JP2002007015A - Information processor and computer readable storage medium - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an information processor provided with a function for automatically deciding whether to be help display or to be function performance on the basis of the recognition results of an inputted voice and a short cut function for voice which can be utilized by only learning a function name and a computer readable storage medium. SOLUTION: A voice recognizing part 2 recognizes a voice inputted to a voice inputting part 1, and when a command deciding part 3 decides that a request sentence recognized by the part 2 is a help request command, the help controlling part 4a of a function controlling part 4 makes a displaying part 5 perform help display. When the part 3 decides that the request sentence recognized by the part 2 is a function performance command, the function performance controlling part 4b of the part 4 performs the function of the function performance command.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus for outputting a help or executing a function based on a speech recognition result, and a computer-readable storage medium.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art At present, when a predetermined operation is performed on a device such as a personal computer (hereinafter, referred to as a personal computer) or a word processor, a method using a keyboard and a mouse is mainly used. is there. However, in many cases, the execution of various functions of the application, the explanation of functions by displaying help, and the like follow the hierarchical menu in order, and there is a problem that it is difficult to know from which menu the function to be used can be followed. . Also, for frequently used functions, it becomes cumbersome to follow the menu in order as the user gets used to the operation. As a method of solving this, shortcut keys are set for some of the functions that are considered to be frequently used, but these shortcut keys are combinations of two or more keys and are difficult to remember. Therefore, attention has begun on voice recognition in which a command is given by directly inputting a voice to perform a predetermined operation such as activation of an application or execution of a function.

Conventionally, as for executing a help or a function based on a recognition result of an input voice, for example, Japanese Patent No. 2504779 has a flag which is set or reset by operating a help key. When a voice is input from the means, a description of the function of the voice information is output or the function is executed depending on the state of the flag.

In many applications such as a personal computer, a menu is selected based on a recognition result of an input voice. This is only a menu selection by a mouse replaced with a voice. The problem remains that it is difficult to determine from which menu you can follow.

As described above, in the information processing apparatus that displays help and executes a function based on the recognition result of the input voice, whether to display the help or execute the function is set by key operation or menu selection. The determination is made in the help display mode or the function execution mode. In addition, when executing a function, in many cases, menu selection is performed by voice instead of menu selection by a mouse, and there is a problem that it is difficult to determine from which menu a function desired to be used can be followed.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to automatically determine whether to display a help or to execute a function based on a recognition result of input speech, and to use the function simply by learning a function name instead of a shortcut function. An object of the present invention is to provide an information processing apparatus having a voice operation function and a computer-readable storage medium.

[0007]

In order to achieve the above object, an information processing apparatus according to the present invention includes a voice recognition unit for recognizing an input voice, based on a request sentence recognized by the voice recognition unit. An information processing device that operates, a command determination unit that determines whether a request sentence recognized by the voice recognition unit is a help request command or a function execution command, and a request that the command determination unit recognizes by the voice recognition unit. If it determines that the statement is a help request command,
A help control unit that outputs help explaining at least a function of the request sentence or an operation procedure of the function, and when the command determination unit determines that the request sentence recognized by the voice recognition unit is a function execution command, And a function execution control unit for executing the function of the request statement.

[0008] According to the information processing apparatus having the above configuration, a request sentence by the input voice is recognized by the voice recognition unit, and the recognized request sentence is determined by the command determination unit to be a help request command. And the help according to the help request command by the help control unit.
(A description of a function, a description of an operation procedure, etc.) is output using a display unit, a synthesized voice unit, or the like. On the other hand, when the request sentence recognized by the voice recognition unit is determined to be a function execution command by the command determination unit, the function execution control unit executes a function corresponding to the function execution command. Therefore, it is possible to automatically determine whether to output the help or the function based on the recognition result of the voice recognition unit, and to use the voice operation function only by learning the function name instead of the shortcut function.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the command determination unit determines whether the command is the help request command or the function execution command based on the sentence pattern of the request sentence recognized by the voice recognition unit. I have.

According to the information processing apparatus of the embodiment, since the help request command or the function execution command is determined from the sentence pattern of the request sentence recognized by the voice recognition unit, the help output mode is selected by a key operation or menu selection. It is not necessary to set the mode for executing the function, and the operability is improved.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the command determination unit includes a sentence pattern determination unit that determines the sentence pattern based on an attribute of a word constituting a request sentence recognized by the speech recognition unit. And

According to the information processing apparatus of the embodiment, the sentence pattern can be easily determined from the attribute (help, function, etc.) of the word constituting the request sentence recognized by the voice recognition unit by the sentence pattern determination unit.

