US20140343952A1 - Systems and methods for lip reading control of a media device - Google Patents
Systems and methods for lip reading control of a media device Download PDFInfo
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- US20140343952A1 US20140343952A1 US14/449,568 US201414449568A US2014343952A1 US 20140343952 A1 US20140343952 A1 US 20140343952A1 US 201414449568 A US201414449568 A US 201414449568A US 2014343952 A1 US2014343952 A1 US 2014343952A1
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- 238000000034 method Methods 0.000 title abstract description 8
- 230000000875 corresponding effect Effects 0.000 description 5
- 238000010586 diagram Methods 0.000 description 4
- 230000001755 vocal effect Effects 0.000 description 3
- 230000002596 correlated effect Effects 0.000 description 2
- 238000012986 modification Methods 0.000 description 2
- 230000004048 modification Effects 0.000 description 2
- 230000003466 anti-cipated effect Effects 0.000 description 1
- 238000004891 communication Methods 0.000 description 1
- 230000001276 controlling effect Effects 0.000 description 1
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- G06K9/00335—
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- G—PHYSICS
- G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
- G06V—IMAGE OR VIDEO RECOGNITION OR UNDERSTANDING
- G06V40/00—Recognition of biometric, human-related or animal-related patterns in image or video data
- G06V40/20—Movements or behaviour, e.g. gesture recognition
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- G—PHYSICS
- G10—MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS; ACOUSTICS
- G10L—SPEECH ANALYSIS TECHNIQUES OR SPEECH SYNTHESIS; SPEECH RECOGNITION; SPEECH OR VOICE PROCESSING TECHNIQUES; SPEECH OR AUDIO CODING OR DECODING
- G10L15/00—Speech recognition
- G10L15/20—Speech recognition techniques specially adapted for robustness in adverse environments, e.g. in noise, of stress induced speech
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- G—PHYSICS
- G10—MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS; ACOUSTICS
- G10L—SPEECH ANALYSIS TECHNIQUES OR SPEECH SYNTHESIS; SPEECH RECOGNITION; SPEECH OR VOICE PROCESSING TECHNIQUES; SPEECH OR AUDIO CODING OR DECODING
- G10L15/00—Speech recognition
- G10L15/24—Speech recognition using non-acoustical features
- G10L15/25—Speech recognition using non-acoustical features using position of the lips, movement of the lips or face analysis
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- H—ELECTRICITY
- H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
- H04N—PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
- H04N21/00—Selective content distribution, e.g. interactive television or video on demand [VOD]
- H04N21/40—Client devices specifically adapted for the reception of or interaction with content, e.g. set-top-box [STB]; Operations thereof
- H04N21/41—Structure of client; Structure of client peripherals
- H04N21/422—Input-only peripherals, i.e. input devices connected to specially adapted client devices, e.g. global positioning system [GPS]
- H04N21/4223—Cameras
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- H—ELECTRICITY
- H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
- H04N—PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
- H04N21/00—Selective content distribution, e.g. interactive television or video on demand [VOD]
- H04N21/40—Client devices specifically adapted for the reception of or interaction with content, e.g. set-top-box [STB]; Operations thereof
- H04N21/47—End-user applications
- H04N21/482—End-user interface for program selection
- H04N21/4821—End-user interface for program selection using a grid, e.g. sorted out by channel and broadcast time
Definitions
- a set top box that operates a media device or system using a remote control
- a parent holding an infant may have difficulty in reaching for and using the remote control.
- a person eating dinner while watching a television (TV) may have difficulty in reaching for and using the remote control.
- TV television
- a person may have lost their remote control and would have to make changes to their media system using the manual controls on the STB and/or the media device or system.
- a person may be physically impossible for a person to operate a remote control.
- a person with severe physical disabilities may not have sufficient control of their hands and/or fingers to manually operate the remote control.
- a person in a hospital recovering from surgery may not be able to reach and/or operate the remote control.
- One possible solution to the above-described problem of not being able to operate a remote control is the use of a speech or voice recognition technology.
