to determine the necessary parameters), the task flow processing module 736 may continue to select and process a second structured query of the received structured queries that corresponds to a lower ranked executable intent. The second structured query is selected, for example, based on the speech recognition confidence score of the corresponding candidate text representation, the intent confidence score of the corresponding candidate actionable intent, the missing necessary parameters in the first structured query, or any combination thereof.

The speech synthesis processing module 740 is configured to synthesize speech output for presentation to a user. The speech synthesis processing module 740 synthesizes speech output based on text provided by the digital assistant. For example, the generated dialog response is in the form of a text string. The speech synthesis processing module 740 converts the text string into audible speech output. Speech synthesis processing module 740 uses any suitable speech synthesis technique to generate speech output from text, including but not limited to: concatenative synthesis, unit-selective synthesis, diphone synthesis, domain-specific synthesis, formant synthesis, articulatory synthesis, Hidden Markov Model (HMM) based synthesis, and sine wave synthesis. In some examples, speech synthesis processing module 740 is configured to synthesize individual words based on the phoneme strings corresponding to the words. For example, the phoneme string is associated with a word in the generated dialog response. The phoneme string is stored in metadata associated with the word. The speech synthesis processing module 740 is configured to directly process the phoneme string in the metadata to synthesize words in speech form.

In some examples, speech synthesis is performed on a remote device (e.g., server system 108) instead of (or in addition to) using speech synthesis processing module 740, and the synthesized speech is sent to the user device for output to the user. This may occur, for example, in some implementations where the output of the digital assistant is generated at the server system. Also, since the server system typically has more processing power or more resources than the user device, it is possible to obtain a higher quality speech output than the client side synthesis will achieve.

Additional details regarding digital assistants can be found in U.S. utility patent application No. 12/987982 entitled "Intelligent Automated Assistant" filed on 10.1.2011 and U.S. utility patent application No. 13/251088 entitled "Generating and Processing Task Items That present Task Tasks to performance" filed on 30.9.2011, the entire disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference.

4. Process for continuous dialogue with digital assistant

Fig. 8-12 illustrate systems and processes for continuous conversations with a digital assistant. For example, as shown in fig. 10A-10B, electronic device 1002 may include any device described herein, including but not limited to

devices

104, 200, 400, and 600 (fig. 1, 2A, 4, and 6A-6B). Accordingly, it should be understood that the electronic devices depicted in fig. 8-12 may correspond to any type of user device, such as a phone, a laptop computer, a desktop computer, a tablet computer, a wearable device (e.g., a smart watch), a home speaker, and so forth. Further, the processes described herein may be performed by a server having information delivered to and from a device, information performed on a device, or a combination thereof.

In general, the process 800 depicts various states representing stages of interaction between a user of an electronic device and a digital assistant. In particular, process 800 may begin in an available state 802, which represents a state in which a user has not invoked the digital assistant. The user may then invoke the digital assistant in various ways. For example, a user can activate one or more buttons and/or affordances associated with an electronic device (e.g., a physical/mechanical control such as a knob or button, an object displayed on a touch-sensitive surface, etc.), utter one or more words or phrases (e.g., "hey, Siri," "hey, assistant," etc.), and so forth. Once invoked, the digital assistant may enter a listening state 804. In some examples, the user may dismiss the digital assistant in the listening state such that the digital assistant returns to the available state 802. While in the listening state 804, the digital assistant can sample audio that includes speech input from the user. The voice input may include various commands, questions, or other input directed to the digital assistant. Once the user is finished providing speech input, the digital assistant can begin processing speech input in processing state 806. During the processing state 806, the user may interrupt processing of the speech input by subsequent speech input, activation of one or more buttons/affordances, or the like. If the user interrupts the process state 806, the digital assistant can return to the listen state 804 and the sample audio includes additional speech input from the user.

If the user does not interrupt the processing state 806 and the digital assistant completes processing the voice input to obtain one or more results, the digital assistant may enter a response state 808. During the response state 808, the digital assistant can provide one or more results in various ways, such as audible output, displayed output, a combination of audible output and displayed output, and so forth. During the response state 808, the user can interrupt processing of the speech input by subsequent speech input, activation of one or more buttons/affordances, or the like. If the user discontinues the response state 808, the digital assistant may return to the listen state 804. If the user does not interrupt the response state 808, the digital assistant can enter a wait state 810 once the digital assistant has finished providing output during the response state 808. Specifically, during wait state 808, the digital assistant may wait for one or more forms of re-engagement with the user, as described herein. For example, a user may re-engage the digital assistant by providing additional speech input, viewing in the direction of the display of the electronic device and/or the direction in which the digital assistant object is displayed, providing one or more physical inputs (e.g., via buttons and/or affordances), and so forth. If user re-engagement is detected, the digital assistant returns to the listening state 804 to sample audio that includes speech input from the user. While in any of the listen state 804, the process state 806, the response state 808, or the wait state 810, the user may dismiss the digital assistant (e.g., using voice input, touch input, etc.). In response to the dismissal, the digital assistant can return to the available state 802.

Referring to fig. 9, a process 900 for interacting with a digital assistant is depicted. In general, FIG. 9 illustrates a process 900 by which a user can interact with a digital assistant, including various subsequent interactions. Process 900 may be implemented on an electronic device with a display in some examples, including devices such as smartphones, smartwatches, tablets, personal computers, headsets, and the like. Initially, a user may invoke the digital assistant at step 902, causing the digital assistant to begin listening to audio that includes the user's speech input. The user may then provide a first speech input 904 directed to the digital assistant. For example, the user may utter the phrase "hi, Siri" to invoke the digital assistant at step 902, and further utter the speech "how many years the age of barake obama is? ". The digital assistant can then process the first speech input 904 to obtain one or more results in response to the input. Once the digital assistant has finished processing the first speech input 904, the digital assistant can provide a first response 906 (e.g., an audible output and/or a display output) including the result "the age of barake obama is 59 years. After the digital assistant completes providing the first response 906, a conversation window 908 can be initiated.

In general, the session window may correspond to a duration of time for which the digital assistant is waiting to re-engage with one or more forms of the user. The duration may be based at least in part on the variable speech threshold 910. In particular, the duration may correspond to a duration in which the variable speech threshold 910 exceeds a predetermined speech threshold. The variable speech threshold may also be adjusted based on various factors, and may generally correspond to a confidence level indicating whether the user still wishes to engage with the digital assistant. For example, the variable speech threshold may decrease (i.e., decay) over time without a factor causing a particular increase or decrease. In some examples, the attenuation may be linear, exponential, function-specific, etc. For example, the threshold may include 100 possible points and may decay by 20 points per second. The attenuation may also be based on the context of the conversation, such as the content of the user's voice input, the digital assistant response, display information, and so forth.

In some examples, the variable speech threshold may be increased or decreased by a particular amount based on detecting the user gaze. Similarly, if there is no such user gaze beyond the decay over time, the variable speech threshold may not be further adjusted. Referring again to FIG. 9, for example, the user may perform act 912. In particular, after providing the first response 906 and during the session window 908, the user may perform an action 912, such as viewing the surrounding environment of the electronic device. For example, the user may not be viewing or looking at the display of the electronic device when performing act 912. Accordingly, variable speech threshold 910 is not adjusted in response to act 912. Thus, the variable speech threshold 910 continues to decay at a corresponding rate.

In some examples, the user may further perform act 914, which may include the user typically being gazing at one or more objects displayed on a display of the electronic device. In response to user action 914, an increase 916 of the variable speech threshold may occur. For example, the user gaze may be directed to one or more applications displayed on the home screen. In accordance with a determination that the user gaze is directed toward the display, the variable speech threshold may be increased by a first amount (e.g., by 10 points). The electronic device may alternatively detect a user's gaze directed to displaying a digital assistant object (e.g., "orb" or other object representing that the digital assistant is waiting for voice input). In accordance with a determination that the user gaze is directed at the digital assistant object, the variable speech threshold may be increased by a second amount (e.g., by 20 points) that is greater than the first amount. Thus, an increase 916 of the variable speech threshold 910 increases the duration of the conversation window 908.

During the conversation window 908, one or more additional speech inputs may be received from the user. In response to such speech input, it is determined whether the speech input includes speech directed to the digital assistant. Typically, the user gaze may be used as a context to determine whether the speech input includes speech directed to the digital assistant. For example, the direction of the user's gaze (e.g., gaze generally directed toward the display, gaze directed toward the digital assistant object, etc.) may be used as a factor in determining whether the user is speaking to the digital assistant before or when additional speech input is received. As an example, the user may look away from the electronic device 912 in order to speak to another user or entity (e.g., another user within the environment of the device, another device in the environment, another user who is switching on the telephony device, etc.). When looking away from the electronic device, the user may speak a voice 918, such as "see, i tell you that balack obama is less than 60 years old". After detecting the speech 918, it is determined that the speech 918 does not include speech directed to the digital assistant based at least in part on determining that the user is not viewing the electronic device. As discussed further herein, this determination may also be based on utilizing one or more different input models that incorporate the content of the user's speech. In some examples, the digital assistant object may change appearance when speech is detected that is not directed to the digital assistant object (e.g., the digital assistant object temporarily shrinks in size, temporarily enlarges in size, temporarily changes in color/animation, etc.).

