Adaptive Voice Output Control for User Action Inference

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Solution Overview

Problem

Existing audio equipment technologies fail to adapt voice output to a user's action purpose, leading to suboptimal acoustic characteristics in varying environments and user activities.

Innovation Solution

An information processing device and method that infers a user's action purpose through sensors and adjusts voice output parameters such as volume, pitch, and speed to match the inferred purpose, using an inference unit and output control unit in conjunction with audio output units.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Adaptability or versatility

If voice output parameters are fixed without adaptation, then device complexity is reduced, but adaptability to different user actions and environments deteriorates

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveadaptability to user action purposeVSAvoidcomplexity of inference and control system

Core Design Contradiction:

Adaptability or versatilityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The system performs self-adjustment by automatically inferring user action purposes from sensor data and adapting voice output parameters accordingly, eliminating the need for manual user configuration or complex external control systems

Inventive Principle:

Principle #25Self-service

Solution Approach 2:

The system changes voice output parameters (volume, pitch, speed) based on inferred user action purposes, allowing the same device to adapt to different scenarios without hardware modifications or complex structural changes

Inventive Principle:

Principle #35Parameter changes

2Reliability

If voice output is adapted to user action purpose, then communication effectiveness is improved, but response time for manual adjustments is lost

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveeffectiveness of voice communicationVSAvoidtime for manual parameter adjustment

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSLoss of time

Solution Approach 1:

The system proactively infers user action purposes and adjusts voice parameters before the user would need to manually intervene, ensuring communication is always optimized for the current context without requiring user initiation

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

Solution Approach 2:

The system continuously monitors sensor data to infer user actions and adjusts voice output in real-time, creating a closed-loop system that maintains optimal communication effectiveness without manual intervention

Inventive Principle:

Principle #23Feedback

Data Source

PatentUS11586410B2Information processing device, information processing terminal, information processing method, and program

Publication Date: 2023.02.21 SONY GROUP CORP

AI summary

[Problem] The problem of the present disclosure relates to proposing an information processing device, an information processing terminal, an information processing method, and a program, which are capable of controlling the output of a voice so as to be adaptive to an action purpose of a user.[Solution] An information processing device including: an inference unit that infers an action purpose of a user on the basis of a result of sensing by one or more sensors; and an output control unit that controls, on the basis of a result of inference by the inference unit, output of a voice to the user performed by an audio output unit.