- media devices typically present sounds to the user.
- the user may be listening to music presented on their radio or stereo.
- the media device may be presenting both video images and sounds, such as when a user is viewing a movie.
- the sounds emitted from the media device must be distinguished from verbal commands of the user. In many situations, distinguishing between sounds emitted from the media device and the verbal commands of the user renders such speech or voice recognition systems inefficient or even inoperable.
- An exemplary embodiment captures a series of images of a user of a media device, generates image information corresponding to the series of captured images, determines lip movement of the user from the generated image information, determines at least one spoken user command based upon the determined lip movement of the user, and determines a device command based upon the determined spoken user command. Then, the device command is communicated to, for example, a media presentation device, wherein an operation of the media presentation device is controlled in accordance with the determined spoken user command.
- FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a lip reading control system that is operable to control a media device
- FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a lip reading control system that is operable to control other devices.
- FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a lip reading control system 100 that is operable to control a media device 102 , such as, but not limited to, a set top box (STB).
- a media device 102 such as, but not limited to, a set top box (STB).
- Embodiments of the lip reading control system 100 may be implemented in other media devices, such as, but not limited to, stereos, radios, televisions (TVs), digital video disc (DVD) players, digital video recorders (DVRs), or a personal computer (PC).
- TVs televisions
- DVD digital video disc
- DVRs digital video recorders
- PC personal computer
- the non-limiting exemplary media device 102 comprises a program content stream interface 104 , a processor system 106 , a memory 108 , a program buffer 110 , an optional digital video recorder (DVR) 112 , a presentation device interface 114 , and an optional image capture device 116 .
- the memory 108 comprises portions for storing the lip movement recognition logic 118 , the electronic program guide (EPG) 120 , and the command interpretation logic 122 .
- Other media devices may include some, all, or none of the above-described media processing components. Further, additional components not described herein may be included in alternative embodiments.
- a user 124 may not be able to input commands using a remote control (not shown) or using buttons or other actuators on the media device 102 .
- Embodiments of the lip reading control system 100 capture images using the image capture device 116 to monitor movement of the user's lips 126 . Based upon the movement of the user's lips, presumably corresponding to verbally issued user commands, embodiments of the lip reading control system 100 determine and/or generate one or more media device commands. That is, based upon the determined spoken user commands, the media device 102 can then control various media devices in accordance with the determined user commands.
- the lip reading control system 100 avoid such problems by determining user commands based upon the user's lip movements.
- the image capture device 116 is pointed outwardly from the media device 102 in a direction that is anticipated to result in captured images of the user 124 .
- an external image capture device 128 which may be portable, may be positioned so as to be pointed towards the user 124 .
- the media device 102 may be located behind the user, yet control the television 130 located on the other side of the media room.
- the external image capture device 128 may be independently placed and oriented in another location in the media room.
- the external image capture device 128 may communicate captured image information to the media device 102 using any suitable communication medium, including physical wires, light, or radio frequency (RF).
- RF radio frequency
- the image capture devices 116 , 128 are operable to capture a sequential series of images of the user 124 . Image information corresponding to the captured images is then generated and communicated to the processor system 106 . The time between successive captured images must be short enough so as to provide a meaningful interpretation of the movement of the user's lips.
- the image capture device may be a video camera. Accordingly, image information generated from a plurality of selected still images captured by the video camera are processed to determine the lip movements of the user 124 .
- One or more program content streams 132 are received by the program content stream interface 104 .
- One or more tuners 104 a in the program content stream interface 104 selectively tune to one of the program content streams 132 in accordance with instructions received from the processor system 106 .
- a program content stream 132 typically comprises a plurality of programs multiplexed together.
- the processor system 106 based upon a request for a program of interest specified by a user 124 , parses out program content associated with the program of interest.
- the program content is then assembled into a stream of video and/or audio information which may be saved into the program buffer 110 such that the program content can be streamed out to the media presentation device, such as the television 130 , via the presentation device interface 114 .
- the parsed out program content may be saved into the DVR 112 for later presentation.