In one embodiment of the present invention, in the information processing apparatus, the command determination unit compares the request sentence recognized by the voice recognition unit with a sentence end word table created in advance to determine a sentence pattern. It is characterized by having a sentence pattern determination unit for determining the sentence pattern of the request sentence.

According to the information processing apparatus of the above embodiment, the sentence pattern determination unit can easily determine the sentence pattern by comparing the sentence end of the request sentence, which is the recognition result of the speech recognition unit, with the sentence end word table. For example, as the sentence end word table,
The end-of-sentence word of the help request command is "kata", "method", the end-of-sentence word of the function execution command is "do"
If there is "I want to" and the last word of the sentence of the request sentence matches the last word of the help request command in the last sentence word table, it is determined that the request sentence is a help request command,
If the last sentence word of the request sentence matches the last sentence word of the function execution command in the last sentence word table, it is determined that the request sentence is a function execution command.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the command determination unit cannot determine whether the request sentence recognized by the voice recognition unit is a help request command or a function execution command. It is characterized in that the user is asked whether the request statement is a help request command or a function execution command.

According to the information processing apparatus of the embodiment, if the command determination unit cannot determine whether the command is a help request command or a function execution command, the request sentence by voice input to the user is the help request command or the function execution command. Since the user inquires whether the command is a command, the user can input by voice whether the previously input request sentence is a help request command or a function execution command.

In one embodiment of the present invention, if the command determination unit cannot determine whether the request sentence recognized by the voice recognition unit is a help request command or a function execution command, the voice recognition unit It is characterized in that whether the recognized request statement is processed as a help request command or a function execution command is set in advance.

According to the information processing apparatus of the embodiment, if the command determination unit cannot determine whether the command is a help request command or a function execution command, the command is recognized by the voice recognition unit as set in advance. The request statement is processed as a help request command or as a function execution command. That is, even if the request statement cannot be determined, the help output or the execution of the function is performed according to the request statement, so that the operability is improved.

In one embodiment, the information processing apparatus determines whether to process a request sentence recognized by the voice recognition unit that could not be determined by the command determination unit as a help request command or a function execution command. Is settable.

According to the information processing apparatus of the embodiment, the user can set whether to process the request sentence recognized by the voice recognition unit as a help request command or a function execution command. Operability is further improved.

In one embodiment of the information processing apparatus, the command determination unit determines that the request sentence recognized by the voice recognition unit is not the function execution command but the previous input is the help request command. If it is determined that the input word is a specific word representing the input, the executed function is canceled with respect to the previous input, and is processed as the help request command.

According to the information processing apparatus of the above embodiment, 1
In the processing of the previous request statement, if the user instructed the help output for a certain function, but executed the function by mistake, the request statement that the user executed the function is the help request. A specific word that indicates a command
When (for example, “help display”) is input by voice, the function execution for the function of the immediately preceding request sentence is canceled, and the help of the function of the immediately preceding request sentence (eg, a description of a function or an operation procedure) is output. .

In one embodiment of the information processing apparatus, the command determination unit determines that the request sentence recognized by the voice recognition unit is not the help request command but the function execution command. When it is determined that the word is a specific word representing the particular input, the help output corresponding to the previous input is canceled and processed as the function execution command.

According to the information processing apparatus of the above embodiment, 1
In the processing of the last request statement, if the user instructed to execute a function for a certain function but output help by mistake, the request statement that the user has output help is the function execution command When a specific word (e.g., "execute function") is input by voice, the help output for the function of the immediately preceding request sentence is canceled and the function of the immediately preceding request sentence is executed.

Further, the computer-readable storage medium of the present invention includes a voice recognition unit for recognizing an input voice, and functions as an information processing device that operates based on the recognition result of the voice recognition unit. A command determination unit that determines whether the request sentence recognized by the voice recognition unit is a help request command or a function execution command, and a request sentence that is recognized by the voice recognition unit by the command determination unit. If it is determined that the command is a help request command, a help control unit that outputs help explaining at least a function of the request sentence or an operation procedure of the function, and a request sentence recognized by the command recognition unit by the voice recognition unit is a function. If it is determined that the command is an execution command, a program that functions as a function execution control unit that executes the function of the request statement is executed. It is characterized by storing a gram.

According to the computer-readable storage medium, the recorded control program is read into an information processing device such as a microcomputer, and the control program is executed. When the recognition request is recognized by the recognition unit, and the recognized request sentence is determined to be a help request command by the command determination unit, the help corresponding to the help request command (the description of the function or the operation procedure) is performed by the help control unit. And the like are output using a display unit, a synthesized voice unit, or the like. On the other hand, when the request sentence recognized by the voice recognition unit is determined to be a function execution command by the command determination unit, the function execution control unit executes a function corresponding to the function execution command. Therefore, it is possible to automatically determine whether to output the help or the function based on the recognition result of the voice recognition unit, and to use the voice operation function only by learning the function name instead of the shortcut function.