In some examples, it is determined that the speech input comprises speech directed to a digital assistant. For example, the user may speak a voice 920, including "is the age of michel? ". Further, user action 914 may precede speech 920 and may correspond to the user viewing the displayed digital assistant object. Based at least in part on detecting the user action 914, the subsequent speech 920 can be considered to be directed to the digital assistant. Similarly, a relatively high variable speech threshold 910 (upon receipt of speech input 920) also tends to support a determination that speech 920 is directed to the digital assistant, as discussed further herein.

In some examples, various input models are used to determine whether the speech is directed to the digital assistant. In general, the input recognized with respect to each model may vary according to the selectivity of the model. For example, the licensing model may treat a relatively large number of inputs as potentially indicating that the speech is directed to a digital assistant, such as any command or query that the digital assistant is capable of processing and responding to (e.g., the phrase "how old is barake obama. The balancing model may treat a relatively moderate number of inputs as potentially indicating that the speech is directed to the digital assistant, such as "global" commands (e.g., "don", "i mean", "stop", "pause", "undo", "help", etc.), "context" commands (e.g., "next song", "back", etc.), and/or predefined assistant names (e.g., "Siri", "assistant", etc.). The restriction model may treat a relatively small number of inputs (e.g., only a predefined assistant name) as potentially indicating that the speech is directed to the digital assistant.

Each of these input models may optionally utilize additional context that has been determined, such as user gaze, device location/orientation, session context, previous word usage, and the like. For example, a user may typically begin a digital assistant command with the phrase "you can," such as "can you tell me scores of Packers games? "," can you read the latest news headline? "or" can you show tomorrow? Thus, the usage history corresponding to words or phrases that were frequently used in previous digital assistant requests may indicate that the same words in the phrase are very likely to be directed to the digital assistant. Thus, in this example, if the user uttered "how many years of age i can you tell me that barake obama is? ", then it may be determined that the speech input is directed to the digital assistant.

In general, the amount of increase or decrease in the variable speech threshold may be based on contextual information associated with the electronic device. For example, a user may be playing a media file such as a song. Based on the currently playing media, the contextual commands associated with the media playback may instruct the user's speech input to point to the digital assistant, and in particular to adjust the playback of the media using the digital assistant. For example, if the current electronic device is playing media, commands such as "increase volume," "next song," "play again," "repeat song," etc. may be considered to be directed to the digital assistant. As another example, a user may read a long article or other document on a display of a device. Here, commands such as "scroll down," "read this article," "next page," etc. may be considered to point to the digital assistant if the commands are operable on the currently viewed document.

The variable speech threshold may further affect the determination as to whether speech is directed to the digital assistant. In general, a higher variable speech threshold will tend to support a determination that speech is directed to the digital assistant, while a lower variable speech threshold will tend to oppose a determination that speech is directed to the digital assistant. The variable speech threshold level used as a basis for determining whether speech is directed to the digital assistant may correspond to a threshold level when speech input is first detected, during speech input (e.g., a "middle" portion of speech input), or corresponding to when speech input ends. In some examples, an average of variable speech threshold levels across the duration of the speech input may be used.

Various additional factors may affect the amount of increase or decrease in the variable speech threshold. In general, the amount of time between a current speech input (e.g., speech input 918) and a previous interaction, such as a user speech (e.g., speech input 904) or a digital assistant response (e.g., first response 906), can affect the adjustment to the variable speech threshold. As an example, speech received immediately after the digital assistant responds (e.g., first response 906) may be associated with a higher variable speech threshold level 910. Thus, such speech may typically be determined to be directed at the digital assistant without other factors (e.g., the user looking away from the display, irrelevant speech content, etc.) that tend to object to such determination. As another example, voice input 918 may be associated with a variable voice threshold 910 having a medium level. Here, a moderate variable speech threshold level may not greatly affect the determination. Thus, in conjunction with detecting that the user is looking away from the display via act 912, it is determined that speech 918 is not directed at the digital assistant.

The analysis of the user's speech may also affect the adjustment of the variable speech threshold. In particular, prosodic features of the user's speech may be identified and used as a basis for adjusting the variable speech threshold. These prosodic features include attributes such as stress, intonation, rhythm, word grouping, and the like. As an example, after a digital assistant response that includes playback of media, a user may issue a "true wand! Remember the song, facilitate playback after! "prosodic features of the utterance may indicate an emotional state of the user, specifically, an excited state or overall satisfaction. Thus, the variable speech threshold can be increased based on analysis of both speech content and prosody to give a general positive acceptance of the digital assistant's response. In some examples, voice recognition using speech recognition may help to affect variable speech threshold adjustments. Here, the speaker identity is determined based on speech recognition. In particular, a first speaker profile and a second speaker profile associated with the first voice input 904 and the subsequent voice input 918, respectively, are obtained. These speaker profiles may generally identify various characteristics of the speech, such as pitch, tone, bubble, rhythm, etc., based on a comparison of the speaker profiles (e.g., comparing one or more characteristics or combinations of characteristics) to determine whether each input speaker is the same. If the speaker of each input is the same, the variable speech threshold may be increased.

Applications and other digital assistant contexts can be utilized to affect the variable speech threshold. Typically, a user may interact with an application on the electronic device, such as a cooking application that includes various affordances for navigating recipes, materials, food items, and so forth. The presence of the respective application can be determined and used as context, for example, when interpreting the user's speech. For example, a user may issue "how much garlic i need? The "cooking application may be open and may further display a recipe including a bill of materials with" three-clove garlic ". Thus, given the existence of a cooking application and information associated with the cooking application (such as a bill of materials), based on the input "how much garlic i need? "point to the digital assistant to increase the variable speech threshold. Similarly, additional digital assistants, such as digital assistants associated with device applications, may be utilized. For example, a user may be viewing a personal banking application. The personal banking application may further include a digital assistant representation capable of responding to user requests within the context of the personal banking application. Here, the user may issue "what is my current balance? "the variable speech threshold is adjusted based on determining that the user's speech is directed to the digital assistant, taking into account the context of the personal banking application and the content of the user's speech (e.g., the term" balance "is relevant to the bank).

In some examples, additional aspects of the user's gaze are used as a basis for adjusting the variable speech threshold. In general, the electronic device may correspond to a headset capable of tracking a user's gaze within the context of an environment (virtual reality, augmented reality, etc.). Digital assistant objects may be represented within the environment, such as a circular object or "orb" within the user's perspective. A variable speech threshold may be increased in response to a user gaze toward the digital assistant object. Similarly, the digital assistant may have recently provided a response to the user. The response may be in the form of a displayed response object within the environment, such as a textual representation of the response or similar object. In response to a user's gaze toward the responsive object, a variable speech threshold can be increased. In some examples, additional users may be associated with or otherwise depicted with the environment. The variable speech threshold may be increased in response to user gaze towards, between (or between representations of) particular users (or users within the environment).

In some examples, the user may interrupt the response provided by the digital assistant. For example, while first response 906 is being provided, the user may provide additional speech input (not depicted), such as "how old michel obama was calculated? ". In response to determining that the additional speech input is directed to the digital assistant, the providing of the first response is ceased 906. The identification of whether the additional speech input provided while the digital assistant response is being provided is directed to the digital assistant may be based on the identification of at least one predefined word associated with the digital assistant response. Specifically, words associated with the break (e.g., "stop", "cancel", "hold"), words associated with the correction (e.g., "not … …", "i is saying … …"), and/or user frustration (e.g., "you are rotten through!", "when me does not say"). User frustration may be further determined based on prosodic information (e.g., volume, accent, intonation, etc.) contained within the user's speech. The subsequent response may be provided by the digital assistant in response to receiving the additional speech input during the initial digital assistant response. For example, in response to receiving a message including "stop! "the digital assistant may provide a subsequent response that includes" good, please let i know if you have another request ". Once the subsequent response is provided, a conversation window associated with the variable speech threshold may then be initiated.