- the presentation device interface 114 is illustrated as coupled to two exemplary media presentation devices, the television (TV) 130 and a surround-sound receiver 134 .
- the video portion of the streamed program content is displayed on the TV display 136 and the audio portion of the streamed program content is reproduced as sounds by the speakers 138 .
- the EPG 120 portion of the memory 108 stores the information pertaining to the scheduled programming.
- the information may include, but is not limited to, a scheduled presentation start and/or end time, a program channel, and descriptive information.
- the program's descriptive information may include the title of the program, names of performers or actors, date of creation, and a summary describing the nature of the program. Any suitable information may be included in the program's supplemental information.
- a user by speaking user commands, moves their lips 126 .
- the lip movement recognition logic 118 monitors the user's lip movements, and based upon the user's lip movements, determines what the user 124 is saying.
- embodiments of the lip movement recognition logic 118 analyze image data received from the image capture device 116 and/or the external image capture device 128 .
- Features of the background and the user are identified to determine the location of the user's lips in the received image information. Movement of the user's lips is based upon the movement of predefined points on the user's lips 126 , known as markers or the like. The movement of the markers are tracked to determine what the user is saying.
- the words of the user are then correlated with corresponding words associated with user commands.
- the command interpretation logic 122 generates the appropriate device commands based upon the determined speech of the user 124 .
- the device commands are then issued to the controlled media presentation device, such as the television 130 .
- the user 124 may wish to scroll through the displayed EPG and select a program of interest.
- the user may say “scroll downward” or the like (a verbal user command).
- the image capture device 116 and/or the external image capture device 128 , is capturing a real-time image of the user 124 , and hence an image of the user's moving lips 126 .
- the lip movement recognition logic 118 determines that the user said “scroll downward” or the like.
- the command interpretation logic 122 then, based upon what the user 124 has said, generates a corresponding device command that causes a highlighted portion on the displayed EPG to scroll downward.
- Any suitable lip movement recognition logic 118 may be used in the various embodiments of the lip reading control system 100 .
- Such lip movement recognition systems and methods are well known and are not described herein for brevity.
- lip movement recognition logic 118 are applicable to embodiments of the lip reading control system 100 , and are now conceptually described by their functionality.
- one exemplary feature requires distinguishing a plurality of users 124 from the background artifacts in a captured image.
- a movement of a plurality of lips may be monitored to determine if any of the users are issuing spoken user commands intended to operate a media presentation device.
- Such multiple user recognition systems and methods are well known and are not described herein for brevity.
- Another optional exemplary feature employed by some embodiments of the lip reading control system 100 include an engagement command feature.
- a special spoken engagement command must be first detected prior to the lip reading control system 100 issuing a device command.
- a keyword or phrase is stored in memory 108 . Language from the one or more users is continuously monitored.
- the lip reading control system 100 determines that one of the users has spoken the engagement command keyword or phrase, that user is monitored for spoken user commands that are expected to be forthcoming.
- Some embodiments may also include a disengagement command feature such that, upon detecting the user speaking a disengagement command keyword or phrase, the lip reading control system 100 then becomes configured to disregard further speech from that user. That is, subsequent spoken user commands are disregarded after determining the disengagement command.
- the lip reading control system 100 will include an optional learning function that allows the lip reading control system 100 to recognize a particular user, and to better identify spoken commands from that user. For example, accents or the like may be different between users, and thus, their differing accents may result in different types of lip movement for the same user command.
- a particular user 124 may present a series of user commands to the lip reading control system 100 .
- the lip reading control system 100 “remembers” the movement of the user's lips for the series of commands. Then, during operation, detected lip movement may be compared with the learned lip movement associated with the series of commands to more reliably determine the words from the user.
- the learning feature may be particularly useful for users having physical speech impediments.
- some embodiments may learn that some users are not authorized to issue user commands. For example, children may be recognized from adults who are exclusively authorized to issue spoken user commands. A user command from the unauthorized children may then be disregarded, even if the children attempt to cause the lip reading control system 100 to issue device commands based upon their words (or their lip movement). Such learning systems and methods are well known and are not described herein for brevity.