[0027]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, an information processing apparatus and a computer-readable storage medium according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the illustrated embodiments.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an information processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. This information processing device includes a voice input unit 1, a voice recognition unit 2, a command determination unit 3, a function control unit 4, and a display unit 5.

In FIG. 1, the audio input unit 1 converts an analog audio signal collected by the microphone 1a into an analog / digital signal.
It is digitized by the (analog / digital) converter 1b.
The digitized voice signal is input to the voice recognition unit 2. The speech recognition unit 2 is, for example, a hidden Markov model
In the case of a speech recognition method using an HMM (hereinafter referred to as HMM), the occurrence probabilities of all the HMMs corresponding to the recognition target word are obtained, and the word corresponding to the HMM having the highest occurrence probability is used as the recognition result. The HMM is a model of a statistical feature of speech obtained from a large amount of speech data. The details of the speech recognition method using the HMM are disclosed in "Speech Recognition by Stochastic Model" by Seiichi Nakagawa. ing.

The command determining section 3 includes a sentence pattern determining section 3a, a setting storage section 3b, a function determining section 3c, and a function database 3d. The sentence pattern determination unit 3a includes:
It is determined from the sentence pattern of the request sentence recognized by the voice recognition unit 2 whether it is a help request command or a function execution command. The setting storage unit 3b stores a setting value as to which command to process when it is not possible to determine whether the command is a help request command or a function execution command, and a command processed immediately before.
(Request sentence) information is stored. The above function determination unit 3
c specifies a function from the function database 3d based on the recognition result. The function database 3d includes, as shown in FIG. 2, function names such as "centering", "print", and "save", a "function description" corresponding to the function name, and "function realizing". "Explanation of operation procedure" and "execution script" written in a format that can execute the operation procedure are held.

The function control section 4 comprises a help control section 4a and an execution control section 4b. The help control unit 4a
When the command determination unit 3 determines that the command is a help request command, the display unit 5 displays help (description of a function or an operation procedure) on the specified function. When the command determination unit 3 determines that the command is a function execution command, the execution control unit 4b sequentially executes an execution script related to the specified function.

The display unit 5 displays the help display by the help control unit 4a and the execution result of the function by the execution control unit 4b.

Hereinafter, the operation of the information processing apparatus having the above configuration will be specifically described with reference to the flowcharts shown in FIGS.

First, in step S11, a request sentence is input by voice. That is, when the user speaks a request sentence toward the microphone 1a, the input voice signal is digitized by the A / D converter 1b and the request sentence is input.

Next, in step S12, the request sentence is recognized. That is, the speech recognition unit 2 recognizes the request sentence by referring to the language dictionary expressing the request sentence that can be input for each function shown in FIG. 6 by the network grammar and the word dictionary shown in FIG.

Next, it is determined in step S13 whether or not the function has been specified. That is, the function determining unit 3c extracts a function word from the attribute of the word constituting the recognition result, and specifies the function with reference to the function database 3d.
If it is determined in step S13 that the function has not been specified, the process proceeds to step S31 in FIG. 5 (details will be described later). On the other hand, if it is determined in step S13 that the function has been specified, the process proceeds to step S14.

Next, in step S14, the sentence pattern determination unit 3a determines whether the command is a help request command based on the sentence pattern of the request sentence. If it is determined in step S14 that the command is not a help request command, the process proceeds to step S16,
It is determined from the sentence pattern of the request statement whether the command is a function execution command.

In steps S14 and S16, if the request sentence has a sentence pattern such as "to do" or "how to do", it is determined that the request is a help request command, and "to do", "to do" In the case of a sentence pattern such as "I want to do", it is determined to be a function execution command. As a method of determining whether a command is a help request command or a function execution command from such a sentence pattern, an attribute of help or execution is held in a word dictionary for recognition as shown in FIG. There is a method of determining a sentence pattern by examining attributes and a method of comparing the end of a sentence of a request sentence with a sentence end word table shown in FIG. 8 to determine a sentence type.

The request sentence relating to the "centering" function generated from the network grammar of FIG. 6 is classified as follows according to the sentence pattern. (1) When judged as a help request command "To perform centering""To perform centering""How to perform centering""How to perform centering""How to perform centering""How to perform centering" (2) Function execution If it is determined to be a command "center""center""want to center""want to center" (3) If it cannot be determined "centering" Next, if it is determined that the command is a help request command in step S14, Proceed to step S15 to output help for the specified function. That is, the help control unit 4a
Thus, the function database 3d is referred to and the description of the specified function and the operation procedure are displayed on the display unit 5.