Typically, the session window is maintained in an active state when the variable speech threshold 910 exceeds a predetermined speech threshold. While the conversation window 908 remains in the active state, audio input is detected in a first state. During the first state, speech input is analyzed and it is determined whether the speech input is directed to the digital assistant, as described with respect to fig. 9. In some examples, the variable speech threshold is determined not to exceed a predetermined speech threshold. For example, the variable speech threshold 910 may be considered to not exceed a predetermined minimum threshold (e.g., 0/100, 5/100, etc.) at point 922. In accordance with a determination that the variable speech threshold 910 does not exceed the predetermined speech threshold, the conversation window 908 ends. After the session window ends, audio input may be detected in the second state. For example, the second state may be a lower power state than the first state. In a second state, the electronic device can detect the audio input and determine whether the audio input includes speech directed to invoking the digital assistant. For example, a voice including a predefined word or phrase, such as "hi, Siri," may be utilized to invoke the digital assistant.

Referring now to fig. 10A, an exemplary interaction between a first user, a digital assistant, and a second user is depicted. Generally, the first user 1004 may be associated with the electronic device 1002 and may be proximate to the second user 1008. Electronic device 1002 can include a digital assistant represented by digital assistant object 1006. In some examples, the first user 1004 can activate the digital assistant (e.g., via a spoken trigger, button press, etc.) such that the display of the digital assistant object 1006 indicates that the digital assistant is waiting and is able to respond to spoken questions, commands, etc. Once the digital assistant is invoked, the first user 1004 may issue a first speech input 1010 including the speech "age of barake obama? ". The first user 1004 may also gaze at the digital assistant object 1006 before and/or while providing the first speech input 1010. It may be determined that the first speech input 1010 is directed to the digital assistant, as discussed with respect to fig. 9. In response to the first speech input 1010, the digital assistant may provide a response 1012 including the result "the age of balack obama is 59 years. As discussed with respect to fig. 9, once the response 1012 is provided, a session window may be initiated. Next, the user may issue a second voice input 1014 including "see, i tell you that barake obama is less than 60 years old. The second voice input 1014 may be provided when the user is not looking at or otherwise viewing a display associated with the electronic device 1002. In particular, when the voice input 1014 is issued, the user 1004 may be speaking to the user 1008. Here, it may be determined that the second speech input 1014 is not directed to the digital assistant, as discussed with respect to fig. 9.

Referring now to fig. 10B, the user 1004 may provide a third speech input 1016 during the conversation window, including the speech "age of michel? ". The third speech input 1016 can be determined to be directed to the digital assistant, as discussed with respect to fig. 9. For example, the user may no longer be speaking to second user 1008, and may also be looking at digital assistant object 1006 prior to issuing voice input 1016 and/or while issuing voice input 1016. In this example, the content of the first speech input 1010 and/or the response 1012 may also be used as context to disambiguate the speech input 1016. Specifically, the word "michel" may be disambiguated based on the context information "barake obama". In other words, the surname parameter associated with "Michelle" is determined to be the same as the surname parameter identified from the first speech input 1010 and/or response 1012, in particular "Olbam". In response to the third speech input 1016, the digital assistant can provide a response 1018 including the result "michel obama is 56 years old".

Referring to fig. 11, a process 1100 for interacting with a digital assistant is depicted. In general, FIG. 11 shows a process 1100 in which a user can interact with a digital assistant, including various subsequent interactions. Process 1100 can be implemented on an electronic device that optionally does not have a display. For example, process 1100 may be implemented on a home speaker. In some examples, process 1100 is implemented on a first device having a display such that the first device is further coupled to a second device without a display, e.g., a smartphone, tablet, or personal computer communicatively coupled to a headset (e.g., via a wireless connection or a wired connection). In this example, the user may interact with the digital assistant on the first device using the second device, for example, by providing voice input to the smartphone via the wireless headset. Initially, a user may invoke the digital assistant at step 1102, causing the digital assistant to begin listening to audio that includes the user's speech input. The user may then provide a first speech input 1104 directed to the digital assistant. For example, the user may speak "hi, Siri" to invoke the digital assistant at 1102, followed by the speech "what is the warrior team's game score? ". The user may also invoke the digital assistant by tapping on the electronic device (e.g., tapping on a touch-sensitive surface of a home speaker) or by tapping on a second device communicatively coupled to the electronic device (e.g., tapping on a headset communicatively coupled to a smartphone).

Once the digital assistant has finished processing the speech input 1104, the digital assistant may provide a first response 1106, such as an audible output with the result that the warrior team defeated the express team with a score of 75 to 69. In examples where the user provides speech input 1104 using a secondary electronic device, a response 1106 may also be provided by the secondary electronic device. After the digital assistant has finished providing the first response 1106, a conversation window 1108 may be initiated. In general, the session window may correspond to a duration for which the digital assistant may wait for re-engagement with one or more forms of the user. The duration may be based at least in part on a variable duration. The variable duration of the conversation window may be based on a variable speech threshold, as discussed with respect to fig. 9. For example, in accordance with a determination that the variable speech threshold exceeds the predetermined speech threshold, the conversation window continues to remain active and the variable duration of the conversation window is extended. Alternatively, in accordance with a determination that the variable speech certainty threshold does not exceed the predetermined speech threshold, the conversation window ends.

During the conversation window 1108, one or more additional speech inputs may be received from the user. In response to such speech input, it is determined whether the speech input includes speech directed to the digital assistant. For example, the user may provide a voice input 1110 including the voice "Java," scores that appear to be close to woollen ". Upon receiving the speech input 1110, it is determined whether the speech input 1110 comprises speech directed to a digital assistant. Here, the communicative coupling between the auxiliary device and the electronic device may be detected and used, at least in part, as a basis for determining whether the speech input 1110 comprises speech directed to a digital assistant. For example, a user may provide voice input to a smartphone through a wireless headset, such that the wireless connection may increase the confidence that the voice input is directed to the digital assistant. In some examples, the content of the speech input 1110 is utilized in order to determine whether the speech input includes speech directed to a digital assistant. The content for determination may also be based on the type of input model used (licensing model, balancing model, or limiting model), as discussed with respect to fig. 9. For example, in response to identifying a query phrase in the speech input (e.g., "how weather in cupertino. Here, upon receiving the speech input 1110 including "Java, score appears very close," it is determined that the speech input 1110 is not directed to the digital assistant based at least in part on the content of the speech input. In particular, the speech "wa, score may be determined to appear very close to" not including question phrases, commands or any predefined words or phrases.

In some examples, the user may interrupt the response provided by the digital assistant. For example, while first response 1106 is being provided, the user may provide additional speech input (not depicted), such as "not good meaning, Siri, i refers to a game of the male deer team". In response to determining that the additional speech input is directed to the digital assistant, the providing of the first response 1106 is ceased. The recognition of whether the additional speech input provided while the digital assistant response is being provided is directed to the digital assistant may be based on recognition of at least one predefined word associated with the digital assistant response. In particular, words associated with the interruption, words associated with the correction, and/or user frustration may be utilized in order to determine that the speech is directed to the digital assistant, as discussed with respect to fig. 9. Additional words may also be utilized, such as a name associated with the digital assistant (e.g., "Siri"). A subsequent response (not depicted) may then be provided, such as "the rooster team leads the bull team by a score of 50 to 35". Once the subsequent response is provided, a session window associated with the variable duration may then be initiated.

In some examples, additional speech input 1112 is received during conversation window 1108, including the speech "how much time is left for the race? ". In this example, it is determined that the speech input includes a query phrase, and thus the speech input 1112 includes speech directed to the digital assistant. In accordance with a determination that the speech input 1112 includes speech directed to the digital assistant, a second session window 1114 associated with a second variable duration is initiated. Typically, the additional session window may be started immediately upon determining that the respective speech input comprises speech directed to the digital assistant. In some examples, once the initial session window (such as session window 1108) ends, subsequent session windows (such as session window 1114) may begin. In some examples, rather than initiating a new conversation window 1114, the variable duration of the conversation window 1108 is extended based on an increase in the variable speech threshold (e.g., variable speech threshold 1122) in view of determining that the language is directed to the digital assistant. In response to the speech input 1112, a response 1116 corresponding to the input is provided by the digital assistant, such as "race has 12 minutes and 20 seconds left".

The audible output may be utilized to signal the session window to end, and thus the user, that the digital assistant is no longer actively listening to subsequent speech. For example, in accordance with a determination that speech input 1110 does not include speech directed to the digital assistant (and without receiving additional speech input 1112 (not depicted)), audible output is provided at a time corresponding to the end of the first variable duration associated with session window 1108, and in particular at time 1118. For example, a relatively short duration "chime" or other noise may be output to the user to send an end signal to the corresponding conversation window.