- optional functionality may be included to determine user commands spoken in a plurality of different languages. For example, lip movement for a user command spoken in the English language will be quite different from the same user command spoken in the French, German, or Chinese languages. The determination may be made from a specific user input or predefined input. Alternatively, the lip movement may be used to determine spoken words, which are then correlated with a set of predefined languages to determine the language of the user. Thus, embodiments are operable to distinguish user commands for different languages. Such multiple language recognition systems and methods are well known and are not described herein for brevity.
- Some embodiments may analyze lip movement of a user based upon captured image information provided by more than one image capture device. Upon determination of a spoken user command based upon lip movement captured by a first image capture device, image information from a second image capture device, or a plurality of other image capture devices, is used to verify the user command. That is, commands that are determined from multiple images are compared, and then issued as device commands when the comparison verifies that the user has spoken a particular user command.
- FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a lip reading control system 100 that is operable to control other home devices 202 and 204 .
- the media device 102 in which an embodiment of the lip reading control system 100 is implemented in includes one or more electrical outlets 206 that are operable to provide power to the home device 202 .
- the processor system 106 is controllably coupled to a power switch 208 that controls delivery of power to the electrical outlet 206 .
- a user command may be issued to power the home device 202 .
- the user speaks a user command having two portions.
- the first portion is an identifier of the home device 202 .
- the second portion of the user command is what action to take, here, turning on or turning off the home device 202 .
- the home device 202 is a lamp.
- the user says “turn on the lamp.”
- the user's lip movements are used to determine the spoken user command that identifies the home device 202 (the lamp) and the action to take (provide power to the lamp).
- a device command is generated by the processor system 106 and is sent to the power switch 208 .
- the power switch 208 then provides the power at the electrical outlet 206 .
- the lamp is turned on.
- More complex device commands may be generated by embodiments of the lip reading control system 100 . Such commands may be communicated directly to the home device 204 , or may be communicated directly to the home device 204 via the presentation device interface 114 . Any suitable home device 204 may thus be controlled by the media device 102 .
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Abstract
Systems and methods of generating device commands based upon spoken user commands are disclosed. An exemplary embodiment captures a series of images of a user of a media device, generates image information corresponding to the series of captured images, determines lip movement of the user from the generated image information, determines at least one spoken user command based upon the determined lip movement of the user, and determines a device command based upon the determined spoken user command. Then, the device command is communicated to, for example, a media presentation device, wherein an operation of the media presentation device is controlled in accordance with the determined spoken user command.
Description
- This patent application is a Continuation of U.S. Non-Provisional patent application Ser. No. 12/358,952, filed Jan. 23, 2009, published as U.S. Publication No. 2010/0189305, entitled “SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR LIP READING CONTROL OF A MEDIA DEVICE,” and issued as U.S. Pat. No. 8,798,311 on Aug. 5, 2014, the content of which is incorporated herewith in its entirety.
- Often, controlling a set top box (STB) that operates a media device or system using a remote control is difficult or inconvenient. For example, a parent holding an infant may have difficulty in reaching for and using the remote control. As another example, a person eating dinner while watching a television (TV) may have difficulty in reaching for and using the remote control. Further, in some instances, a person may have lost their remote control and would have to make changes to their media system using the manual controls on the STB and/or the media device or system.
- In some situations, it may be physically impossible for a person to operate a remote control. For example, a person with severe physical disabilities may not have sufficient control of their hands and/or fingers to manually operate the remote control. As another example, a person in a hospital recovering from surgery may not be able to reach and/or operate the remote control.
- One possible solution to the above-described problem of not being able to operate a remote control is the use of a speech or voice recognition technology. However, media devices typically present sounds to the user. For example, the user may be listening to music presented on their radio or stereo. As another example, the media device may be presenting both video images and sounds, such as when a user is viewing a movie. Accordingly, the sounds emitted from the media device must be distinguished from verbal commands of the user. In many situations, distinguishing between sounds emitted from the media device and the verbal commands of the user renders such speech or voice recognition systems inefficient or even inoperable.