On the other hand, if it is determined in step S16 that the command is a function execution command, the flow advances to step S17 to execute the specified function. That is, the execution control unit 4b
Then, the execution scripts of the functions specified by referring to the function database 3d are sequentially executed.

Next, in step S18, the processed function and processing information (help display and function execution) are stored in the setting storage unit 3b.
After that, the process ends.

If it is determined in steps S14 and S16 that the command is neither a help request command nor a function execution command, the process proceeds to step S21 in FIG. With reference to the information set by the user in advance,
Gets information about whether a help request command or a function execution command. Then, in step S22, it is determined whether the command is a help request command. If it is determined that the command is a help request command, the process proceeds to step S16 in FIG. 3 to output help of the specified function (the specified function). The explanation of the function and the explanation of the operation procedure are displayed). Step S2 in FIG.
If it is determined in step 2 that the command is not a help request command, that is, a function execution command, the process proceeds to step S17 in FIG. 3, and the execution script (shown in FIG. 2) of the specified function is sequentially executed.

Next, a case where a function cannot be specified in step S13 of FIG. 3 will be described.

In step S31 of FIG. 5, it is determined whether or not the display is "help display".
On the other hand, if it is determined that the display is not “help display”, the process proceeds to step S32, and it is determined whether or not “function execution”. That is, in steps S31 and S32,
The function determining unit 3c determines whether the command is a specific instruction command (in this embodiment, "help display", "function execution") for canceling the immediately preceding process.

In the previous process, if the system erroneously executes the function even though the user instructed the help display for a certain function, if the user newly inputs "help display" by voice In step S33, the function execution for the immediately preceding function stored in the setting storage unit 3b is canceled, and in step S34, the help database 4d is referred to by the help control unit 4a for help of the immediately preceding function. (A description of the function and an explanation of the operation procedure are displayed on the display unit 5).

Conversely, if the system erroneously displays help even though the user has instructed the execution of a function for a certain function, if the user newly inputs "function execution" by voice, step S35 is performed. Then, the setting storage unit 3
b, the help display for the immediately preceding function stored in b is deleted, and in step S36, the execution control unit 4b refers to the function database 3d to execute the immediately preceding function. Execute). Also,
If it is not a specific instruction command, it is processed as a reject (rejection) and this processing ends.

As described above, according to this information processing apparatus,
It is possible to automatically determine whether the request sentence input by the voice recognition unit 2 is a help request command or a function execution command. Also, by registering each function of the hierarchical menu shown in FIG. 9 and its processing procedure in the function database shown in FIG. 2, the help display and execution of the function can be directly performed only by learning the function name. Will be able to do it.

Since the command determination unit 3 determines whether the command is a help request command or a function execution command from the sentence pattern of the request sentence recognized by the speech recognition unit 2, the mode of the help output is changed by key operation or menu selection. It is not necessary to set the mode in which to execute, and the operability is improved.

The word dictionary (FIG. 7) constituting the request sentence recognized by the speech recognition unit 2 by the sentence pattern determination unit 3a.
The sentence pattern can be easily determined from the attribute (help, function, etc.) of the word (shown in).

Further, the sentence pattern can be easily determined by comparing the sentence end of the request sentence which is the request sentence recognized by the speech recognition section 2 with the sentence pattern determination section 3a with a sentence end word table (shown in FIG. 8). .

If the command determination section 3 cannot determine whether the command is a help request command or a function execution command, the user is asked whether the command is a help request command or a function execution command. A request command or a function execution command can be input.

If the command determination unit 3 cannot determine whether the command is a help request command or a function execution command, the request sentence recognized by the voice recognition unit 2 is processed as a help request command or a function execution command. Since the information is previously set in the setting storage unit 3b as information, the operability is improved.

Further, the operability is further improved by allowing the user to change the setting of processing as a help request command or processing as a function execution command set in the setting storage section 3b.

If the user instructs the help output for a certain function but erroneously executes the function, the user inputs by voice a "help display" indicating that the command is the next help request command. By doing
Cancel the function execution for the function of the previous request statement, and
Help (function explanation, explanation of operation procedure, etc.) for the function of the previous request statement can be output.

If the user instructs to execute a function for a certain function but erroneously outputs a help, the user may use a voice to sound "function execution" indicating that the command is the next function execution command. Cancels the help output for the function of the previous request statement by entering
The function of the previous request statement can be executed.

