FR3084804A1 - ACCOUNTING WITH ALL EXISTING VOICE ASSISTANTS AND COMPLEMENTARY START-UP OF MATERIALS - Google Patents

Description

- Accounting with all existing voice assistants and additional activation of equipment

Technical area

The present invention will allow a voice assistant to be connected to old devices (television set, lighting system, heating thermostat, etc.) which are not compatible with this type of equipment. It will also provide the interface between an existing voice assistant (Google, Apple, Amazon ...) and old equipment such as a 1950s black / white television.

In this patent description, “voice assistant on the market” should be understood to mean the existing voice assistants (Google, Apple, Amazon, etc.).

Our voice assistant will be equipped with a touch screen. The system can be controlled remotely through a remote control, voice assistant or any other way.

State of the art

Advances in technology have led to the proliferation of voice assistants. These devices make it possible to communicate by voice with different types of equipment: smartphone, home automation systems, audio or video equipment. They also offer research services via the internet (journey time, routes, weather forecasts), or database consultation ... However, they are only compatible with the most recent systems, designed to take into account this feature. Existing voice assistants limit their fields of action to receiving devices deemed compatible with their software.

Existing voice assistants have not considered adapting their products and services to products deemed too "vintage" or old. Over 60 million voice assistants

-2 have been sold in the USA, a report by the NPR and Edison Research shows that one in six Americans uses a domestic assistant. More and more devices are therefore replaced for the benefit of these new assistants when it would be enough to keep their old devices and add an additional accounting which would act as an interface with the voice assistant.

The “voice assistants on the market” will provoke “Scheduled obsolescence, which is defined by all of the techniques by which a marketer aims to deliberately shorten the life of a product in order to increase its replacement rate. ": The individual will get rid of his old television, even if it is recent, in order to buy a new one that will be compatible with" voice assistants on the market ". Through our invention, he will keep his television regardless of the voice assistant he uses since our voice assistant will link these two devices.

descriptive

Voice control has obvious advantages for many applications and is intended to develop in our everyday environment.

It allows you to operate a device without moving or requiring a gesture, which is essential for a sick or disabled person, but also for parents who have to go about their business with a young child in their arms. Starting the cooking of a plan, increasing the temperature of a room, turning on the television or changing channels, obtaining information on road traffic are actions that can be launched without moving, by a command given by voice.

This is a significant advance in the field of road safety since it becomes possible to send messages, to control a car radio or a GPS without removing your hands from the steering wheel.

-3Its ease of use is an asset for the elderly, often reluctant to operate screens or keyboards.

To allow as many people as possible to benefit from this technology, it must be able to adapt to all types of equipment, whatever their age and the technology to which they use.

The author of the present invention has therefore imagined the device of this patent, of which he has defined a certain number of objectives such as below:

According to the preferred embodiment of the invention, the device consists of a housing (1) 10 which makes it possible to pick up the voice and to convert it into a signal interpretable by the device which is to receive the command. Said device will act mechanically by activating or deactivating the desired functions. He could have within it a touch screen to manage orders manually with his fingers. One of the main benefits of voice control is that you no longer have anything in your hand, and that you no longer have a screen to consult. We ask a question, what will the weather be tomorrow?, And we get the answer. We ask the assistant to play this or that piece of music, it starts on its own. He is asked to turn off the connected lighting, he runs.

In all these cases often put forward, voice confirmation is more than enough. When you want to go further, ask more complex questions, obtain visual information, the absence of a screen is felt.

“There are just as many cases: when I want an explanation, rather than listening to the voice that reads me Wikipedia for 20 seconds, I prefer to read this paragraph myself on the wizard screen. When I ask for the weather for the next 7 days, rather than a list of shelled temperatures, I prefer to have a global vision which I will go through in 2 seconds. And when my daughter asks to see a photo of a hippopotamus, experience lived on a Google Home that answered her classic and there, it's the bug, it's still more practical with a screen ”(A misadventure lived by Internet user )

With the screen associated with the assistant, we combine the best of both worlds: the voice response when it is sufficient on its own, the screen display when it corresponds to my request.

According to the preferred embodiment of the invention, the box is connected to the device to be controlled. It can also be placed remotely, for example in the case of a heating programmer, located in a living room.

According to the preferred embodiment of the invention, the connection mode will be chosen according to the input devices provided by the target device and the connection, direct or remote. The box can use different output modes such as

-4 WIFI or Bluetooth connection, a USB socket (2), a wired link, radio waves, the PLC or any other means of communication.

According to the preferred embodiment of the invention, a microphone (3) present on the housing will make it possible to pick up the voice of the user.

According to the preferred embodiment of the invention, the box will also make it possible to create the interface between a voice assistant on the market and old equipment. It will receive the signal emitted by the voice assistant via a wireless link and will transmit it to a device not compatible with the voice assistant in the appropriate format, by one of the output modes described above.

According to the preferred embodiment of the invention, the box can be used to communicate devices of different brands, operating with non-compatible connection methods.

The figures appended to this document show:

- A general view of the device (Fig. 1);

- A view of the connection of the box to a programmer (4) of an existing heater (5) (Fig. 2).

Conclusion

The present invention is innovative because it does not appear in existing applications or in patents already filed. It is interesting because it makes it possible to pilot by the voice of old devices, not equipped with voice command devices. In addition to applications for individuals (home automation, sound and video, household appliances, automotive), it can be extended to the professional world, in

-5particular for medical equipment, or intended for industry or crafts. The replacement of the machines takes place there in longer cycles, which gives plenty of room for a device making it possible to extend and simplify their use.

An interesting application of this invention could be the possibility of making devices of different brands communicate together, not designed to be interconnected. The development of new technologies is often accompanied by a multiplication of communication methods and standards, which allows their designers to keep their customers captive. The box presented above will overcome this constraint and choose equipment without taking into account their possible incompatibility.

Claims (5)

1) Device for controlling by voice command a device which was not originally designed for this use, characterized in that it consists of a housing (1) which will be connected to the target device. 2) Device according to claim 1, characterized in that the housing consists of a microphone (3) for picking up the user's voice, a converter which interprets the received voice signal and converts it into an interpretable electronic signal by the target device, and a transmitter that transmits the signal produced to the target device. 3) Device according to claim 1, characterized in that the box can communicate with the device to be piloted to transmit the instructions emitted by voice, by means of different types of connection, such as USB socket (2), Wi-Fi connection, connection radio, wired link, PLC current, ... or any other mode available in 15 entry on target device. 4) Device according to claims 1 and 3, characterized in that the housing will also provide the interface between a voice assistant on the market and any other device not connected to the Internet. The signal from the voice assistant will be sent to 20 box via a wireless link, converted into a format interpretable by the target device and transmitted to the latter by one of the output modes described in claim 3. 5) Device according to claims 1, 3 and 4, characterized in that the housing consists of a microphone (3) for picking up the voice of the user, a 25 converter which interprets the signal emitted by the voice assistant and converts it into an electronic signal interpretable by the target device, and a transmitter which transmits the signal produced to the target device.