- Systems and methods of generating device commands based upon spoken user commands are disclosed. An exemplary embodiment captures a series of images of a user of a media device, generates image information corresponding to the series of captured images, determines lip movement of the user from the generated image information, determines at least one spoken user command based upon the determined lip movement of the user, and determines a device command based upon the determined spoken user command. Then, the device command is communicated to, for example, a media presentation device, wherein an operation of the media presentation device is controlled in accordance with the determined spoken user command.
- Preferred and alternative embodiments are described in detail below with reference to the following drawings:
-
FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a lip reading control system that is operable to control a media device; and -
FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a lip reading control system that is operable to control other devices. -
FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a lipreading control system 100 that is operable to control amedia device 102, such as, but not limited to, a set top box (STB). Embodiments of the lipreading control system 100 may be implemented in other media devices, such as, but not limited to, stereos, radios, televisions (TVs), digital video disc (DVD) players, digital video recorders (DVRs), or a personal computer (PC). - The non-limiting
exemplary media device 102 comprises a programcontent stream interface 104, aprocessor system 106, amemory 108, aprogram buffer 110, an optional digital video recorder (DVR) 112, apresentation device interface 114, and an optionalimage capture device 116. Thememory 108 comprises portions for storing the lipmovement recognition logic 118, the electronic program guide (EPG) 120, and thecommand interpretation logic 122. Other media devices may include some, all, or none of the above-described media processing components. Further, additional components not described herein may be included in alternative embodiments. - As noted above, a
user 124 may not be able to input commands using a remote control (not shown) or using buttons or other actuators on themedia device 102. Embodiments of the lipreading control system 100 capture images using theimage capture device 116 to monitor movement of the user'slips 126. Based upon the movement of the user's lips, presumably corresponding to verbally issued user commands, embodiments of the lipreading control system 100 determine and/or generate one or more media device commands. That is, based upon the determined spoken user commands, themedia device 102 can then control various media devices in accordance with the determined user commands. - As noted above, many media presentation devices issue sounds, such as music from a stereo or dialogue from a movie. Accordingly, it may not be possible to differentiate sounds issued from the media presentation device and words spoken by a
user 124. Here, embodiments of the lipreading control system 100 avoid such problems by determining user commands based upon the user's lip movements. - In some embodiments, the
image capture device 116 is pointed outwardly from themedia device 102 in a direction that is anticipated to result in captured images of theuser 124. Alternatively, or additionally, an externalimage capture device 128, which may be portable, may be positioned so as to be pointed towards theuser 124. For example, themedia device 102 may be located behind the user, yet control thetelevision 130 located on the other side of the media room. Thus, the externalimage capture device 128 may be independently placed and oriented in another location in the media room. The externalimage capture device 128 may communicate captured image information to themedia device 102 using any suitable communication medium, including physical wires, light, or radio frequency (RF). - The
image capture devices user 124. Image information corresponding to the captured images is then generated and communicated to theprocessor system 106. The time between successive captured images must be short enough so as to provide a meaningful interpretation of the movement of the user's lips. In some embodiments, the image capture device may be a video camera. Accordingly, image information generated from a plurality of selected still images captured by the video camera are processed to determine the lip movements of theuser 124. - The functionality of the
media device 102, here a set top box, is now broadly described. One or moreprogram content streams 132 are received by the programcontent stream interface 104. One ormore tuners 104 a in the programcontent stream interface 104 selectively tune to one of theprogram content streams 132 in accordance with instructions received from theprocessor system 106. Aprogram content stream 132 typically comprises a plurality of programs multiplexed together. Theprocessor system 106, based upon a request for a program of interest specified by auser 124, parses out program content associated with the program of interest. The program content is then assembled into a stream of video and/or audio information which may be saved into theprogram buffer 110 such that the program content can be streamed out to the media presentation device, such as thetelevision 130, via thepresentation device interface 114. Alternatively, or additionally, the parsed out program content may be saved into theDVR 112 for later presentation. - In this simplified embodiment, the
presentation device interface 114 is illustrated as coupled to two exemplary media presentation devices, the television (TV) 130 and a surround-sound receiver 134. The video portion of the streamed program content is displayed on theTV display 136 and the audio portion of the streamed program content is reproduced as sounds by thespeakers 138. - From time to time, information populating the