In some examples, it is determined whether audible output criteria are met. Generally, the audible output criteria may determine, in part, whether to output a sound signal indicating the end of the conversation window. Various scenarios may be affected whether such audible output is provided. In particular, a user may be playing media at an electronic device during interaction with a digital assistant, such as the interaction depicted in process 1100. In this example, when a session window (such as session windows 1108 and 1114) is active, the volume level associated with playing media may be lowered. In particular, the volume level associated with playing media may be decreased at a time corresponding to the beginning of the session window, and the volume level associated with playing media may be increased at a time corresponding to the end of the session window. Here, the audible output criteria are determined not to be satisfied when the media is played at the electronic device. Other factors that may affect whether the audible output criteria are met, such as whether an auxiliary electronic device is being used. For example, if the user is providing speech to the electronic device through a wireless headset, the audible output criteria may be determined to be satisfied. User preferences, device location, device position and/or orientation, device type, etc. may also be used to determine whether audible output criteria are met.

In accordance with a determination that the audible output criteria are met, audible output is provided at a time corresponding to the end of the duration of the respective conversation window, such as time 1120 associated with the conversation window 1114. Typically, audio input is detected in the first state while conversation windows (such as conversation windows 1108 and 1114) remain in the active state. During the first state, the speech input is analyzed and it is determined whether the speech input is directed to the digital assistant, as described with respect to fig. 9 and 11. After the end of the respective conversation window, audio input may be detected in the second state. For example, the second state may be a lower power state than the first state. In a second state, the electronic device can detect the audio input and determine whether the audio input includes speech directed to invoking the digital assistant. For example, speech including predefined words or phrases, such as "hi Siri," may be utilized in order to invoke the digital assistant.

5. Locking on-screen digital assistant interactions

Referring to fig. 12, a process 1200 for interacting with a digital assistant from a device lock screen is depicted. Generally, a user can interact with a digital assistant when a respective electronic device (such as device 1202) is locked or unlocked. A reduced or otherwise limited set of functionality may be used when the electronic device is locked relative to when the device is unlocked, such as providing access only to publicly available, non-private information (e.g., weather, sports, etc.). When the electronic device 1202 is locked, the status indicator 1204 may be displayed with the lock icon in a "locked" state. A digital assistant object 1206a may also be displayed. The digital assistant object 1206a may initially be displayed at a relatively small size, which may be similar or identical to the size of other objects displayed on the device lock screen (e.g., a flashlight affordance and/or a camera affordance). The user may also invoke the digital assistant object 1206a by touching the digital assistant object via the touch screen display of the electronic device 1202. The touch input invoking the digital assistant object may be a long press, a short press, or a hard press (e.g., based on one or more exceeding a threshold touch intensity).

In some examples, a user's gaze directed at the electronic device may also be detected. In particular, one or more cameras and/or sensors on the electronic device may obtain biometric information corresponding to facial features. These biometric information may be compared to reference biometric information in order to authenticate the user as an authorized user of the device. Once the user is authenticated as an authorized user of the device, the device transitions from the locked state to the unlocked state, as indicated by status indicator 1208. In particular, the status indicator 1208 may be displayed with the lock icon in an "unlocked" state.

In some examples, the user gaze is detected as being directed at digital assistant object 1206 a. One or more outputs, such as a tactile output (e.g., device vibration), may also be provided in response to detecting a user gaze at the digital assistant object 1206 a. The one or more animations of the digital assistant object 1206a may also change in response to detecting a user gaze directed at the digital assistant object. For example, in response to detecting the user gaze, a magnification of the digital assistant object 1206a may be displayed, in particular, such that the digital assistant object is displayed as digital assistant object 1206 b. The enlarged size of the digital assistant object 1206b may be maintained as long as the user gaze remains on the digital assistant object 1206 b. Thus, in response to detecting that the pointing direction of the user gaze is moved away from the digital assistant object, a size reduction of the digital assistant object is displayed by displaying the digital assistant object with an initial size (e.g., corresponding to digital assistant object 1206 a). For example, once the user moves away from the digital assistant object 1206b, the digital assistant object 1206b may be displayed to zoom out. The zooming out of the digital assistant object may also be displayed for a longer period of time than the zooming in of the digital assistant object. In some examples, the size of the digital assistant object remains the same regardless of the user gaze direction. For example, the size of the digital assistant object may not change based on the user's gaze, but may change based on the magnitude of the user's speech input.

Various animations of the digital assistant object may also be displayed with respect to the user gaze. For example, prior to detecting a user gaze at the digital assistant object 1206a, the digital assistant object 1206a may be displayed in one or more first colors and/or one or more objects moving at a first speed. In response to detecting a user gaze at the digital assistant object 1206a, the digital assistant object may be displayed as digital assistant object 1206 b. In some examples, the digital assistant object 1206b may be displayed in one or more second colors different from the first color and/or one or more objects moving at a second speed faster than the first speed. Upon detecting that the user gazes away from the digital assistant object 1206b, the digital assistant object may be displayed in one or more first colors and/or one or more objects moving at a first speed.

In some examples, an audio input is detected in response to detecting a gaze. For example, upon detecting a user gaze at the digital assistant object 1206a, the user may issue various questions, commands, and other queries. In some examples, detecting the audio input is stopped at a predetermined time after detecting the gaze movement away upon detecting the gaze's direction of movement away from the digital assistant object. For example, the electronic device may continue to sample audio input to detect the user query after the user has moved his or her gaze away from the digital assistant object 1206b (e.g., for five seconds). If the user resumes gaze directed to the digital assistant object during the five second durations, the digital assistant may continue to detect audio input until the user removes the gaze from the digital assistant object for longer than a predetermined duration.

In some examples, in accordance with a determination that the audio input includes a speech input associated with a task, a corresponding task is performed based on the speech input. In some examples, if the user fails to be authenticated based on the user gazing, the electronic device may be maintained in a locked state while performing the task based at least in part on determining that only non-private information is needed for the task. In some examples, performing the task may require access to personal information. In this regard, authentication of the user may occur before, concurrently with, or after the device detects the user's gaze directed at the digital assistant. For example, the user may issue "call mom," such that the task requires access to the user's contact list to initiate a phone call to a particular contact name "mom. In such cases, if the user has not been authenticated, performing the task may include obtaining biometric information corresponding to the user and authenticating the user based on the biometric information. As another example, a user's gaze at a digital assistant may also be utilized in order to obtain a biometric feature that is further compared to a reference biometric feature.

In some examples, the user may also be presented with a prompt requesting biometric information. For example, in scenarios where the user is not authenticated at the electronic device 1202 before gazing at a digital assistant object, biometric information (e.g., facial recognition information, fingerprint information, voiceprint information, etc.) may be used to authenticate the user prior to performing a task requiring personal information.

In some examples, in accordance with a determination that the audio input does not include a speech input, the display size of the digital assistant object 1206b is maintained as long as the user gaze remains directed at the digital assistant object 1206 b. In some examples, the digital assistant object 1206b is displayed as temporarily enlarged (e.g., for one to two seconds), and then returns to the size displayed prior to the temporary enlargement. The temporary amplification of the digital assistant object 1206 may also be displayed after a predetermined duration (e.g., three seconds of silence or non-speech noise) associated with the audio input that does not include a speech input. In some examples, an alternative animation of the digital assistant object 1206b may be displayed in accordance with a determination that the audio input does not include a speech input. For example, the digital assistant object 1206b may be displayed in one or more first colors and/or one or more objects moving at a first speed prior to detecting the presence of the voice input. In accordance with a determination that the audio input does not include a speech input, the digital assistant object 1206b may be displayed in one or more second colors different from the first color and/or one or more objects moving at a second speed faster than the first speed.

In general, the state of a digital assistant may vary based on display size, animation profile, color scheme, and the like. Referring to fig. 13, the first digital assistant state may correspond to a digital assistant object having a first size, such as digital assistant object 1302. For example, once the digital assistant enters a first state and begins listening for user speech directed to the digital assistant (e.g., subsequent speech related to the initial interaction), the digital assistant object 1302 is displayed. The digital assistant object 1302 may include various objects that move at a first speed. Once the digital assistant transitions to the second state, the digital assistant object may be displayed as shown via digital assistant object 1304. In particular, the digital assistant object 1304 can be larger than the digital assistant object 1302, the size of the digital assistant object 1304 can fluctuate based on the magnitude of speech received, and various objects within the digital assistant object 1304 can move at a faster rate relative to objects within the digital assistant object 1302. The animation or color scheme of the digital assistant object 1304 may also be dynamically modified based on the received speech amplitude.