The processing of the information processing apparatus described above is executed by a program, and the whole or a part of the program can be read by a computer such as a floppy (registered trademark) disk or a hard disk directly or via a communication line. The program may be stored in a storage medium in advance, and installed in a computer as needed.

In the above embodiment, the help is displayed on the display unit 5. However, the help (the explanation of the function, the explanation of the operation procedure, etc.) may be output by the synthesized voice.

[0058]

As is clear from the above, according to the information processing apparatus and the computer-readable storage medium of the present invention, whether the recognition result of the request sentence by the input voice is a help request command or a function execution command, By judging from the sentence pattern of the request sentence, it is possible to output help and execute a function for a desired function without being aware of the current mode (help request mode or function execution mode). Further, since the help output and the function execution can be directly performed only by learning the function name of the desired function, there is no problem that it is difficult to know from which menu the user can follow, and the usability for the user is improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a block configuration of an information processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a configuration of a function database.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating an operation when a command cannot be specified;

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an operation when a function cannot be specified.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing an operation when a specific control word is input.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a language dictionary expressed by a network grammar related to centering.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a word dictionary having word attributes.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a sentence end word table.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a hierarchical menu.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Voice input part, 1a ... Microphone, 1b ... A / D converter, 2 ... Voice recognition part, 3 ... Command determination part, 3a ... Sentence type determination part, 3b ... Setting storage part, 3c ... Function determination part, 3d ... Function database 4 Function control unit 4a Help control unit 4b Execution control unit 5 Display unit

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Claims (10)

[Claims] An information processing apparatus comprising a voice recognition unit for recognizing an input voice and operating based on a recognition result of the voice recognition unit, wherein a request sentence recognized by the voice recognition unit is a help request. A command determining unit for determining whether the command is a command or a function execution command; and when the command determining unit determines that the request sentence recognized by the voice recognition unit is a help request command, at least a function of the request sentence or an operation of the function A help control unit that outputs a help explaining a procedure; and a function execution control unit that executes a function of the request sentence when the command determination unit determines that the request sentence recognized by the voice recognition unit is a function execution command. An information processing apparatus comprising: 2. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the command determination unit determines whether the command is the help request command or the function execution command based on a sentence pattern of a request sentence recognized by the voice recognition unit. Characteristic information processing device. 3. The information processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the command determination unit includes a sentence pattern determination unit that determines the sentence pattern based on an attribute of a word constituting a request sentence recognized by the voice recognition unit. An information processing apparatus characterized by the above-mentioned. 4. The information processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the command determination unit collates the request sentence recognized by the voice recognition unit with an end-of-sentence word table created in advance to determine a sentence pattern. An information processing apparatus comprising: a sentence pattern determining unit that determines a sentence pattern of the request sentence. 5. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the command determination unit is capable of determining if the request sentence recognized by the voice recognition unit cannot determine whether it is a help request command or a function execution command. An information processing apparatus characterized by inquiring of a user whether said missing request statement is a help request command or a function execution command. 6. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein when the command determination unit cannot determine whether the request sentence recognized by the voice recognition unit is a help request command or a function execution command, the voice recognition. An information processing apparatus, wherein whether a request sentence recognized by a unit is processed as a help request command or a function execution command is set in advance. 7. The information processing apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the request sentence recognized by the voice recognition unit, which the command determination unit cannot determine, is processed as a help request command or a function execution command. An information processing apparatus characterized in that a user can set the information. 8. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the command determination unit recognizes that the request sentence recognized by the voice recognition unit is not the function execution command but a previous request. An information processing apparatus characterized in that when it is determined that the input word is a specific word, the executed function is canceled with respect to the previous input, and is processed as the help request command. 9. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the command determination unit determines that the request sentence recognized by the voice recognition unit is not the help request command but the function execution command. An information processing apparatus characterized in that, when it is determined that the word is a specific word indicating the fact, the help output for the previous input is canceled and the help output is processed as the function execution command. 10. A computer-readable storage medium comprising a voice recognition unit for recognizing an input voice and functioning as an information processing device that operates based on a recognition result of the voice recognition unit. A command determining unit that determines whether the request sentence recognized by the command is a help request command or a function execution command, and when the command determining unit determines that the request sentence recognized by the voice recognition unit is a help request command,
A help control unit that outputs help explaining at least a function of the request sentence or an operation procedure of the function, and when the command determination unit determines that the request sentence recognized by the voice recognition unit is a function execution command, A computer-readable storage medium storing a program that functions as a function execution control unit that executes a function of a request statement.