EPG 120 portion of thememory 108 is communicated to themedia device 102 via theprogram content stream 132. TheEPG 120 portion of thememory 108 stores the information pertaining to the scheduled programming. The information may include, but is not limited to, a scheduled presentation start and/or end time, a program channel, and descriptive information. The program's descriptive information may include the title of the program, names of performers or actors, date of creation, and a summary describing the nature of the program. Any suitable information may be included in the program's supplemental information. Upon receipt of a command from theuser 124 requesting presentation of an EPG display, the information in theEPG 120 is retrieved, formatted, and then presented on thedisplay 136. - A user, by speaking user commands, moves their
lips 126. The lipmovement recognition logic 118 monitors the user's lip movements, and based upon the user's lip movements, determines what theuser 124 is saying. - Conceptually describing operation of the lip
reading control system 100, embodiments of the lipmovement recognition logic 118 analyze image data received from theimage capture device 116 and/or the externalimage capture device 128. Features of the background and the user are identified to determine the location of the user's lips in the received image information. Movement of the user's lips is based upon the movement of predefined points on the user'slips 126, known as markers or the like. The movement of the markers are tracked to determine what the user is saying. The words of the user are then correlated with corresponding words associated with user commands. Then, thecommand interpretation logic 122 generates the appropriate device commands based upon the determined speech of theuser 124. The device commands are then issued to the controlled media presentation device, such as thetelevision 130. - For example, the
user 124 may wish to scroll through the displayed EPG and select a program of interest. The user may say “scroll downward” or the like (a verbal user command). Theimage capture device 116, and/or the externalimage capture device 128, is capturing a real-time image of theuser 124, and hence an image of the user's movinglips 126. Based upon the movement of predefined points on the user'slips 126, the lipmovement recognition logic 118 determines that the user said “scroll downward” or the like. Thecommand interpretation logic 122 then, based upon what theuser 124 has said, generates a corresponding device command that causes a highlighted portion on the displayed EPG to scroll downward. - Any suitable lip
movement recognition logic 118 may be used in the various embodiments of the lipreading control system 100. Such lip movement recognition systems and methods are well known and are not described herein for brevity. - However, special features of the lip
movement recognition logic 118 are applicable to embodiments of the lipreading control system 100, and are now conceptually described by their functionality. For example, one exemplary feature requires distinguishing a plurality ofusers 124 from the background artifacts in a captured image. Thus, a movement of a plurality of lips may be monitored to determine if any of the users are issuing spoken user commands intended to operate a media presentation device. Such multiple user recognition systems and methods are well known and are not described herein for brevity. - Another optional exemplary feature employed by some embodiments of the lip
reading control system 100 include an engagement command feature. A special spoken engagement command must be first detected prior to the lipreading control system 100 issuing a device command. Thus, ordinary conversation between a plurality of users will not inadvertently result in a generation of a device command that is issued to a media presentation device. Here, a keyword or phrase is stored inmemory 108. Language from the one or more users is continuously monitored. When the lipreading control system 100 determines that one of the users has spoken the engagement command keyword or phrase, that user is monitored for spoken user commands that are expected to be forthcoming. Some embodiments may also include a disengagement command feature such that, upon detecting the user speaking a disengagement command keyword or phrase, the lipreading control system 100 then becomes configured to disregard further speech from that user. That is, subsequent spoken user commands are disregarded after determining the disengagement command. - In some embodiments, the lip
reading control system 100 will include an optional learning function that allows the lipreading control system 100 to recognize a particular user, and to better identify spoken commands from that user. For example, accents or the like may be different between users, and thus, their differing accents may result in different types of lip movement for the same user command. - Accordingly, a
particular user 124 may present a series of user commands to the lipreading control system 100. The lipreading control system 100 “remembers” the movement of the user's lips for the series of commands. Then, during operation, detected lip movement may be compared with the learned lip movement associated with the series of commands to more reliably determine the words from the user. The learning feature may be particularly useful for users having physical speech impediments. - Also, some embodiments may learn that some users are not authorized to issue user commands. For example, children may be recognized from adults who are exclusively authorized to issue spoken user commands. A user command from the unauthorized children may then be disregarded, even if the children attempt to cause the lip
reading control system 100 to issue device commands based upon their words (or their lip movement). Such learning systems and methods are well known and are not described herein for brevity. - In some embodiments, optional functionality may be included to determine user commands spoken in a plurality of different languages. For example, lip movement for a user command spoken in the English language will be quite different from the same user command spoken in the French, German, or Chinese languages. The determination may be made from a specific user input or predefined input. Alternatively, the lip movement may be used to determine spoken words, which are then correlated with a set of predefined languages to determine the language of the user. Thus, embodiments are operable to distinguish user commands for different languages. Such multiple language recognition systems and methods are well known and are not described herein for brevity.