Once the digital assistant determines that a complete user utterance has been detected (e.g., based on endpoint detection), the digital assistant may transition to a third state, such as the state represented by digital assistant object 1306. The third state may correspond to a processing state. During the processing state, digital assistant object 1306 may be reduced in size relative to digital assistant object 1304 and may include various objects that swirl at corresponding velocities. Here, these objects may be significantly different (e.g., smaller and/or less colored) than objects within the digital assistant object during other states. Once the digital assistant has finished processing the user's voice, the digital assistant may transition to a fourth state, such as the state represented by digital assistant object 1308. During the fourth state, digital assistant object 1308 may be displayed to be consistent with the dimensions of digital assistant objects 1302 and 1306. Further, the digital assistant object 1308 can include a particular animation profile and a particular color scheme (e.g., including a denser set than the vortex objects depicted in the digital assistant object 1302). When the digital assistant provides a response (e.g., an audible response and/or a display response) based on user voice input, the digital assistant object 1308 can represent a digital assistant. Once the digital assistant is finished providing the response, the digital assistant can return to the first state, as depicted by digital assistant object 1302.

Fig. 14A-14B illustrate a process 1400 for continuous conversation with a digital assistant in accordance with various examples. Process 1400 is performed, for example, using one or more electronic devices implementing a digital assistant. In some examples, process 1400 is performed using a client-server system (e.g., system 100), and the blocks of process 1400 are divided in any manner between servers (e.g., DA servers 106) and client devices. In other examples, the blocks of process 1400 are divided between a server and multiple client devices (e.g., a mobile phone and a smart watch). Thus, while portions of process 1400 are described herein as being performed by a particular device of a client-server system, it should be understood that process 1400 is not so limited. In other examples, process 1400 is performed using only a client device (e.g., user device 104) or only a plurality of client devices. In process 1400, some blocks are optionally combined, the order of some blocks is optionally changed, and some blocks are optionally omitted. In some examples, additional steps may be performed in connection with process 1400.

Referring to FIG. 14A, at block 1402, a first speech input directed to a digital assistant is received from a user. At block 1404, a first response is provided, wherein the first response is based on the first speech input. In some examples, a third speech input is received while the first response is being provided, and in accordance with a determination that the third speech input includes speech directed to the digital assistant, ceasing to provide the first response. In some examples, at least one predefined word associated with the digital assistant response is identified within the third speech input. In some examples, it is determined that the third speech input comprises speech directed to the digital assistant based on recognition of at least one predefined word associated with the digital assistant response. In some examples, the at least one predefined word associated with the digital assistant response includes at least one of a word associated with the interruption, a word associated with the correction, and a word associated with the disappointment. By allowing the user to interrupt the digital assistant, the system reduces unnecessary output from the device. Reducing unnecessary output enhances the operability of the device and makes the device more efficient, which in turn reduces power usage and improves the battery life of the device by enabling a user to use the device more quickly and efficiently.

At block 1406, a conversation window is initiated, wherein the conversation window is associated with a variable speech threshold. In some examples, a user gaze directed to a displayed object is detected, and the variable speech threshold is adjusted based on the detected user gaze. In some examples, the variable speech threshold is increased by a first amount in accordance with a determination that the user gaze is directed at a displayed object that corresponds to the digital assistant object. In some examples, in accordance with a determination that the user gaze is directed at a displayed object that does not correspond to a digital assistant object, the variable speech threshold is increased by a second amount, wherein the second amount is less than the first amount. At block 1408, a second speech input is received during the conversation window. By utilizing the conversation window associated with the variable speech threshold, the system focuses on the relevant time window to capture relevant additional speech from the user. Capturing additional speech from the user improves the user experience and makes the device more efficient by eliminating the need to submit a trigger for recalling the digital assistant. Thus, these features reduce power usage and improve the battery life of the device by enabling a user to use the device more quickly and efficiently.

Referring to FIG. 14B, at block 1410, it is determined whether the second speech input includes speech directed to the digital assistant. In some examples, the user gaze is detected when the second voice input is received, and in accordance with a determination that the detected user gaze is directed to a display of the electronic device, it is determined that the second voice input comprises voice directed to the digital assistant. In some examples, in accordance with a determination that the detected user gaze is directed at a displayed object that corresponds to a digital assistant object, it is determined that the second speech input comprises speech directed at the digital assistant. In some examples, a command within the second speech input is recognized, and in response to recognizing the command, it is determined that the second speech input includes speech directed to the digital assistant. In some examples, at least one predefined word within the second speech input is recognized, and in response to recognizing the at least one predefined word, it is determined that the second speech input comprises speech directed to the digital assistant. In some examples, the at least one predefined word is identified based on at least one of a usage history corresponding to a speech input previously provided by the user and a specified trigger word previously stored by the user. By determining whether a voice is directed to the digital assistant, the system improves accuracy by ignoring irrelevant voices. Improving accuracy enhances operability and makes the device more efficient, which in turn reduces power usage and improves battery life of the device by enabling a user to use the device more quickly and efficiently.

In accordance with a determination that the second speech input comprises speech directed to the digital assistant, at block 1412, a duration associated with the conversation window is increased. In accordance with a determination that the second speech input does not include speech directed to the digital assistant, at block 1414, the increase in duration associated with the conversation window is forgone. In some examples, increasing the duration associated with the conversation window includes increasing the variable speech threshold by a respective amount. In some examples, the respective amount is based on contextual information associated with the electronic device. In some examples, contextual information associated with the electronic device is retrieved, and at least one word corresponding to the retrieved contextual information is identified within the second speech input. In some examples, in response to identifying the at least one word corresponding to the retrieved contextual information, it is determined that the second speech input comprises speech directed to the digital assistant. In some examples, contextual information including the identification of the currently playing media is retrieved, and at least one word corresponding to the playback of the currently playing media is identified within the second speech input. In some examples, in response to identifying the at least one word corresponding to playback of the currently playing media, it is determined that the second speech input comprises speech directed to a digital assistant. By changing the speech threshold, the system improves accuracy by dynamically adjusting the threshold used to recognize speech based on the relevant context. Improving accuracy enhances operability and makes the device more efficient, which in turn reduces power usage and improves battery life of the device by enabling users to use the device more quickly and efficiently.

At block 1416, it is determined whether the variable speech threshold does not exceed a predetermined speech threshold. In accordance with a determination that the variable speech threshold does not exceed the predetermined speech threshold, the conversation window is ended at block 1418. At block 1420, in accordance with a determination that the variable speech threshold exceeds the predetermined speech threshold, the session window is maintained in an active state. In some examples, audio input is detected in the first state when the conversation window is active. In some examples, after the end of the conversation window, audio input is detected in the second state. In some examples, prosodic information associated with the second speech input is identified, and the variable speech threshold is adjusted based on the prosodic information in response to identifying the prosodic information. In some examples, a first speaker profile associated with a first speech input is identified, and a second speaker profile associated with a second speech input is identified. In some examples, the variable speech threshold is increased in accordance with a determination that the first speaker profile corresponds to the second speaker profile. In some examples, a user gaze associated with a displayed environment is detected. In some examples, the variable speech threshold is adjusted in accordance with detecting movement of a user gaze toward an object displayed in the environment.

By switching the device between speech recognition states based on the speech threshold, the system conserves processing resources by transitioning to a low power state when appropriate. Saving processing resources enhances the operability of the device and makes the device more efficient, which in turn reduces power usage and improves the battery life of the device by enabling users to use the device more quickly and efficiently.

The operations described above with reference to fig. 14-14B are optionally implemented by the components depicted in fig. 1-4, 6A-6B, and 7A-7C. For example, the operations of process 1300 may be implemented by one or more of the following: an operating system 718, an application module 724, an I/O processing module 728, a STT processing module 730, a natural language processing module 732, a vocabulary index 744, a task flow processing module 736, a service processing module 738, a media service 120-1, or

processors

220, 410, and 704. Those of ordinary skill in the art will clearly know how to implement other processes based on the components depicted in fig. 1-4, 6A-6B, and 7A-7C.

Fig. 15A-15B illustrate a process 1500 for continuous conversation with a digital assistant, according to various examples. Process 1500 is performed, for example, using one or more electronic devices implementing a digital assistant. In some examples, process 1500 is performed using a client-server system (e.g., system 100), and the blocks of process 1500 are divided in any manner between a server (e.g., DA server 106) and a client device. In other examples, the blocks of process 1500 are divided between a server and multiple client devices (e.g., a mobile phone and a smart watch). Thus, while portions of process 1500 are described herein as being performed by a particular device of a client-server system, it should be understood that process 1500 is not so limited. In other examples, process 1500 is performed using only a client device (e.g., user device 104) or only a plurality of client devices. In process 1500, some blocks are optionally combined, the order of some blocks is optionally changed, and some blocks are optionally omitted. In some examples, additional steps may be performed in connection with process 1500.

Referring to FIG. 15A, at block 1502, a first speech input directed to a digital assistant is received from a user. At block 1504, a first response is provided based on the first speech input. In some examples, a third speech input is received while the first response is being provided. In some examples, in accordance with a determination that the third speech input includes speech directed to the digital assistant, ceasing to provide the first response. In some examples, at least one predefined word associated with the digital assistant response is recognized within the third speech input. In some examples, it is determined that the third speech input comprises speech directed to the digital assistant based on recognition of at least one predefined word associated with the digital assistant response. In some examples, the at least one predefined word associated with the digital assistant response includes at least one of a word associated with the interruption, a word associated with the correction, and a word associated with the disappointment. At block 1506, a first session window is initiated, wherein the first session window is associated with a first variable duration. At block 1508, a second speech input is received during the first conversation window. By allowing the user to interrupt the digital assistant, the system reduces unnecessary output from the device. Reducing unnecessary output enhances the operability of the device and makes the device more efficient, which in turn reduces power usage and improves the battery life of the device by enabling a user to use the device more quickly and efficiently.

Referring to FIG. 15B, at block 1510, it is determined whether the second speech input comprises speech directed to the digital assistant. In some examples, a coupling between the auxiliary device and the electronic device is detected, wherein it is determined, based at least in part on the detection, that the second speech input comprises speech directed to the digital assistant. In some examples, a query phrase is identified within the second speech input, and responsive to identifying the query phrase, it is determined that the second speech input comprises speech directed to the digital assistant. In some examples, a command is recognized within the second speech input, and responsive to recognizing the command, it is determined that the second speech input includes speech directed to the digital assistant. In some examples, at least one predefined word is recognized within the second speech input, and in response to recognizing the at least one predefined word, it is determined that the second speech input comprises speech directed to the digital assistant. In some examples, the at least one predefined word is identified based on a history of usage corresponding to speech input previously provided by the user. In some examples, the at least one predefined word is identified based on a trigger word corresponding to a designation previously stored by the user. By determining whether a voice is directed to the digital assistant, the system improves accuracy by ignoring irrelevant voices. Improving accuracy enhances operability and makes the device more efficient, which in turn reduces power usage and improves battery life of the device by enabling users to use the device more quickly and efficiently.

In accordance with a determination that the second speech input comprises speech directed to the digital assistant, at block 1512, a second conversation window associated with a second variable duration is initiated. In some examples, contextual information associated with the electronic device is retrieved, wherein at least one word corresponding to the retrieved contextual information is identified. In some examples, in response to identifying the at least one word corresponding to the retrieved contextual information, it is determined that the second speech input comprises speech directed to the digital assistant. In some examples, the identifying includes identifying contextual information for the currently playing media, wherein at least one word corresponding to playback of the currently playing media is identified within the second speech input. In some examples, in response to identifying at least one word corresponding to playback of the currently playing media, it is determined that the second speech input comprises speech directed to the digital assistant. By utilizing a conversation window associated with a variable duration, the system focuses on the relevant time window to capture relevant additional speech from the user. Capturing additional speech from the user improves the user experience and makes the device more efficient by eliminating the need to submit triggers for recalling the digital assistant. Thus, these features reduce power usage and improve the battery life of the device by enabling a user to use the device more quickly and efficiently.

In accordance with a determination that the second speech input does not include second speech directed to the digital assistant, audible output is provided at a time corresponding to the end of the first variable duration at block 1514. In some examples, in accordance with a determination that the second speech input includes second speech that is not directed to the digital assistant, the first session window is maintained in an active state until a time corresponding to an end of the first variable duration. In some examples, a first voice input is received from the secondary electronic device, wherein a second voice input is received from the second electronic device. In some examples, the first response is caused to be provided at the secondary electronic device, wherein the audible output is caused to be provided at the secondary electronic device. By determining whether a voice is directed to the digital assistant, the system improves accuracy by ignoring irrelevant voices. Improving accuracy enhances operability and makes the device more efficient, which in turn reduces power usage and improves battery life of the device by enabling a user to use the device more quickly and efficiently.

At block 1516, a determination is made whether audible output criteria are met. In some examples, in accordance with a determination that the second speech input includes speech directed to the digital assistant and speech corresponding to the request to play the media item, providing a second response that includes playback of the media item. In some examples, the audio output criteria are determined not to be satisfied based on playback of the media item. In some examples, the volume associated with playback of the media item is increased at a time corresponding to the end of the second variable duration. By adjusting the volume based on the playing media, the system improves the operability of the device by interleaving audio cues within the playing media. Improving the operability of the device makes the device more efficient, which in turn reduces power usage and improves the battery life of the device by enabling a user to use the device more quickly and efficiently.

At block 1518, in accordance with the audible output criteria being met, an audible output is provided at a time corresponding to the end of the second variable duration. At block 1520, according to the audible output criteria not being satisfied, no audible output is provided at a time corresponding to an end of the second variable duration. In some examples, the audio input is detected in the first state when the second conversation window is active. In some examples, the second conversation window ends at a time corresponding to an end of the second variable duration, and the audio input is detected in the second state after the second conversation window ends. By providing audible output to the user, the system improves the operability of the device by notifying the user when the digital assistant is listening to a voice query. Improving the operability of the device makes the device more efficient, which in turn reduces power usage and improves the battery life of the device by enabling a user to use the device more quickly and efficiently.

Fig. 16 shows a process 1600 for locking on-screen digital assistant interactions, according to various examples. Process 1600 is performed, for example, using one or more electronic devices implementing a digital assistant. In some examples, process 1600 is performed using a client-server system (e.g., system 100), and the blocks of process 1600 are divided in any manner between servers (e.g., DA servers 106) and client devices. In other examples, the blocks of process 1600 are divided between a server and multiple client devices (e.g., a mobile phone and a smart watch). Thus, while portions of process 1600 are described herein as being performed by a particular device of a client-server system, it should be understood that process 1600 is not so limited. In other examples, process 1600 is performed using only a client device (e.g., user device 104) or only a plurality of client devices. In process 1600, some blocks are optionally combined, the order of some blocks is optionally changed, and some blocks are optionally omitted. In some examples, additional steps may be performed in connection with process 1600.

At block 1602, the digital assistant object is displayed as having a first size when the electronic device is in a locked state. At block 1604, a gaze directed to a digital assistant object is detected, wherein the gaze is associated with a user of the electronic device. In some examples, in response to detecting the gaze, a haptic output is provided that lasts for a predetermined duration. In some examples, the digital assistant object is displayed with a first animation prior to detecting the gaze directed at the digital assistant object and the digital assistant object is displayed with a second animation when the gaze directed at the digital assistant object is detected. In some examples, a direction of the gaze is detected to move away from the digital assistant object, and the digital assistant object is displayed with a first animation in response to detecting that the direction of the gaze moves away from the digital assistant object. In some examples, when the digital assistant object is displayed at the first animation, the digital assistant object is displayed to include one or more objects moving at a first speed. In some examples, when the digital assistant object is displayed with the second animation, the digital assistant is displayed to include one or more objects moving at a second speed, where the second speed is faster than the first speed. By displaying various animations of the digital assistant object based on the user's gaze, the system improves the operability of the device by notifying the user when the digital assistant is listening to a voice query. Improving the operability of the device makes the device more efficient, which in turn reduces power usage and improves the battery life of the device by enabling a user to use the device more quickly and efficiently.

At block 1606, in response to detecting the gaze, the digital assistant object is displayed as having a second size that is larger than the first size. In some examples, displaying the digital assistant object as having a second size larger than the first size includes displaying a magnification of the digital assistant object. In some examples, when a gaze directed to the digital assistant object is detected, the digital assistant object is maintained at the displayed second size. In some examples, the orientation of the gaze is detected to move away from the digital assistant object, and in response to detecting that the orientation of the gaze moves away from the digital assistant object, a size reduction of the digital assistant object is displayed by displaying the digital assistant object to have a first size. In some examples, in response to detecting that the gaze is directed away from the digital assistant object, the digital assistant object is displayed with a first size that is smaller than a second size, including displaying a zoom-out of the digital assistant object. In some examples, displaying the zoom-in of the digital assistant object includes displaying the zoom-in for a first predetermined duration, and displaying the zoom-out of the digital assistant object includes displaying the zoom-out for a second predetermined duration that is longer than the first predetermined duration. By displaying various animations of the digital assistant object based on the user's gaze, the system improves the operability of the device by notifying the user when the digital assistant is listening to a voice query. Improving the operability of the device makes the device more efficient, which in turn reduces power usage and improves the battery life of the device by enabling a user to use the device more quickly and efficiently.