- Some embodiments may analyze lip movement of a user based upon captured image information provided by more than one image capture device. Upon determination of a spoken user command based upon lip movement captured by a first image capture device, image information from a second image capture device, or a plurality of other image capture devices, is used to verify the user command. That is, commands that are determined from multiple images are compared, and then issued as device commands when the comparison verifies that the user has spoken a particular user command.
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FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a lipreading control system 100 that is operable to controlother home devices media device 102 in which an embodiment of the lipreading control system 100 is implemented in includes one or moreelectrical outlets 206 that are operable to provide power to thehome device 202. Theprocessor system 106 is controllably coupled to apower switch 208 that controls delivery of power to theelectrical outlet 206. When thehome device 202 has itspower cord 210 coupled to thepower outlet 206, a user command may be issued to power thehome device 202. - Here, the user speaks a user command having two portions. The first portion is an identifier of the
home device 202. The second portion of the user command is what action to take, here, turning on or turning off thehome device 202. For example, assume that thehome device 202 is a lamp. The user says “turn on the lamp.” The user's lip movements are used to determine the spoken user command that identifies the home device 202 (the lamp) and the action to take (provide power to the lamp). A device command is generated by theprocessor system 106 and is sent to thepower switch 208. Thepower switch 208 then provides the power at theelectrical outlet 206. Thus, the lamp is turned on. - More complex device commands may be generated by embodiments of the lip
reading control system 100. Such commands may be communicated directly to thehome device 204, or may be communicated directly to thehome device 204 via thepresentation device interface 114. Anysuitable home device 204 may thus be controlled by themedia device 102. - It should be emphasized that the above-described embodiments of the lip
reading control system 100 are merely possible examples of implementations of the invention. Many variations and modifications may be made to the above-described embodiments. All such modifications and variations are intended to be included herein within the scope of this disclosure and protected by the following claims.
Claims (2)
1. A set top box (STB) configured to generate device commands based upon spoken user commands, comprising:
an image capture device configured to capture a series of images of a user, and configured to generate image information corresponding to the series of captured images; and
a processor system communicatively coupled to the image capture device,
wherein the processor system is configured to:
receive the image information from the image capture device, wherein the image information includes information that shows movement of the user's lips,
determine the movement of the user's lips from the received image information,
continuously monitor the movement of the user's lips in the series of captured images of the user to determine at least one of an engagement command, a disengagement command, and a STB command,
determine a device command in response to determining the STB command,
wherein the determined STB command is disregarded until after the engagement command is determined,
wherein the device command associated with the determined STB command is performed after the engagement command is determined, and
wherein a subsequent determined STB command is disregarded after the disengagement command is determined.
2. The STB of claim 1 , further comprising:
a presentation device interface coupled to the processor system and at least one media presentation device with a display, wherein the device command controls operation of an electronic program guide (EPG) displayed by the media presentation device.
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