At block 1608, in response to detecting the gaze, an audio input is detected. In some examples, the gaze direction is detected moving away from the digital assistant object, and the detecting of the audio input is stopped at a predetermined time after the gaze direction is detected moving away from the digital assistant object. By detecting audio for a predetermined time after detecting the user's gaze away from the digital assistant object, the system improves operability of the device by listening to relevant speech based on the user's gaze. Improving the operability of the device makes the device more efficient, which in turn reduces power usage and improves the battery life of the device by enabling a user to use the device more quickly and efficiently.

At block 1610, it is determined whether the audio input includes speech input. At block 1612, in accordance with a determination that the audio input includes speech input, a task is performed based on the speech input. In some examples, performing the task based on the voice input includes maintaining the electronic device in a locked state and performing the task while the electronic device remains in the locked state. In some examples, determining the task based on the voice input includes determining the task based on non-private information. In some examples, performing the task based on the voice input includes obtaining biometric information corresponding to the user, and authenticating the user based on the biometric information. In some examples, in response to authenticating the user based on the biometric information, the electronic device transitions from the locked state to the unlocked state and performs the task while the electronic device remains in the unlocked state. In some examples, the user is prompted to enter authentication information in accordance with a determination that a task based on the voice input requires access to private information. By authenticating the user based on the biometric information, the system improves the operability of the device by improving device security. Improving the operability of the device makes the device more efficient, which in turn reduces power usage and improves the battery life of the device by enabling a user to use the device more quickly and efficiently.

In accordance with a determination that the audio input does not include a speech input, at block 1614, when a gaze directed to the digital assistant object is detected, the display of the digital assistant object is maintained to have a second size that is larger than the first size. In some examples, in accordance with a determination that the audio input does not include a voice input associated with a user of the electronic device for a predetermined duration, at least one output is provided. In some examples, providing the at least one output includes, upon detecting a gaze directed to the digital assistant object, displaying the digital assistant object with a third size that is larger than the second size, and after displaying the digital assistant object with the third size that is larger than the second size, displaying the digital assistant object with a second size that is smaller than the third size. In some examples, providing the at least one output includes providing a tactile output for a predetermined duration. In some examples, providing the at least one output includes displaying the digital assistant object as including one or more objects moving at a first speed. By displaying various animations of the digital assistant object based on the user's gaze, the system improves the operability of the device by notifying the user when the digital assistant is listening to a voice query. Improving the operability of the device makes the device more efficient, which in turn reduces power usage and improves the battery life of the device by enabling a user to use the device more quickly and efficiently.

The operations described above with reference to fig. 16 are optionally implemented by the components depicted in fig. 1-4, 6A-6B, and 7A-7C. For example, the operations of process 1300 may be implemented by one or more of the following: an operating system 718, an application module 724, an I/O processing module 728, a STT processing module 730, a natural language processing module 732, a vocabulary index 744, a task flow processing module 736, a service processing module 738, a media service 120-1, or

processors

According to some implementations, a computer-readable storage medium (e.g., a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium) is provided that stores one or more programs for execution by one or more processors of an electronic device, the one or more programs including instructions for performing any of the methods or processes described herein.

According to some implementations, an electronic device (e.g., a portable electronic device) is provided that includes means for performing any of the methods and processes described herein.

According to some implementations, an electronic device (e.g., a portable electronic device) is provided that includes a processing unit configured to perform any of the methods and processes described herein.

According to some implementations, an electronic device (e.g., a portable electronic device) is provided that includes one or more processors and memory storing one or more programs for execution by the one or more processors, the one or more programs including instructions for performing any of the methods and processes described herein.

The foregoing description, for purpose of explanation, has been described with reference to specific embodiments. However, the illustrative discussions above are not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise forms disclosed. Many modifications and variations are possible in light of the above teaching. The embodiments were chosen and described in order to best explain the principles of the technology and its practical applications. Those skilled in the art are thus well able to best utilize the techniques and various embodiments with various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated.

Although the present disclosure and examples have been fully described with reference to the accompanying drawings, it is to be noted that various changes and modifications will become apparent to those skilled in the art. It is to be understood that such changes and modifications are to be considered as included within the scope of the disclosure and examples as defined by the following claims.

As described above, one aspect of the present technology is to collect and use data available from various sources to improve continuous conversations with a digital assistant. The present disclosure contemplates that, in some instances, such collected data may include personal information data that uniquely identifies or may be used to contact or locate a particular person. Such personal information data may include demographic data, location-based data, phone numbers, email addresses, twitter IDs, home addresses, data or records related to the user's health or fitness level (e.g., vital sign measurements, medication information, exercise information), date of birth, or any other identifying or personal information.

The present disclosure recognizes that the use of such personal information data in the present technology may be useful to benefit the user. For example, personal information (such as eye gaze data) may be used to determine whether a user is gazing at a digital assistant object. In addition, the present disclosure also contemplates other uses for which personal information data is beneficial to a user. For example, health and fitness data may be used to provide insight into the overall health condition of a user, or may be used as positive feedback for individuals using technology to pursue health goals.

The present disclosure contemplates that entities responsible for collecting, analyzing, disclosing, transmitting, storing, or otherwise using such personal information data will comply with established privacy policies and/or privacy practices. In particular, such entities should enforce and adhere to the use of privacy policies and practices that are recognized as meeting or exceeding industry or government requirements for maintaining privacy and security of personal information data. Such policies should be easily accessible to users and should be updated as data is collected and/or used. Personal information from the user should be collected for legitimate and legitimate uses by the entity and not shared or sold outside of these legitimate uses. Furthermore, such acquisition/sharing should be performed after receiving user informed consent. Furthermore, such entities should consider taking any necessary steps to defend and safeguard access to such personal information data, and to ensure that others who have access to the personal information data comply with their privacy policies and procedures. In addition, such entities may subject themselves to third party evaluations to prove compliance with widely accepted privacy policies and practices. In addition, policies and practices should be adjusted to collect and/or access specific types of personal information data and to apply applicable laws and standards including specific considerations of jurisdiction. For example, in the united states, the collection or acquisition of certain health data may be governed by federal and/or state laws, such as the health insurance flow and accountability act (HIPAA); while other countries may have health data subject to other regulations and policies and should be treated accordingly. Therefore, different privacy practices should be maintained for different types of personal data in each country.

Regardless of the foregoing, the present disclosure also contemplates embodiments in which a user selectively prevents use or access to personal information data. That is, the present disclosure contemplates that hardware elements and/or software elements may be provided to prevent or block access to such personal information data. For example, the techniques of the present invention may be configured to allow a user to opt-in or opt-out of collecting personal information data during or anytime and anywhere thereafter in the registration service. In another example, the user may choose not to provide the voice input information included in the conversation window. In yet another example, the user may choose to limit the details provided regarding the eye gaze data. In addition to providing "opt-in" and "opt-out" options, the present disclosure contemplates providing notifications related to accessing or using personal information. For example, the user may be notified when the application is downloaded that their personal information data is to be accessed, and then be reminded again just before the personal information data is accessed by the application.

Further, it is an object of the present disclosure that personal information data should be managed and processed to minimize the risk of inadvertent or unauthorized access or use. Once the data is no longer needed, the risk can be minimized by limiting data collection and deleting data. In addition, and when applicable, including in certain health-related applications, data de-identification may be used to protect the privacy of the user. Where appropriate, de-identification may be facilitated by removing certain identifiers (e.g., date of birth, etc.), controlling the amount or characteristics of data stored (e.g., collecting location data at the city level rather than the address level), controlling the manner in which data is stored (e.g., aggregating data among users), and/or other methods.

Thus, while the present disclosure broadly covers the use of personal information data to implement one or more of the various disclosed embodiments, the present disclosure also contemplates that various embodiments may be implemented without the need to access such personal information data. That is, various embodiments of the present technology do not fail to function properly due to the lack of all or a portion of such personal information data. For example, continuous conversation may be facilitated by inferring preferences based on non-personal information data or an absolute minimum amount of personal information (such as anonymous eye gaze data), other non-personal information available to the continuous conversation system, or publicly available information.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method, comprising:

at an electronic device with memory and one or more processors:

receiving a first speech input from a user directed to a digital assistant;

providing a first response based on the first speech input;

initiating a first session window, wherein the first session window is associated with a first variable duration;

receiving a second speech input during the first conversation window;

in accordance with a determination that the second speech input comprises speech directed to the digital assistant:

Initiating a second session window associated with a second variable duration; and

in accordance with an audible output criterion being met, an audible output is provided at a time corresponding to an end of the second variable duration.

2. The method of claim 1, comprising:

receiving the first voice input from an auxiliary electronic device;

receiving the second voice input from the secondary electronic device;

causing the first response to be provided at the auxiliary electronic device; and

causing the audible output to be provided at the secondary electronic device.

3. The method of any of claims 1 to 2, comprising:

detecting a coupling of an auxiliary device to the electronic device; and

determining, based at least in part on the detecting, that the second speech input comprises speech directed to the digital assistant.

4. The method of any of claims 1 to 2, comprising:

identifying a query phrase within the second speech input; and

in response to identifying the query phrase, determining that the second speech input comprises speech directed to the digital assistant.

5. The method of any of claims 1 to 2, comprising:

recognizing a command within the second speech input; and

In response to recognizing the command, determining that the second speech input comprises speech directed to the digital assistant.

6. The method of any of claims 1 to 2, comprising:

identifying at least one predefined word within the second speech input; and

in response to identifying the at least one predefined word, determining that the second speech input comprises speech directed to the digital assistant.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the at least one predefined word is identified based on a usage history corresponding to a speech input previously provided by the user.

8. The method of any of claims 7, wherein the at least one predefined word is identified based on a specified trigger word previously stored by the user.

9. The method of any of claims 1 to 2, comprising:

retrieving contextual information associated with the electronic device;

identifying at least one word within the second speech input that corresponds to the retrieved contextual information; and

in response to identifying the at least one word that corresponds to the retrieved contextual information, determining that the second speech input comprises speech directed to the digital assistant.

10. The method of any of claims 1 to 2, comprising:

retrieving contextual information including an identification of the currently playing media;

identifying at least one word within the second speech input that corresponds to playback of the currently playing media; and

in response to identifying the at least one word corresponding to playback of the currently playing media, determining that the second speech input comprises speech directed to the digital assistant.

11. The method of any of claims 1 to 2, comprising:

receiving a third speech input while the first response is being provided; and

in accordance with a determination that the third speech input comprises speech directed to the digital assistant, ceasing to provide the first response.

12. The method of claim 11, the method comprising:

identifying at least one predefined word associated with a digital assistant response within the third speech input; and

determining, based on the recognition of the at least one predefined word associated with a digital assistant response, that the third speech input comprises speech directed to the digital assistant.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the at least one predefined word associated with a digital assistant response comprises at least one of a word associated with an interruption, a word associated with a correction, and a word associated with a disappointment.

14. The method of any of claims 1 to 2, comprising:

in accordance with a determination that the second speech input does not include speech directed to the digital assistant, the first session window is maintained active until a time corresponding to an end of the first variable duration.

15. The method of any of claims 1 to 2, comprising:

in accordance with a determination that the second speech input does not include speech directed to the digital assistant, providing an audible output at a time corresponding to an end of the first variable duration.

16. The method of any of claims 1 to 2, comprising:

detecting audio input in a first state while the second conversation window is active;

ending the second session window at the time corresponding to the end of the second variable duration; and

after the second conversation window ends, audio input is detected in a second state.

17. The method of any of claims 1 to 2, comprising:

in accordance with a determination that the second speech input includes speech directed to the digital assistant and speech corresponding to the request to play the media item:

Providing a second response comprising playback of the media item;

determining, based on the playback of the media item, that an audio output criterion is not satisfied; and

increasing a volume associated with the playback of the media item at a time corresponding to an end of the second variable duration.

18. The method of any of claims 1 to 2, comprising:

in accordance with an audible output criterion not being met, forgoing providing audible output at a time corresponding to an end of the second variable duration.

19. A computer readable storage medium storing one or more programs, the one or more programs comprising instructions, which when executed by one or more processors of a first electronic device, cause the first electronic device to:

receiving a first speech input from a user directed to a digital assistant;

providing a first response based on the first speech input;

initiating a first conversation window, wherein the first conversation window is associated with a first variable duration;

receiving a second voice input during the first conversation window;

in accordance with a determination that the second speech input includes speech directed to the digital assistant, initiate a second session window associated with a second variable duration; and

20. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 19, wherein the instructions cause the first electronic device to:

receiving the first voice input from an auxiliary electronic device;

receiving the second voice input from the secondary electronic device;

causing the audible output to be provided at the auxiliary electronic device.

21. The computer-readable storage medium of any of claims 19-20, wherein the instructions cause the first electronic device to:

detecting a coupling of an auxiliary device to the electronic device; and

22. The computer-readable storage medium of any of claims 19-20, wherein the instructions cause the first electronic device to:

identifying a query phrase within the second speech input; and

23. The computer-readable storage medium of any of claims 19-20, wherein the instructions cause the first electronic device to:

recognizing a command within the second speech input; and

24. The computer-readable storage medium of any of claims 19-20, wherein the instructions cause the first electronic device to:

identifying at least one predefined word within the second speech input; and

25. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 24, wherein the at least one predefined word is identified based on a usage history corresponding to a speech input previously provided by the user.

26. The computer-readable storage medium of any of claims 25, wherein the at least one predefined word is identified based on a specified trigger word previously stored by the user.

27. The computer-readable storage medium of any of claims 19-20, wherein the instructions cause the first electronic device to:

Retrieving contextual information associated with the electronic device;

28. The computer-readable storage medium of any of claims 19-20, wherein the instructions cause the first electronic device to:

29. The computer-readable storage medium of any of claims 19-20, wherein the instructions cause the first electronic device to:

receiving a third speech input while the first response is being provided; and

30. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 29, wherein the instructions cause the first electronic device to:

31. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 30, wherein the at least one predefined word associated with a digital assistant response comprises at least one of a word associated with an interruption, a word associated with a correction, and a word associated with a disappointment.

32. The computer-readable storage medium of any of claims 19-20, wherein the instructions cause the first electronic device to:

33. The computer-readable storage medium of any of claims 19-20, wherein the instructions cause the first electronic device to:

34. The computer-readable storage medium of any of claims 19-20, wherein the instructions cause the first electronic device to:

35. The computer-readable storage medium of any of claims 19-20, wherein the instructions cause the first electronic device to:

providing a second response comprising playback of the media item;

36. The computer-readable storage medium of any of claims 19-20, wherein the instructions cause the first electronic device to:

37. An electronic device, comprising:

one or more processors;

a memory; and

one or more programs, wherein the one or more programs are stored in the memory and configured to be executed by the one or more processors, the one or more programs including instructions for:

receiving a first speech input from a user directed to a digital assistant;

providing a first response based on the first speech input;

receiving a second voice input during the first conversation window;

in accordance with an audible output criterion being met, audible output is provided at a time corresponding to an end of the second variable duration.

38. The electronic device of claim 37, the one or more programs including instructions for:

receiving the first voice input from an auxiliary electronic device;

receiving the second voice input from the secondary electronic device;

causing the audible output to be provided at the auxiliary electronic device.

39. The electronic device of any of claims 37-38, the one or more programs including instructions for:

detecting a coupling of an auxiliary device to the electronic device; and

40. The electronic device of any of claims 37-38, the one or more programs including instructions for:

identifying a query phrase within the second speech input; and

41. The electronic device of any of claims 37-38, the one or more programs including instructions for:

Recognizing a command within the second speech input; and

42. The electronic device of any of claims 37-38, the one or more programs including instructions for:

identifying at least one predefined word within the second speech input; and

in response to recognizing the at least one predefined word, determining that the second speech input comprises speech directed to the digital assistant.

43. The electronic device of claim 42, wherein the at least one predefined word is identified based on a history of usage corresponding to speech input previously provided by the user.

44. The electronic device of any of claims 43, wherein the at least one predefined word is identified based on a specified trigger word previously stored by the user.

45. The electronic device of any of claims 37-38, the one or more programs including instructions for:

retrieving contextual information associated with the electronic device;

46. The electronic device of any of claims 37-38, the one or more programs including instructions for:

identifying, within the second speech input, at least one word corresponding to playback of the currently playing media; and

47. The electronic device of any of claims 37-38, the one or more programs including instructions for:

receiving a third speech input while the first response is being provided; and

48. The electronic device of claim 47, the one or more programs including instructions for:

49. The electronic device of claim 48, wherein the at least one predefined word associated with a digital assistant response comprises at least one of a word associated with an interruption, a word associated with a correction, and a word associated with a disappointment.

50. The electronic device of any of claims 37-38, the one or more programs including instructions for:

51. The electronic device of any of claims 37-38, the one or more programs including instructions for:

52. The electronic device of any of claims 37-38, the one or more programs including instructions for:

53. The electronic device of any of claims 37-38, the one or more programs including instructions for:

in accordance with a determination that the second speech input includes speech directed to the digital assistant and speech corresponding to a request to play a media item:

providing a second response comprising playback of the media item;

54. The electronic device of any of claims 37-38, the one or more programs including instructions for:

55. An electronic device, comprising:

apparatus for performing the method of any one of claims 1 to 2.

56. A computer program product comprising one or more programs, the one or more programs comprising instructions, which when executed by one or more processors of an electronic device, cause the electronic device to perform the method of any of claims 1-2.